Robin Dequaine

She is a representational artist who works primarily in soft pastel and watercolor. Nature is her sanctuary. Whether hiking forest trails, sailing open waters, or watching the light shift across a landscape, she finds renewal in the beauty of creation. That sense of peace and awe is what she strives to capture in her paintings-each brushstroke inspired by places she has explored in Northeast Wisconsin, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the waters of Lake Michigan and the Bay of Green Bay. She is also drawn to structures such as boats and trains, finding beauty in what they represent.

Art found her during a difficult season, when the weight of loved ones' struggles felt overwhelming. What began as a quiet escape became a powerful outlet for healing-and eventually, a joyful passion for creating art that speaks to the soul.

As a representational artist, she works from photographs she has personally taken and also enjoys plein air painting. Her process begins with direct observation; something captures her attention and stirs emotion. She then conceptualizes how to translate that moment simply yet with accuracy and feeling. She often reflects on Paul Cezanne's belief that ''A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.'' What begins with observation ends with expression-an image shaped by both what she saw and how it made her feel.

Her watercolors tend to be more detailed, while her pastels are looser and impressionistic. She does not combine the mediums -at least not yet. She embraces the fact that she will never be done learning.