A while back, I suspended posting to my blog when I closed my gallery a few months after the pandemic began. It was just meant to be a pause and once I sorted myself out, I would begin posting regularly, more regularly than before I thought. It didn’t happen.
The pandemic affected people in different ways. I lost six family members within a year, not all from Covid, but still, they are gone. Others lost more as well as their livelihoods and homes. I was lucky. The college classes I teach quickly transitioned to an online platform as did my private painting classes. I thought I’d finally have time to paint more but found I was busier than ever with Zoom book studies and devotionals in the Baha’i community, and with preparing for live 3-hour classes each week. Oh, and we also found an abandoned dog who required a lot of time and money to nurse back to health. His name is Smudge and he was definitely worth it.
Now largely on the other side, we are still here, I am still painting and teaching and we have resumed our in-person prayer breakfast each month which helps us build bonds with our neighbors. Those bonds have become much more important in our lives as we have learned how quickly we can become isolated due to circumstances beyond our control. Now we know just how much we all need each other and want that connection.
I hope you all came out on this side of the Pandemic in ways that are better for you than before.
Now that I have resumed many of my former activities, I thought I’d catch you up on what has happened in the interim.
Beginning in 2021, I began showing my work at Agave Artists Gallery in Mesilla but had to leave after a year due to overcommitments. I transitioned to showing in Mesilla Valley Fine Art Gallery where my work is now. This is a coop gallery that has been around for more than 20 years and is open 7 days a week. It’s a nice group of artists from the area and I’m glad I’m there. This month, I am the featured artist (which means my work hangs over the fireplace near the entrance).
Recently our Border Artists group showed work in RioBravoFineArt Gallery in Truth or Consequences. It is a huge space with a lot of art and I was thrilled that a good friend liked one of my favorite paintings, Just Peachy, enough to buy it. So, it will now hang in her lovely home that’s filled with wonderful artwork. Eduardo Alicia, the gallery owner, is a delightful person and still has some paintings from my Nesting Instinct series in his gallery.
The latest news is that I’m now in a new gallery in El Paso, TX, called La Mecha Contemporary. It is a non-profit member-run space and has a mentoring component for artists just starting or re-starting their careers, called launch fellows. The gallery members are there to help them fledge. It’s a wonderful space with good vibes in an old building in The Falstaff Arts complex. We just had an inaugural group show and I’ll be having a solo show there starting next April. I will let you know more about it as I figure it out myself.
Meanwhile, summer is here and I’m painting and continuing to offer my private oil painting class in my studio. If you or someone you know is interested in taking classes, please let me know. They are at the awkward time of 10 am Wednesday mornings.
I can’t promise I’ll be any better at posting than I have been over the last few years, but I will try to keep you updated periodically on all the goings on. Please let me know what is happening in your life as well.