Watercolors, retablos & oils
I was born in the San Angel District of Mexico City in 1947. Both of my parents were American artists. I grew up identifying with Mexico and the southwestern desert. My grandmother’s adobe house with mud floors was dark inside even on the hottest day. I started drawing pictures as a child and never stopped. In my grandmother’s living room hung a painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe which she said had been owned by Maximillian and Carlota. I think that my early familiarity with the Guadalupe influenced me to paint icons later in life. I did not grow up Catholic, but I was always interested in visual representations of the saints and of archetypes. I attended the University of Arizona, majored in art, and graduated with honors. In 1971, living in Tucson, I painted a portrait of my sister surrounded by saints. The next year I moved to Santa Fe where I encountered the New Mexican tradition of painting ” santos” or “retablos”, paintings of saints on wood. It was a natural medium for me, and I have been making retablos since 1974.
I have my own style but I use traditional historic sources for the saint attributes. I add my personal world of landscape, plants, animals and humor. I am drawn to nature and the transcendence of sacred images.
6 La Vega, Galisteo, NM | (505)466-2765
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