the league after work and on weekends. It didn’t take long for her to realize that fine art was her true calling but, when she went to her boss and told him that she was planning to go back to school and become a fine artist, he didn’t take her seriously. “He literally said that the company would pay for my therapy,” she laughs. Instead of taking him up on that offer, Arnett took a leave of absence and traveled. When she returned, she tendered her resignation and began to study at the Art Students League full-time. She laughs when she says she lived on tuna fish for several years trying to make it work, but she never regretted her decision. And within a matter of years, she had found gallery representation in Dallas, Texas and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and had decided to move back to the Southwest to be closer to her family. It was there that a gallery director introduced her to Asher. “She told me that he knew everything about art in the Southwest and that I should meet him,” Arnett says. But, when the two met for dinner, it was clear that their relationship would be more than just informational. “It was love at first sight for both of us,” she says. “I think it was over for both of us by the end of the first date.” Some friends worried that it would be hard for the two artists to coexist creatively, but that has never been an issue for the couple. “Jim has always been 1,000 percent supportive of everything I do,” Arnett says. “What we do is so very different. But the qualities of good art and good design are all the same—the principles of what you’re doing don’t change. Jim and I agree on most everything about that; we just don’t execute it the same way.” But Asher has certainly had an impact on her work. As a still life artist, Arnett spent most of her time working indoors. Asher, on the other hand, often worked outside. “I wanted to go out, too,” Arnett says. “So I started going with him and doing plein air painting. I wasn’t any good, but the more I worked on it, the more fun it became.” Now, Arnett says that her work outdoors has started to 62
ART of the WEST • January/February 2017
California Coast, oil, 9˝ by 12˝ “Very few places in the world are as paintable as the coast of California. This is a spot that countless artists have painted and will always paint. It is almost too perfect in its formation. I kept thinking, ‘Just do it the honor it deserves.’”