To avoid groups congregating in enclosed spaces, it has been determined that the Ranch House at Agua Caliente Park, where my solo art exhibition was to be held from March 21, 2020, to April 22, 2020, will be closed. As with many of the closings currently taking place, the duration of this closure is as yet unknown.
I ask that if you have had an eye on any of my pieces, whether they were to be in my exhibition or not, please consider making a purchase. You have no idea how much it would mean to me. To sweeten the deal, I’m offering 20% off everything in my shop through March 31, 2020, with code “LOVE” – everything also already ships at no charge and most come framed and ready to hang.
I want to express my sincere thanks to Pima County Parks and Recreation for selecting me for this exciting opportunity. I appreciate their support as well as the gravity of this decision. They do wonderful work!
Stay safe, healthy, and happy, my friends. I’m sending you much love!
xoxoxoxo
Teressa
With a goal to inspire others to explore the raw beauty of nature, artist Teressa Jackson captures the charm and color of the desert experience through stylized realism.
Watercolor Oasis
I was honored to be selected to show my artwork in a solo exhibition at Agua Caliente Park’s Ranch House Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, from March 21 to April 22, 2020. The title of this exhibition is Watercolor Oasis. The exhibit will span 88 linear feet of gallery space and includes 48 of my original works. I was one of ten artists to be selected to show at this venue in 2020.
This page features the artwork included in that exhibition. Of course, these paintings are best admired in person in the gallery space, so please plan to visit my show, too, if you are able!
Watercolor Oasis
Exhibition Catalogue
IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE! These paintings comprise my solo exhibition at Agua Caliente Ranch House Gallery in Tucson, Arizona. The exhibition runs from March 21 to April 22, 2020. If you purchase any of these works, please note that they will NOT ship to you until after the close of the show on April 22. Feel free to contact me with questions: 502-593-2596 or me@TeressaLJackson.com.
I painted this when I had reading about Buddhism. “The Middle Way” or “The Middle Path” is a central concept of Buddhist thinking, and as I came across this concept it struck me that it would make a fitting title for this painting, too. The photo from which I painted this piece was taken at Desert Botanical Garden. The scene struck me as one that most people miss as they rush by to enter the garden, but also a great example of the extremes that can exist in the desert landscape - from lush and green to dry and brittle. I also just loved the light that existed in that space and time!
This original watercolor painting measures 10x14” and is sold in a white mat and custom brushed gold metal frame. The painting was created using watercolor paint on acid free, cold press 300 lb. Arches watercolor paper and ships free.
Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.
I visited Usery Mountain Regional Park for the first time in spring 2019. It was the height of the saguaro bloom and the pollinators were hard at work, turning the pinnacles of these giant cacti into bustling communities. It truly “takes a village” to pollinate a saguaro. At night, they are pollinated by the lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat, and during the daytime, bees and birds such as the white-winged dove take their turns at the activity.
This original watercolor painting measures 14x10” and is sold in a white mat. The painting was created using watercolor paint on acid free, cold press 300 lb. Arches watercolor paper and ships free.
Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.
I took the photo that inspired this painting (see last image) at New Mexico’s Acoma Pueblo. The genuine and welcoming Acoma people, who are also talented artists and craftspeople, have inhabited Sky City for around 1,000 years. It’s in an incredibly beautiful location on top of a sandstone mesa west of Albuquerque.
Item is 8" x 10" and sold unframed and matted in a white mat that brings the overall size to a standard 11x14”. It ships FREE. Media is watercolor on acid free, cold press, 300 lb. heavyweight Fabriano watercolor paper.
This 20x16" watercolor, entitled "Sunday Afternoon in the Park," was inspired by the doves’ celebration of the saguaro blooms in Usery Mountain Regional Park. The title is twofold in meaning; this moment was, indeed, captured on a Sunday, but it also invokes feeling of a person feeding the birds while sitting on a park bench on a leisurely Sunday afternoon.
Painting measures 20x16” and is created with watercolor paint on 2” cradled Aquabord, which does not require glass or framing for display. The sides have been stained black. It ships FREE.
Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.
This 12x12" watercolor was inspired by the incredible beauty of Canyon de Chelly in northeast Arizona. I was amazed to see that people still call this amazing place home, and wished I could join them.
Painting is created with watercolor paint on 2” cradled Aquabord, which does not require glass or framing. The sides have been stained black. It ships FREE.
Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.
I took the photo that inspired this painting in the Painted Desert at Petrified Forest National Park. This original painting measures 14x11” and is sold in a white mat that brings the overall size to 16x20”. The painting was created using watercolor paint on acid free, cold press heavyweight 100% cotton 140 lb. Arches watercolor paper. It ships FREE.
About this piece:
When I was a child, I had a book of the U.S. national parks. I was always enchanted with the idea of the petrified forest, but didn’t see it until I was almost 40 years old. Those transformed logs didn’t disappoint, but what also captivated and surprised me was the brightly colored, undulating landscape of the Painted Desert, also preserved in the park. I returned a couple of months ago and took more photos, the result of which is this painting. If you know me, you know I love irony, and the fact that I painted the “painted” desert is pretty satisfying to me in that respect, too. :-)
Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.
This 16x12” watercolor, entitled "Old Pueblo Oasis," was inspired by a photo I took at Agua Caliente Park.
Painting is created with watercolor paint on paper and sold in a white mat that brings the overall size to 20x16”. It ships FREE.
Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.
The tree that inspired this painting can be found at Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, Arizona. Boyce Thompson is a beautiful wonderland of exotic and native plants. When I happened upon this stunningly twisted tree I thought how nice it would be to just curl up amongst its branches with a book and enjoy the beauty of its sinewy limbs for a good long while. I love it when nature is so imaginative.
This original watercolor painting measures 14x10” and is sold in a white mat that brings the overall size of the piece to 16x20”. The painting was created using watercolor paint on acid free, cold press 300 lb. Arches watercolor paper. FREE shipping!
Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.
This landscape painting is from a photo I captured at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park outside of Payson, Arizona. The natural bridge is said to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world, and it is truly a marvel to behold. This steady stream was making its way over the top of the bridge, forming a rainbow as it caught the morning light across the bridge’s opening. This is the view looking west from the top of the bridge.
Item measures 5”x7” and is painted on high-quality 300 lb. cold pressed acid free Arches art paper. It comes matted in a white mat that brings the overall size of the piece to 8x10”. Shipping is free.
Colors of artwork may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of work. Copyrights remain with artist.
This 8x20" watercolor, entitled "‘T’ View," was inspired by a sunset I caught right outside my door in Tempe, Arizona.
Painting is created with watercolor paint on Arches 140 lb. watercolor paper. It is offered for purchase unframed and ships FREE.
Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.
In 1887, the Chiricahua Apaches were held as prisoners of war in Alabama. They were kept along the Mobile River, on swampy ground, in dense pine woodlands. Longing for the light, they ached for their Arizona home. Some of the men climbed to the tops of the trees just to see the sky.
The Sonoran Desert is a place of light, above, beyond, and before anything else. The open skies and the otherworldly landscape drew me in when I first met it, and my mind relaxed and felt free. Coming from the Midwest where it was rare to have the ability to see for miles, when I am in the desert, I feel like someone took the lid off of my cage.
Sometimes the light is subdued, like it was this February day as I hiked along the spine of Brown Mountain in Tucson Mountain Park. It is, of course, often relentless. Even on a cloudy day, though, there is almost always a patch of blue in that expansive Arizona sky if you look hard enough – and I love that.
Living in Arizona, I often found myself encountering that bit of “blue sky.” Sometimes I made a point of looking for the azure above; Other times, I found it in the people around me. I can only imagine how elusive these both must have seemed to the Chiricahuas in that gray swamp, so far from their ancestral home.
Now living in California, I admit that sometimes I get busy and forget to look for the blue sky. It’s true that there are more clouds here, but there’s still a lot of sunshine, too - both literal and figurative. Looking back to this painting is a good way to remind myself of that.
This original painting measures 10.5×16” and comes in a white mat, bringing the final measurement to 18×24”. It was created using watercolor paint on acid free, cold press heavyweight 100% cotton Arches watercolor paper. It ships free.
Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.
Artist’s Statement
Safety and magic rarely intersect. I am often cautioned against hiking alone, but I never lack company when in the presence of saguaros, hoodoos, mountains, trees, and bees. The moments I spend by myself in nature are as important as the paint I use to coat my brushes, filling me with beauty, inspiration, wonder, and peace. Back in the studio, photographs never quite capture the enchantment or grandeur of my experience. My personal challenge as an artist is to create scenes that convey my perception of the world and transport the viewer to that magnificent moment made permanent.
About the Artist
Teressa Lynn Jackson was born in Enid, Oklahoma, and grew up in the Louisville, Kentucky, suburb of New Albany, Indiana. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from Bellarmine University in 1998. Following graduation, Ms. Jackson spent a summer studying Byzantine mosaics and frescoes in Italy with the State University of New York.
Ms. Jackson enjoyed a fulfilling 15-year career in the Louisville-area not-for-profit sector prior to returning to her creative roots. In fall 2016, Teressa sold her home and most of her possessions and spent a year traveling, connecting with beautiful places and experiences and using those adventures to inform and relaunch her lifelong need to create. In late 2017, Teressa and her husband made their new home in the Sonoran Desert. Ms. Jackson’s work has been shown in a number of juried and non-juried art exhibitions over the past twenty-five years, and she has been the recipient of several awards for her artwork.
A full artist curriculum vitae can be viewed on my “About the Artist” page.