“When Leroy Garcia, owner of Blue Rain Gallery, first invited me to show with his gallery he told me he was only interested in representing original paintings. He was familiar with my hand-pulled, limited-edition serigraphs, which he saw for many years at Andrews Pueblo Potter & Gallery in Albuquerque, who also represented Tammy Garcia when her career was first developing,” says artist Doug West. He made serigraph editions for about 25 years, a level of mastery of serigraphy that evolved into a “clean” graphic style depicting scenes of the New Mexico landscape.
Facing Ahead, oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in.
After years of printmaking, however, West desired a new creative challenge, eventually leading into his career as an oil painter.
“I admired many of the Taos founders’ work, along with contemporary plein air artists,” he says. “I began wanting to have a more painterly look. But in a few years I slowly realized the smooth fades of colors and depth of field that defined my serigraphs was actually my signature creative style and voice. This was my way of representing what I revere in nature.”
The Seventh Dawn, oil on canvas, 24 x 40 in.
West is now renowned for his oils of panoramic Southwestern skies and desert terrain, rendered in the artist’s soft, smooth style. His recent paintings To Pedernal and The Seventh Dawn appear as though velvety green blankets have been draped over the mountains and foothills. In Facing Ahead, puffy cumulonimbus clouds release a torrential downpour in the distance.
“Doug West has a way of capturing the Southwest that feels both expansive and deeply personal. His skies are full of movement and light, and his landscapes carry that quiet, meditative quality you only find when you’re really out on the land,” says Leah Garcia, marketing director at Blue Rain Gallery. “There’s a timelessness to his work that resonates. It reminds us of the stillness, the space and the beauty that surrounds us here in New Mexico…We’re proud to share Doug’s vision and to celebrate the way he honors this place through his painting.”
Our Fleeting Times, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in.
A solo show of new works by West will be held at Blue Rain Gallery from October 10 to 21, with a reception the first day, from 5 to 7 p.m.
“I wanted to experiment and stretch my creativity,” West says of this latest body of work. “I paint to satisfy myself and to enjoy the creative challenges of making an idea come to fruition, working it until it is the best I am capable of at this point in time.” —
To Pedernal, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 in.
Blue Rain Gallery 544 S. Guadalupe Street » Santa Fe, NM 87501 » (505) 954-9902 » www.blueraingallery.com
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