Meet Our Artists!

All our artists live and work in New Mexico.  We are all

New Mexico True Certified Artists.

Ken Davy

Classical New Mexico Sunset

So many artist statements seem to start with the comment I’ve always enjoyed drawing. While this is certainly the case for me, it was limited to a relaxing pastime to be enjoyed as time permitted. To a much greater extent, my life has been consumed with work and the requirement to travel extensively to earn a living. In my travels I would visit museums around the country and marvel at the exquisite work of past masters. In time I became much more serious about learning to paint not just as a hobby but with skill, in the representational style of the artists I so admired. It’s an ongoing quest that has filled my life with meaning and purpose.

 Art has also opened another dimension in my life. In January of 2020 I retired and moved to New Mexico. I now work full time as an artist and also as the owner and operator of Lost Sky Ranch, a remote retreat for artists and astronomer.

Click on the link below to view Ken Davy’s wide variety of artwork.

KEN DAVY’s Collection

Ray Darnell

Team Mates

Animals generally symbolize power, freedom and strength.  Across many cultures, animals have been interpreted as symbols of endurance, intelligence, compassion and grace.  They can represent spiritual guidance, loyalty and nobility, eroticism and passion.  When painting animals, these symbols are the perfect guidance for my work.  These symbols should bring the viewer into the world of nature and relationship to it.   l love to embody the spiritual nobleness of the centuries old symbols a I create a new painting.  Animals fill our lives with their spiritual energy, strength and freedom.

Click on the link below to see Ray’s artwork.

Ray Darnell’s Collection

David Schwindt

I paint in my head every day, even if I don’t pick up a paint brush.  Isee colors and shapes in nearly everything around me that I can compose into paintings.  My favorite images are landscapes.  I like the sandstone cliffs, mesas, mountains, and cloud filled skies.  I can find paintings in my neighborhood also the ditches and Rio Grande Bosque.  I can even find paintings outside my studio windows, distracting me from the painting on my easel.  I meet up with friends every week to paint on location somewhere around the Sandia Mountains or almost anywhere within driving distance from Albuquerque.  I paint studies in watercolor, gouache, and oil, bringing them back to the studio to translate into larger paintings.

Click on the link below to view David Schwindt’s wide variety of artwork.

David Schwindt’s Collection

ANNE MARIE WERNER-SMITH

Sor Maria de Agreda

Ann Marie recently had an art opening featuring “Saints of the Rio Grande” These saints, pictured above. are also in our on-line store.

The Saints or Santos, reflect the more conservative thinking of the Catholic Church in the 1600’s when New Mexico was inhabited by the Spanish in search for gold.  When their search for a treasure was not fruitful, the Church  felt that the true treasure was obtaining more souls for the Catholic Church, hence the conversion of many of the indigenous people in New Mexico to Catholicism.  Many of the Pueblos along the Rio Grande were named for a saint, such as Santo Domingo or Saint Dominic, the founder of the Dominican order.  That Pueblo today is also known as the Tewa Pueblo.

Click on the link below to view Anne Marie’s wide variety of artwork.

 Anne Marie Werner-Smith’s Collection

KAREN DRESSLER ARGEANAS

Protector of the Sacred

by Karen Dressler Argeanas, Created for the Department of the Interior as part of their “Art in the Office” program.

Protectors of the Sacred was painted by Karen Dressler Argeanas as part of the Artist in Residence program with Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in New Mexico. The painting depicts the Mission San Gregorio de Abo with an unexcavated mound in the foreground. The focus on the mound is to recognize and honor the long history of the Pueblo prior to the Spanish mission.  Three shards in the foreground depict distinct styles of pottery found at Abo and represent different time periods of the site from the twelfth through the seventeenth century. Karen was also inspired by the birds, animals, and vegetation present at Abo. Included amongst the stones of the Pueblo is the burrow of a chipmunk or ground squirrel, as small animals that burrow through the mounds understand the secrets that the mounds hold as they travel between the surface world and the world below. The plant on the left side of the mound is four wing saltbush which held an important role to the Pueblo people as a food source, medicine, and dye. 

     The title, Protector of the Sacred, is a reminder that this site is sacred. Salinas Pueblo National Monument at Abo is the home of our Pueblo ancestors, it is a burial site, and it is a church. We all share a role as protectors. The staff and rangers for the National Park Service are protectors. The Department of the Interior staff share the role of protectors. Visitors who learn the history and respect the site also share the role of protectors. The horned toad in the painting represents the role of protector. The horned toad is traditionally recognized as a protector in beliefs of many Pueblos, as well as other tribes of the southwest.

Click on the link below to see more of Karen’s work.

KAREN DRESSLER ARGEANAS COLLECTION

Rio Guadelupe – Jemez

I’ve been drawing all my life but only started painting recently.  I first tried to paint the style landscapes I loved best – the same ones my father loved – impressionist renderings of the Southwest.  We loved Wilson Hurley; my father gave me a framed Wilson Hurley print when I went to college.  But, I also loved Ed Mell’s art-deco inspired landscapes, and I’ve always loved the comics – Peanuts and Bloom County, B.C. and Tumbleweeds.  I think I’m trying to put all this together:  Hurley and Mell and Charles Schultz.  I majored in Architecture for a while, back when we still had to learn to draw to be architects, and training in that particular kind of drawing is in me, too.

Oak Cave Creek Canyon

Click on the link below to see more of Andy’s work.

Andy Young Collection

Kevin Gorski – Ceramic and Pottery Artist

The  ability to create art of use and beauty is so rewarding.  Working with clay connects me to the earth, and I find inspiration in nature and the world around me.  While I have control over some parts of the progress, there are times I must surrender to God’s hands.  This is especially true with the alternative firing techniques I often work in.  I love connecting to the final owner or user of the piece.  It’s a great blessing to know my work brings joy to others.  

Please click below to see more of Kevin’s Pottery

Kevin Gorski’s Collection