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Harriet Corbett graduated from Concordia University, Montreal, with a BFA in graphic design and illustration. After leaving college, she chose a different course and spent the next twenty years at sea as a field biologist studying marine mammals. Her artist’s eye and powers of observation served her well in this field. She still supplements her income illustrating numerous books, posters and brochures depicting marine mammals, and also paints animal portraits in watercolor. Somewhere along the way, she acquired the nickname “Rox,” which is how she signs her pictures.
In the early nineties, Harriet was an artist-in-residence at the Ucross Foundation in north-central Wyoming, and she began using charcoal to do large drawings of the interiors of old-fashioned diners.
“Charcoal has a richness that I have not found in other black and white media. Working from white paper into dark shadows, I can create a wide range of tones between black and white, but because of the warmth of charcoal, it is like working in color.”
While at Ucross, Harriet got to know the local ranchers in the area and was invited along to help gather and brand cattle. She worked for the Ucross Land and Cattle Company for two lambing seasons, and became more involved in ranching activities. Harriet traded the ocean for the high plains, and moved to Wyoming full-time in 1993. This is when she started making charcoal drawings of brandings. These drawings have won multiple awards, including the People’s Choice Award and First Place in the Cowgirl Up! Art Invitational.
“What I aim for in my drawings is to capture a still moment in what is otherwise a frenetic ballet of people, animals, and dust.”
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