Seven years ago, Cynthia Reid left a successful career as a physician in North Carolina to pursue a passion for painting that had begun in earnest while she was practicing medicine.

In working with oil paints, Cynthia uses a palette knife technique that reflects her appreciation of the textures of the land.  She juxtaposes complementary, vibrant colors to recreate the joy and beauty of the natural world, with a special emphasis on the shifting of light and shadow.  Her inspiration comes from the endless variety of colors and shapes found in nature, as well as from man-made objects that are integrated into landscapes.

Cynthia’s style incorporates elements of both expressionistic and impressionistic traditions, although it also suggests the work of postimpressionistic painters such as Van Gogh and Cezanne. Despite these affinities, she does not try to copy any other painter’s style. Instead, she uses her palette knife to produce her own, distinctive look and feel.

Traveling and painting throughout the West, Cynthia gets a special feeling from the high desert Southwest, the spectacular mountains and grasslands of the Colorado Front Range, and the gardens of her Arizona home. Much of her work, especially landscapes featuring poppy and lavender fields, reflects memories of recent trips to Provence and the Loire Valley in France.  “I paint the patterns of nature and how it feels to be in a particular place,” she says.

Cynthia, who has studied with Kevin MacPherson and Diane Ainsworth, won first place as an emerging artist in the 2003 juried Members Show at the Sedona Arts Center, and she was one of six artists in the 2005 Sedona Artist Invitational at the Sedona Arts Festival. In addition, Cynthia was an invited artist at the 2006 Marilyn Sunderman Foundation "Color the Night Paris" event. 

An associate member of the Oil Painters of America, Cynthia is represented by Stoneheart Gallery in Evergreen, Colorado; Earthwood Collections in Estes Park, Colorado; and Lanning Gallery in Sedona, Arizona.