Pat Siegner lives with her husband on a cattle ranch in Southeastern Oregon. Her paintings are about her life there. She fell in love with big skies and wide open landscapes with patterns and shapes in the hills cast by the natural light. She took in vivid sunrises and sunsets during family horseback rides through the hills.

But in 1987, while moving cattle on their ranch, Pat had a terrible accident on horseback. She sustained a C-5, C-6 spinal injury. After seven months of physical therapy, Pat was able to walk again with the aid of a walker and regained 50 percent of the use of her hands.

Gradually she tried to paint again, but had trouble using a brush, so she turned to photography. So she launched a line of postcards, and taught art to delinquent boys. Within four years, a local gallery owner prompted her to paint again. So, she started with watercolor crayons because she could handle them better than a brush and worked them in combination with a pen.

These new works were manageable and flowed gracefully from her heart. She began to feel whole again as an artist. Pat was drawn to bright vivid colors for her new paintings. These best depicted the rhythmical shapes and patterns she saw in the mountains, surrounded by big skies. These simple elements in her home environment continue to speak to her and inspire her landscapes. Sometimes when she looks at the hills she can see the trees dancing.

See more of Pat's work at her website: patsiegner.com