December 7, 2020
If you’ve ever stepped foot into a First United Bank lobby, driven past a First United Bank billboard or seen a First United Bank advertisement —you’ve likely been lucky enough to experience the work of Laura Lewis. No one captures the “peculiar beauty that is found in West Texas” quite like Laura Lewis, and as an organization that strives to promote The Spirit of West Texas, her art is the perfect foundation for the First United Bank brand. We proudly call Lewis a friend and share her excitement in the release of her new book “At Home on the Great Plains of Texas: The Paintings of Laura Lewis.”
Set to release in mid-December, “At Home on the Great Plains of Texas” opens with a foreword by longtime columnist and Texas observer Joe Holley, and Lewis’s paintings are interspersed with vignettes by local writer Christina Mulkey. Lewis says of her art, “I am uncomfortable painting mountains, because they get in the way of the view” – a statement that many that know and love the Great Plains can connect with. Her new book, available for purchase at www.tamupress.com, captures those views perfectly.
We are honored to be able to showcase Laura Lewis’s art in our Banking Centers across West Texas and celebrate with her as her next dream comes to fruition with the release of her new book. Please join us in supporting this outstanding local artist.
HOW TO PURCHASE
At Home on the Great Plains of Texas is available for purchase on the Texas A&M University Press website www.tamupress.com for $30.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Early in life, Lewis had the benefit of private portrait lessons from Glenna Goodacre in her home before she transitioned to sculpture. By the early 90s Lewis began making pastel paintings of the Great Plains of Texas, and in 2001 she finally realized her dream of being a full-time professional artist. Lewis captures the land and skyscapes of West Texas and the Panhandle. With works in the permanent collection of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Art, the John and Bobby Nau Collection of Texas Art, and in several corporate collections, she recently contributed the cover image and other paintings to Of Texas Rivers and Texas Art.