Using timeless imagery of powerful women, sprawling country and scenes of magical surrealism that evoke not-so-distant times and places, Andrea Kowch has risen to be one of the leading figurative realists working today. The Michigan artist is a powerhouse of a painter who is comfortable working large and with complex compositions, and yet her work is also delicate, sensitive and willing to carefully embrace her audience with empathy and compassion. Here in these pages, viewers can step into Kowch's world to meet her strong-willed subjects, live in her gorgeous settings and explore her powerful themes of love, womanhood, strength and independence.