Pastel painter Arlene Braithwaite earned her Masters degree from the University of Utah. Her pastel paintings have been shown in solo exhibitions at the Springville Art Museum, the St. George Art Museum, the Utah Museum of Natural History and Zion National Park's Museum of Human History. Her pastels have twice been selected as Grand Prize winners at the Escalante Canyon Plein Air Art Festival. To build interest in painting on location Arlene taught workshops for the Utah Art Education Association, Southern Utah University and Snow Canyon State Park. She currently has an exhibition at Southern Utah University of work commissioned by the Dixie National Forest. Before committing to full time painting, Braithwaite enjoyed a 32 year career as an art educator at Southern Utah University where she was awarded the University's "Distinguished Educator" Award. Arlene was also recognized as "Art Teacher of the Year for the State of Utah" by the National Art Education Association.
"My work is inspired by the land around me, a subject I find continually changing, challenging and rich with catalysts for composition. Pastel is attractive to me because of its immediacy. I enjoy direct contact with the pigment and the bold to subtle hue mixtures that can be achieved through the hatching and layering of pastel. Each painting I do provides me with the opportunity of manipulating color, shape and edge to interpret reality in a hopefully unique way."