Stepping tentatively through an evening field, some buffalo pause to check their surroundings. These aren't the woolly brown beasts seen in nature but more surreal creatures with elongated limbs that seem to tiptoe lightly through the landscape as their coats reflect splotches of color. "Bewildered," an acrylic painting by Destiny Rosato, is one of the artist's works now on display at Graceful Arts Gallery in Alva.

Another Rosato painting in the Pathways and Passages exhibit is titled "Parade." It features equine shapes in bright colors dancing across the canvas. Living in Oklahoma, Rosato's art is influenced by her surroundings and that means animals. "To me animals are in their natural state, and you can express human expression with the animals and their positions," she says. Her animal pieces mainly involve horses and buffalo.

While some of pieces in this exhibit are closer to nature like her drawing of longhorn cattle in tall grass, her large canvases are more abstract in form and color. Some of her work shows human figures. "I always like to leave them faceless," Rosato says. "I think it allows the viewer to connect with it a little bit more when you don't put a face on the person."

Rosato began drawing as a child. There wasn't the ever-present distracting technology encountered by today's youth. All she had was pen and paper. "As I've grown, my passion and love for creating things developed as well. It's something I've just always done."

When it came to education, her father encouraged her to study business rather than art. He considered that path more likely to bring stability in her life. Rosato has no formal art education. She's simply learned on her own. "When you're passionate about something, there's nothing you can't do. You don't have to have training to do what you love," she says.

Rosato says her goal as an artist is to allow the viewer to pause and reflect. "To me my greatest joy is when you can allow someone to feel something or just to think of something in their own life."

Rosato currently lives in Tonkawa. You can learn more about her art at her website http://www.refiningdestiny.com or look for her on Facebook under her name. A video made with Rosato at the First Friday Art Walk may be seen at http://www.AlvaReviewCourier.com. Her work will be exhibited at Graceful Arts Gallery throughout March.