Rebekah Coen of Goodwell is inspired by western themes, but she embellishes her art with splashes of color and movement. Coen describes her art as traditional with a contemporary western theme. "I like to blur the boundary of arbitrary and realism in my works," she says.

Coen recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine art from Oklahoma Panhandle State University and is currently pursuing a master's degree through Fort Hays (Kansas) State University. She taught K-12 visual arts for USD 218 in Kansas for two years where she was inspired by many student artists. Coen is married to "the man who loves and supports me in all I pursue" and is the mother of two children.

Although Coen depicts many different subjects in her work, her love of horses is evident in her display at Graceful Arts Gallery in Alva. She shows a mastery of watercolor, acrylics and oils in her paintings but also likes to "get my hands dirty with wheel-thrown ceramics and clay sculpture."

Although she occasionally tries some abstracts, Coen's work is aimed toward realism, especially when it comes to proportions and details like highlights, shadows and texture. "My ultimate goal as an artist is to be able to master hyper-realism," she says. "It's just crazy to me that an artist can be so accurate with his or her technique that their artwork looks like a photograph!"

Rebekah Coen's subjects lean toward horses, bison and bears with some southwestern scenes and portraits of people added for variety.

Coen's color palette typically features a split-complementary color scheme with additions as she works on a piece. "My latest and greatest addiction has been incorporating various fluorescent inks and paints," she said. "The day I stop experimenting and pushing my limits will be the day I stop evolving as an artist – something I hope never happens."

Right now, you can see several examples of Coen's work on display at Graceful Arts Gallery in Alva. If you want to see more, check her website at http://www.kansadesigns.wixsite.com/rcoen or search for her name on Facebook. You may also contact her by email at [email protected].