Gallery With A Cause • Located in the New Mexico Cancer Center • Benefitting the NMCC Foundation
Please call gallery director Regina Held to arrange a private gallery tour, make a purchase, or ask any questions.
Biography
I began taking drawing and painting classes in 2004 at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces and continued until retiring in fall 2013, after 25 years as a university faculty member at NMSU. I had a teaching/research position in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business, where I specialized in sustainable and organic agriculture, crop diversification, small farm economics, and food system issues. My last two years at NMSU I held the M. Eugene Sundt Endowed Chair in the Honors College.
In spring 2014, I entered my first painting competition, winning a Best of Show and Purchase Award with a landscape painting, which is now hanging in the Eleventh Judicial District Court building in Aztec, NM. In 2022, I won the Wilson Hurley Enchantment Award for a plein air painting at Masterworks of New Mexico show. Also in 2021, I was featured in the Southwest Art Magazine article, “10 NM Artists to Watch.” I regularly participate in the Placitas Studio Tour, which is held on Mother’s Day weekend in May.
Artist Statement
The highlight of my week is always Tuesday morning, when I meet members of the plein air group, PALs (Plein Air Landscapers) to paint together. It is a joyful experience to get out and paint with good friends, catch up on each other’s lives, marvel at the beauty around us, and share our artistic interpretations. I’ve been a member of PALs since 2018, and I feel very comfortable trying many different approaches to painting in plein air, using different substrates, application techniques and tools. But the challenge every week remains daunting, to capture the effects of light on the landscape and represent the variety of colors that are expressed by the vegetation, topography, and season.
The plein air outings usually take no more than three hours, so learning to paint relatively fast has also been a challenge. Fourteen of the 26 paintings in this show are plein air paintings. I also like to paint larger and more slowly, in planned layers, and for that I go into the studio.
I feel very fortunate to live in a beautiful place, have the luxury to spend my time making art, and have good friends with whom to share this journey. The peace and satisfaction of artistic expression is truly a blessing.
