Walt Gonske first visited Northern New Mexico in 1970 and fell in love with the light in the Land of Enchantment. The light and architecture were vastly different from his native New Jersey. “Adobe buildings were an acquired taste,” he admits. But they became a staple of his artistic output.
Chimayo Day, oil on linen, 26 x 30 in.
He rapidly became a force in the community as a founding member of the influential artists’ group the Taos Six, which included Rod Goebel, Julian Robles, Robert Daughters, Ray Vinella and Ron Barsano.
One day in Goebel’s studio, Gonske saw a painting of a graveyard which he thought was an odd subject. “But I loved the painting,” he says, “and it inspired me to try the subject myself.”
He and Goebel went to a graveyard north of Jemez Pueblo and he painted Campo Santo de Cañón from Goebel’s mobile studio in a converted trailer. “I painted outdoors with my French easel for about 10 years before I built my own Paint Mobile,” he relates. “Now I’m on my fourth one. I can drive around and stop when I see something interesting...and paint. I look out through a big window that opens on the side and I’m protected from the wind and cold.
Campo Santo de Cañón, oil on panel, 24 x 36 in.
“Cemeteries here aren’t like the orderly places back east. They’re colorful and offer endless opportunities for different compositions,” Gonske says.
“I learned a lot from Rod,” he continues. “Most traditional painters paint pretty much what’s out there. Rod pushed the envelope...I began experimenting, pushing light and shade, pushing the values, to make it my own. When I got my Paint Mobile I began experimenting with larger formats, trying to see what I could accomplish in my time outdoors. I don’t like having to go back three, four or five times. I’m different the next day and the light’s different.”
Higlecia de la Soleda – Oaxaca, oil on linen, 38 x 34 in.
He paints “wet on wet, in one go,” as he says, without having to wait for areas to dry before going on.
His Paint Mobile allows him to travel farther afield than Northern New Mexico. “I was in Oaxaca,” he relates, “and when I came around a corner I saw a subject that is my kind of thing for a painting, the pretty much front-lit entrance to a church. It was crowded that day, but I was able to find a parking space to put the Paint Mobile broadside to the entrance. There was a crippled lady slowly making her way from the church. When she got to the staircase, I was able to pop her into the composition at the lower left.”
Old San Isidro Church, oil on linen, 36 x 40 in.
Higlecia de la Soleda – Oaxaca and Campo Santo de Cañón are included in the exhibition Light & Glory: The Art of Walt Gonske at Nedra Matteucci Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, opening August 8. —
Nedra Matteucci Galleries 1075 Paseo de Peralta » Santa Fe, NM 87501 » (505) 982-4631 » www.matteucci.com
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