She graduated in 1987 from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she studied painting and advanced printmaking. Her degree was fully self-financed by working across the country on the high-goal polo circuit.

In 1995 she moved to a ranch an hour Southwest of Marfa, to help raise stocker yearlings and train horses, and it was there that she began to see the beauty and make paintings of the rugged desert. After several years she was able to quit the ranchwork and the training and trading of horses, and paint full-time.

Moving to Marathon in 2002, Baxter opened the Baxter Studio and Gallery in the old Shoemake Hardware building, where she continues to make and sell her work. She uses a vintage Silver Streak trailer that allows her to live in more remote locations, where the smaller paintings are done ‘en plein air’ and the ideas and sketches are gathered for the large paintings that will be finished in the studio.

An Anonymous Cedar
30"x40"



Late Summer Light
36"x32"



LV No 20
12"x12"



Chaos to Simplicity

48"x48"



Small Mesquite Glows
16"x16"



Pinto Canyon Road, Early
24"x72"