Fresh Start for Two Local Artists

Fresh Start for Two Local Artists

By Mandy Marksteiner

On November 19^th from 5-7 pm, two artists who will be welcomed into Karen Wray Fine Art Gallery at their holiday open house and reception. Their work couldn’t be more different: Janice Parker Muir paints landscapes that transport the viewer to a peaceful place and Pat Soran is a master woodworker who makes wooden vases and jewelry boxes. But they do have one thing in common… they’re both reinventing themselves.

Pat Soran sitting at a desk that he made

Pat Soran is a retired nuclear engineer who has found a new side to himself through woodworking. He said, “Though I am an engineer at heart, I find that designing graceful, creative wooden objects has brought out a new side of me that I did not know existed.”

He first became interested in woodworking many years ago when he needed a relaxing hobby to help him unwind from his stressful job. He made furniture for his family. When his daughter got married he fashioned a bed as a wedding gift, and later made a rocking cradle when the couple had their first baby.

After retirement he brought his woodworking to a more artistic level by applying to a two-year woodworking course at the Northwestern Woodworking Studio in Portland, Oregon. Gary Rogowski, a regular contributor to Fine Woodworking magazine, taught the course. “It really opened my eyes to the artistic side of woodworking,” said Soran. “We were encouraged to see the lines and angles of the product and to stretch our imaginations to the beauty of the finished product.”

Upon completing the course, Soran became an accredited Master Woodworker.

Being a part of an art gallery is like being in a whole new world. “It’s interesting to be in the same room with well known artists like Sec Sandoval, Janice Parker Muir, Richard Swenson and Karen Wray. I like it!”

“I’m pleased that Karen is going to carry my pastels,” said Janice Parker Muir, who is well known for her landscapes in oils, pastels and acrylics.  “It’s motivational for me because I’m going through a major transition phase in my life.”

Even though the Muir’s fresh start is a result of events that were out of her control, she is open to the next stage of her artistic career.

Last year Janice’s studio was flooded four times and her rotator cuff surgery was unsuccessful, which means she will now have to overcome physical limitations to create art.

“The way I’ve done art in the past – I can’t do it anymore,” she said. “I’m not sure where I’m going from here, as far as my style. I have to remain true to my emotional connection to the environment, the sky and nature. That’s still part of who I am. I’m just not sure what it’s going to look like.”

She plans to get back into the studio on the first of the year. “The new year will truly be a new start.”

The community is invited to see Muir’s original pastels and Soran’s sculpted wooden boxes and vessels at the Holiday Open House from 5-7 pm on November 19^th at Karen Wray Fine Art Gallery, 2101 Trinity Drive, Suite B-2. 

There will also be exciting door prizes, refreshments and new artwork with lower prices for gift giving by Secundino Sandoval, David A. Trujillo, Richard Swenson, Melissa Bartlett, Sue Ellen Hains, Lene Bryson, Bhasweti Gewhas, and Karen Wray. The Exhibit will continue through February.

The Fuller Lodge will Be showing children's art next week

The Magic Flute at the Santa Fe Opera

Last Saturday Quinn and I went to opening night of The Magic Flute at the Santa Fe Opera to celebrate Quinn's birthday (which was about a month ago). It was the first time I've seen The Magic Flute, or been to the Santa Fe Opera, so it was a great experience. 

It's so cool to drive down a windy desert road to get to the opera. The stage is curved and the back is open, so when we sat down we saw the sun set over the mountains. As it got dark, fireflies were twinkling around the colorful birds that they had set up. 

I was surprised at how funny the opera was. Especially the opening scene where the prince (gosh, I left my program in the car.... and I forgot all the characters' names!) was struggling in a giant snake's mouth. Three women came out and saved him and then spent the next five minutes arguing over who should stay and look over him - because he was so good looking. 

I think, or at least I gather from hearing about other people's trips to the opera, that the Santa Fe Opera likes to mix and match their costumes, using different time periods. In this case, it made it really obvious what different characters would be like. The Queen of the Night and her ladies were dressed in lavish full dresses, like Queen Victoria. The bird catcher, Pappageno, was wearing a baseball cap and a t-shirt and dorky shorts that came mid-calf - he was just a regular guy. The bad guy, a guard who was constantly trying to rape the heroine, was dressed like a Nazi. The people who were in the hall of justice were dressed like founding fathers, or puritans, and in their scenes there was a big table that took up most of the stage that reminded me of paintings of the signing of the Declaration of Independence or the Last Supper. In contrast, the hero and heroine were dressed very simply. 

I've listened to The Magic Flute, but it wasn't until I watched it with the lovely benefit of having a translation right in front of me, that I could make a connection between the music and the characters. The Queen had by far the most virtuosic part. I noticed that when she really started singing her complicated high pitched runs, she was in the process of trying to get someone to do her bidding. The first time she was convincing the hero to rescue her daughter. She said, if you do this, she can be yours forever, and after saying "forever"she just went off with her voice. The prince was just nodding, like you do when someone's talking and talking. Anyway, those high notes were very convincing because the prince did what she asked. 

But then later, she did the exact same thing when she was trying to talk her daughter into stabbing the leader of the hall of justice. She sang the same high notes, but they sounded a little more desperate and crazy this time. 

Anyway, we had a great time!

Jackie's Dream - In Memoriam

I just wanted to share Michelle Stump's newest blog post. She's made a new greeting card in memory of Dr. Kristine Weaver, a vet from Los Alamos, MN.

Jackie's Dream - In Memoriam

Nicholas Straight's art blog

Nicholas Straight is a friend of mine from high school.  Although he could probably take or leave a lot of classes in school, he had a single-minded obsessive drive to make it as an artist. It was very cool.  And so I can't help but get excited to see that he's still making art and finding opportunities.  Anyway, take a look at his blog: http://nicholasstraight.blogspot.com/2010/06/hot-off-presses.html

Plein Air Pastel show in Eldorado this weekend

Sally Hayden Von Conta and Janet Shaw Amtmann will be showing their work together as part of the Eldorado Studio Tour this Saturday and Sunday (May 15th and 16th) from 10-5.

My husband bought me one of Sally Hayden Von Conta's pieces for my birthday last year. I really like her work.

They will be located at Studio 41, 16 Herrada Rd., Santa Fe, NM 87508.

Melissa Bartlett discusses the importance of composition

Before doing anything else, Melissa Bartlett spends a lot of time figuring out the composition of her pieces.

In her opinion, if you have a strong composition, it makes a big difference.  People will be drawn to it. But if you have a bad composition, nothing will save it.

This is how Bartlett described a good composition: "The eye is drawn through the painting. There's some drama.  A little unexpected pattern that's unusual or eye catching."

It can be a little mysterious, but once you understand this concept the little details aren't as important.  The best way to develop a sense of good artistic composition is to keep your eyes open and to experiment.

Bartlett was at an occupational therapy (in addition to being an artist she is an occupational therapist at an elementary school) conference where they had to sit at long tables with white table cloths. On the tables were glasses filled with cheap hard candies.

She spent the entire time composing pictures of the candies in her mind. She said, when it was time to leave, "I dumped them in my purse and spent the morning experimenting.  Taking photos."

Anyone who saw her dump the candy into her purse might assume that he has an addiction to sugar. But really, this is the type of thing that artists do.

In Bartlett's case, she doesn't really paint candy.  She likes to do landscapes and animals.  She said, "Every once in awhile the light will attract me to something different (like the candies). It's what art is.  You look at something in a different way.  Get a different view of something.  Take something ordinary and make it startling."

Although Bartlett is the type of artist who works quickly and usually has more ideas than she has time to complete, there have been a couple of times when she didn't know what to do with a piece and it slowed her down.

"One time I gave my husband a certificate that said I'd do a picture of a fish that he caught," she explained.  Bartlett's husband loves to fly fish and she spends a lot of time sketching on the side of a river while he fishes. "I dragged my feet for a year. I couldn't wrap my mind around it.  Finally, I decided it was a still life.  But it still took a long time.  [In the photo] the fish was on mud, and that was ugly.  So I took pictures of pebbles in water."

Melissa Bartlett's artwork is available at the Karen Wray Gallery of Fine Art.