Contemporary Texas Regionalist, Marfa, TX


Mary Baxter (born 1963 in Lubbock, Texas) has always had a keen interest in art, particularly as a result of family camping trips to the Chihuahuan Desert. She pursued her passion at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she studied painting and advanced printmaking and earned her Bachelor of Science degree.

Fully self-financing her studies, Baxter worked across the country on the high goal polo circuit. Baxter moved to the Big Bend region when she leased a ranch Southwest of Marfa for raising cattle and training horses. It was there that she began to see the beauty of the rugged desert and interpret it in her paintings. After several years, she was able to free herself of ranch duties to paint full-time. She relocated to Marathon and opened the Baxter Studio and Gallery in the old Shoemake Hardware Building. There, she continued to produce and sell her works for ten years.


Baxter currently resides and works in Marfa, using a vintage Silver Streak trailer to live in more remote locations where she creates some of her smaller, plein air paintings. She frequently gathers ideas and sketches for larger pieces which she finishes later in her studio. This approach has helped Baxter truly convey the beauty of the Texas landscape.