Born, raised, and educated in Virginia, Holly Sears now lives in Brooklyn, where she creates hypnotic visions of the natural world. This painting, "Big Water," is particularly arresting—like "The Peaceable Kingdom" by Edward Hicks fast-forwarded into a watery (climate-altered), humanless future. An exhibition of Sears's works opens today at Tria Gallery, New York.

Here's a detail view (the cats and birds are so compatible):