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This year, New Mexico Creates has been actively
inviting artists to participate in the program, which
promotes the artists and artisans of New Mexico to
the
world. This week we are featuring four painters we've
met recently, from Santa Fe, whose individual styles
give just a hint how broad the world of painting can be.
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Kat Sawyer
Kat Sawyer calls her pieces "LandEscapes", which is
at least a double entendre, as she offers her view of
beautiful landscapes as an escape, while having had
the experience of escaping herself into that particular
setting in order to create it for us. As she says, "My
paintings are meant to be a break from all that is loud
and fast and artificial."
Kat's father had a love of science and her mother had
a love of nature, both of which influenced her deeply.
An actress, yoga
instructor and artist, Kat paints both in the studio and
en plein air, in nature. She was heavily influenced by
the California impressionists, echoes of which can be
seen in this painting, Three Cranes, First
Light.
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Dennis Flynn
Dennis Flynn's wonderful painting Tracey
Emin
was shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in
Fort Collins, Colorado, where it was voted "most
popular" by show goers, and at the International
Biennial of Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy. For
over 40 years, Dennis has been showing his
paintings throughout the world; his work is in
collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Minneapolis Art
Institute. Often provocative, his work offers a unique
perspective on what may appear to be mundane-
seeming subjects, causing the viewer to linger for
some time to consider the nuances hidden within.
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Sandra Duran Wilson
Sandra Duran Wilson has lived in the southwest all of
her life. As was the case for Kat Sawyer. Sandra was
influenced both by science and the arts from an early
age, as her father was a doctor and her mother's
relatives were artists. Her fascination with the
melding of both ways of approaching the world is
evident in her dreamlike, creative mixed media
paintings. As in Web of Life
(above),
Sandra uses unusual paper and materials, then
layers them with paint and other substances to create
a painting with deep subtext. Sandra is generous
teacher of her craft, participating in many workshops
throughout the state. Image Transfer
Workshop, a book she has co-authored on the
subject, will be available at the end of July.
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Dan McBride |
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Over the past five decades, a great amount of
knowledge has come Dan McBride's way. The Santa
Fe artist brings every experience to the canvas, from
his studies in Los Angeles and New York, Britain, Italy
and France, to those spent over the past 25 years
attending Pueblo Dances. There isn't just one
thought that dominates each painting, but rather an
outburst of expression that occurs when he
approaches the canvas or paper.
Born in Safford, Arizona, Dan received a Master of
Fine Arts degree from Arizona State University, where
he studied for a time with Fritz Scholder. Of Scholder,
he says, "He painted fast and I paint fast. It keeps the
spontaneity and stops me from thinking too much,
because if I think too much, it's over." The results are
striking abstract works such as Corn Dance 1,
Santo Domingo (above) and Blue Deer.
As with his Pueblo and Koshare series
of paintings, McBride's observations come together to
create his abstract work. As he says, "When people
ask me how long it took to make a particular painting,
well it's really the number of years I've been painting."
See More Artwork by Dan McBride
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