Jeri Desrochers “Next Up” Oil on Canvas

“Next Up” by Jeri Desrochers is a dynamic oil painting capturing a tense moment behind the chutes as a bull rider prepares for his ride. Rendered in the artist’s signature blend of vivid color and expressive brushwork, the composition focuses on two cowboys in close conversation—one leaning forward, the other positioned just above—both framed by the structural bars of the arena. Desrochers uses warm oranges and cool violets to heighten the emotional charge of the scene, a hallmark of her contemporary Western figurative work.

Painted on a gallery-wrapped canvas with the image extending cleanly over the edges, the piece is signed at lower left and titled and signed again on the verso. A striking addition for collectors of Southwestern or rodeo-inspired art.

CONDITION

In excellent condition overall, with no visible damage or repairs. The canvas remains tight, and the painted edges show only minimal handling.

DIMENSIONS 

36" × 24" × 1.5"

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: Jeri Desrochers (American, Contemporary)

Jeri Desrochers is a contemporary landscape and figurative painter based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, recognized for her vibrant depictions of the Mesilla Valley, the American Southwest, and Western ranching culture. Her paintings are distinguished by bold color harmonies, expressive brushwork, and a dynamic interplay between abstraction and representation.

Raised on a small family farm, Desrochers developed a lifelong connection to the land and the people who work it. Early explorations in watercolor and glass art eventually led her to oil painting, where she refined a distinctive technique combining transparent underlayers with richly textured impasto. This approach imbues her scenes—whether agricultural landscapes or intimate moments behind the rodeo chutes—with luminosity and emotional immediacy.

Desrochers’ work has been widely exhibited throughout New Mexico and Texas, including solo exhibitions such as Mesilla Valley Textures and Cultivating Color at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. Her paintings are held in numerous public and private collections, including the State of New Mexico’s Art in Public Places Program and the City of El Paso Public Art Program.

Working from her studio gallery in Las Cruces, Desrochers continues to explore the cultural and visual narrative of the Southwest, transforming familiar regional subjects into vibrant meditations on light, labor, and place.