An artists reception and opening will be held Friday April 23 from 5-8 pm and Saturday April 24 from 10-3 pm at Karen Wray Fine Art, 2101 Trinity Drive, Suite B-2 in Los Alamos. There, people can meet the six local artists in the show: Sandoval, Karen Wray, Melissa Bartlett, David Trujillo, Fran Stoval and Richard Swenson.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that every wall in Sec Sandoval’s home is covered in paintings. Many of them are of flowers.
“My wife loved flowers,” Sec Sandoval said. “Before a show she used to hide all the paintings of flowers under the bed or in a closet.”
Sandoval’s wife passed away almost a year ago after battling cancer for 29 years. Even though he doesn’t normally get attached to his pieces, he doesn’t want to let go of the flower paintings.
“I feel like I would be giving my wife’s things away,” he said and then added, “I still haven’t cleaned out her closets. That’s going to take years – she loved to shop!”
Sandoval used to do between 12 and 15 shows in the tri state area each year but he hasn’t shown his artwork in over two years.
“I had great difficulty at first,” was how he described his creative process after his wife died. “I was very slow. I slowed down to one or two paintings per week. At first the paintings were very moody, but I wanted to get back to the bright colors.”
He is now starting to bring his work to galleries. 35 of Sandoval’s newest watercolors will be on display at the Karen Wray Fine Art Gallery for the Spring Art Stroll.
Wray opened her gallery on March 13, 2009. She wanted a place to display her oil paintings and exhibiting fine artwork from established local artists and talented new artists. Karen also uses part of the space as her art studio and frequently can be seen working on her newest paintings or teaching others.
Collaborating with Ken Nebel at Village Arts to revitalize our art community, Wray’s gallery will compliment both Village Arts and the Art Center at Fuller Lodge.
Swenson has created over 3,000 scrap-metal sculptures. His subjects are dragons, metal fish that you can mount on the fireplace, jackrabbits, seals, pigs and ballerinas. He will have five pieces for sale at the show.
Trujillo started sculpting when he retired. Even though he has only been doing it since last June, he has already completed 43 sculptures and sold four.
Swenson became Trujillo’s mentor when he bought a house across the street. Since June, Swenson has taught him to develop his ideas, take car engines apart and weld the statues together.
“My style is different,” said Trujillo. “He does great big pieces and mine are smaller and more whimsical.”
Trujillo’s creativity is fueled by his extensive world travel. He has been to 29 countries and he said, “Everywhere we go we get a painting.”
Using transmission parts, camshafts, springs, rocks and steel saws, Trujillo has created statues of Kokopelli, Saint James slaying a dragon, horses and fish. His first dynamic piece is a life-sized corybustard, the largest flying bird in the world.
Bartlett, who has pieces by Trujillo and Sandoval in her living room, explained what it means to be a Los Alamos artist. “People get to know you in a town this small,” she said. “The land is so powerful. There’s so much to look at. New Mexico is an intense, spiritual place and you get drawn into that.”
“I am attracted by what the light is doing,” she said. “The play of light and dark.”
Her pastel of flamingos standing in a sunset demonstrates her mastery of light and dark. In it, the reflection of the sun on the water is pink while the shadowed flamingos appear to be black.
Animals have always played a large role in Bartlett’s art. Early in her career she co-authored a book with Jack Volhard called What all Good Dogs Should Know.
People from all around the country commission her to paint portraits of their pets. The portraits are usually gifts or memorials. “I try to make something that’s a good painting, and not just a likeness.”
Stoval is another Los Alamos artist who does special commissions. She especially enjoys doing stained glass projects for clients that want to emphasize a certain color. She shows her stained glass, mosaics and pastels in her gallery, located at 650 Canyon Road.
The art stroll is a part of the Earth Day Festivities sponsored by PEEC. This year’s theme is "The Difference a Decade Makes." There will be other Art Stroll events at the Mesa Public Library, Village Arts and UPEX.
Karen Wray Fine Art
2101 Trinity Drive Suite B-2, Los Alamos, NM
(505) 660-6382
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