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.
I began painting when I was 6 years old in Sarasota, Florida. My mother, a landscape and portrait artist became my teacher. We'd have afternoon tea together and she would tell me about her day painting Florida landscapes. Listening to her and smelling that lovely scent of oil paint made me want to take her brushes and dip them into her oils and paint. And so it began.
When I was 14, I began to study seriously with Syd Solomon, an abstract expressionist, Hilton Leech, a renowned landscape watercolorist and later Marilyn Bendell, a famous portrait painter. A deep friendship developed with these artists during this time, and I was encouraged to show my work. I signed my name as "J. Shaw" and continue to do so today.
I received a BA English with minor in art and philosophy and a MA English literature. Many years later after nurturing a family, and pursuing careers in education, publishing and public relations, I retired and closed my advertising agency in Del Mar, Ca.
My idea of retirement was to return to paint in an artistic community surrounded by natural beauty and work with other inspiring artists. I find that pastels lend themselves to the earth tones, dusty roads, adobes, and mountains of New Mexico. International trips have provided me with the chance to explore new light, agricultural settings and the ancient hill towns of Umbria.
Recently, I returned to painting in oils, my original medium. I now carry both oils and pastel with me into the countryside and let the subject inspire me to work in either medium. My work carries with it the whispered teachings of many artists I have known, and the joy and excitement I feel when confronted with the natural world that is New Mexico.
