John Meister’s inspiration for his zoomed-in paintings of New Mexico botanicals comes from an unusual source: marine biology.
“I was going to be the next Jacques Cousteau. I had a bunch of saltwater aquariums and a pet octopus, and to me, the high desert environment reminds me a lot of coral reefs,” Meister says. “You have these beautiful fish and sea anemones and things living in this craggy environment. What I was drawn to in marine life is what I’m now drawn to in desert life: soft, colorful petals on flowers living amongst the thorns of cactus and rocky crags.”
High desert plants don’t always display the vibrant explosion of colors found on a coral reef. Depending on the season, they can look downright pitiful. You’ve got to wait for it. The artist likes this too.
Twist and Shout, oil, 16 x 24 in.
“They’ve got to survive some pretty nasty stuff, but when the high desert is showing off, it can be really beautiful,” he says.
At Legacy Gallery in Santa Fe, visitors will have a rare opportunity to see Meister’s paintings take shape during A Weekend with John Meister,a special event showcasing the artist’s latest work alongside live painting demonstrations. The event will take place on June 5 and 6. Throughout the weekend, guests are invited to talk to Meister as he demonstrates his process in real time, offering insight into his approach to composition, color and the ever-changing qualities of light.
Pink Vigas, oil, 16 x 12 in.
“If somebody walks up on me and I’m painting outside and I’ve just started, or I’m 30 minutes in, it looks like I’m not very good,” Meister says, chuckling. “Like with those desert blooms, you’ve got to wait for it. I always try to explain where I’m going, to tell about what my process is because people don’t always have time to stand there for three hours and watch (the painting) evolve.”
Passersby catching Meister starting a painting, and thinking he’s not very good, results from how he builds his realistic blooming desert plants on largely abstracted backgrounds. At the outset, they don’t look like much.
“One time when I was waking up, which is when I get lots of flash images of paintings or ideas, I got this idea for a cholla in front of this more colorful, bold, simplified, graphic background,” Meister explains. “I went to my studio that day and started painting that. It ended up with this big, bold, simplified, graphic background.”
Community, oil, 40 x 30 in.
The artwork introduced his 23 years of graphic design and illustration experience to his love of desert botanicals for the first time, creating a fresh approach to a conventional subject. Meister’s Vaudeville series was born.
“It was like the Vaudeville actor on stage in front of a flat, colorful backdrop,” he explains. “They get thrust forward into the audience. I started painting more and more of these and the feedback I got was that people really liked how the plant stands forward in front of the background.”
Meister will debut roughly a dozen new paintings in his Vaudeville style for the Legacy Gallery show. Skeptics finding him early in the painting process need only look at the finished artworks for proof of his talent. —
Legacy Gallery 225 Canyon Road » Santa Fe, NM 87501 » (505) 986-9833 » www.legacygallery.com
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