To say that the past year has been a rough one for Joe Anna Arnett would be an understatement. Her husband of 31 years, artist James Asher, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the fall of 2015. Just as the couple was dealing with that news, a black widow spider bit Arnett’s foot, as she stepped into the shower. “The pain was horrible,” she says. “There are neurotoxins coursing through your body, and there’s nothing you can do for the pain. It was miserable.”

But instead of dwelling on the difficulties, Arnett decided to look for the good. Some days, she finds it just across the railroad tracks from the cancer center, where Asher receives his treatments. Once he’s settled in for a four-hour chemotherapy session, she scoots across the tracks with her easel and spends the time painting.

Some days, she finds it by spending a few hours outdoors with her plein air painting group, a small cadre of friends, who take turns picking a location where everyone can meet and quietly paint together.

Joe Anna Arnett

Pale Peonies
Oil
12″x16″
“Peonies are one of my favorite flowers. In my high-country garden, I grow about 10 varieties. This is an early bloomer and so soft in color. I paint these outside and inside and never tire of them. They almost boast with beauty. In fact, in the Victorian language of flowers, they were assigned the character of ‘haughty.’ Hey, that’s OK with me; they deserve it.”

Joe Anna Arnett

Lady Hamilton
Oil
10″x14″
“Lady Hamilton is another David Austin rose that blooms beautifully in my high-desert garden. I love that it is not quite orange, not quite yellow. The variety of color is a delight to paint. The blossoms put on such a show. Lady Hamilton was a notorious character in British history, and this rose seems to suit her.”