One dark night, surrounded by the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona, painter Julie Bowland was busily recreating the wild nighttime landscape. She turned on her truck’s headlights to further illuminate the scene. An MFA graduate student at Arizona State University at the time, Bowland was taking advantage of painting in a setting so unlike the lush greens and blues of Tallahassee.

Putting away her finished piece the next morning, Bowland turned the key to find her battery was dead from running lights all night, but she was soon discovered by a park ranger. Bowland is glad to have this trip immortalized on canvas and hanging over her fireplace mantle nearly 25 years later. Inspired by the open landscape of the American southwest, she remarks on the challenge of painting that expansive open space, but also how much color can convey these feelings of awe.

“Color is an emotional expression,” says Bowland. “It’s not just describing what something looks like, it’s also describing what something feels like, like heat and how to create space. Color to me is everything.”

“Earthscapes,” Bowland’s upcoming solo exhibition at Thomas University, aims to take viewers on their own adventures via her vibrant landscapes, and will be on display through Dec. 1.

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