Parsons Gallery of the West, in Taos, New Mexico, excitedly presents the annual Holiday Show, featuring around 80 traditional Taos art works from approximately 21 artists. Show attendees can expect to see a mix of small- to large-scale works in a variety of mediums.
Melinda Littlejohn, Deer with Thistle, oil on board, 9 x 12”
“This event is a great chance to catch up with our artists and community, enjoying a warm fire, hot cider, holiday treats and great art,” says gallery director Ashley Rolshoven. “The building where Parsons Gallery of the West calls home is the perfect place for creative spirits to gather, as it was once Victor Higgins’ studio in the 1920s, and later became one of Taos’ first galleries, the Blue Door, in the 1950s.”
Those lucky enough to show in such a historic gallery setting include artists like Melinda Littlejohn, who will display several paintings for the Holiday Show. Her piece Deer with Thistle, a still life of a ceramic jar with a painted deer and thistle cutting, perfectly reflects the artist’s desire to “reflect a calm—where the work whispers, not shouts,” she says. “[In this piece], I am inspired by the traditional design of the heart line in the deer as well as the botanicals found outside my studio door.
Nicholas Coleman, Cree Camp at Dusk, oil on linen, 30 x 40”
Jerry Jordan, Memories for Tomorrow, oil on canvas, 26 x 36”
I have a particular love of the wild plants found in the Southwest and the high desert, especially the beauty of thistles.”
From artist Katelyn Betsill Del Vecchio, show attendees will see paintings like Passerbys, an up-close view of a prickly pear cactus with monarch butterflies, and a background of what the artist calls her signature “moody landscape.” She says, “I wanted to return to my roots a little bit. When I first began oil painting, I only painted the Chihuahuan Desert, but as I have grown as an artist, I began painting figures and other Western landscapes. I wanted to pay homage to my beginning, my home.”
Katelyn Betsill Del Vechio, Passerbys, oil on canvas, 22 x 28”
She explains of Passerbys, “As fall arrives in the Big Bend and seasons change, the monarch butterfly migrates through the Big Bend towards Mexico. It feels heavily symbolic to my own season of life as a new mother, and hopefully to others experiencing changing seasons in life. We grow and adapt, but having the ability to return back to what is familiar is sometimes vital to our survival, just like the monarchs.”
Scott Yeager, Winter Range, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”
Scott Yeager will bring to the show several paintings with subject matter he’s most known for: Western landscapes, wildlife and sporting art taken from his traveling experiences. For the show, Yeager will feature works of his travels in New Mexico. “I have always been inspired by the paintings of the Taos Society of artists, and I am excited to finally share paintings from the areas that inspired them,” the artist shares.
John Moyers, Navajo Way, acrylic on panel, 16 x 12”
Ron Rencher, In the Land of the Tiwa, oil on linen, 30 x 40”
His show piece Winter Range, a snowy scene featuring grazing elk, is a compilation of many experiences throughout the artist’s life. “I spend many days hiking and painting in the winter range of elk,” Yeager explains. “When temperatures drop and snows are deep, elk spend much of their day feeding. The trails they make through the snow-covered sage generate light and shadows that have always been a favorite winter subject. In this painting, the mountain range in the distance is ironically the elk summer range.”
In addition to these outstanding examples, the Small Works Holiday Show will have masterpieces like Nicholas Coleman’s romantic landscape scene Cree Camp at Dusk; Jerry Jordan’s bold landscape and figurative painting Memories for Tomorrow; and John Moyer’s Native American figurative piece Navajo Way, among many others.
For the opening day on December 9, Parsons Gallery will host a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. —
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