Artists Biographies
Christine Montoya says about her paintings, "I have always been
an artist. I can remember
drawing cartoon characters and selling them at recess for a quarter a
piece to my friends in elementary school. But it wasn’t until two years
ago that I began to focus on painting. I am self-taught and have an
unlimited amount of imagination. I am in love with life and death.
Dia de los Muertos mirrors the surrealistic views I hold on life
after death which is why it is the subject I find myself
contemplating in so many projects. Although, I do create art around
other subjects as well. I also find humor in just about every
situation which reflects in most of my projects as well. I am
absolutely original and unconventional.
When I am not
covered in paint or cutting up cards, I am running wild with my four
year old son and spoiled rotten Chihuahua, Mr. Petie Pooper."
Kim Detmers CLAYWORKS: I have always wanted to be
an artist. I got my first paying job when I was 16 yrs old painting a
mural on a neighbor’s wall. I remember that her check bounced, but
I eventually got paid. While in High School I would draw logos for
local rock bands and make flyers and posters for clubs and shows. I
went to college for a year at Utah State University and studied art,
then onto the community college for year.
I have always leaned
toward the creative odd jobs and I started painting murals and doing
faux painting in homes and businesses around Utah. I was also in a
belly dance troupe named “Kismet” and I was teaching dance as
well as performing around the state. I danced for 13 yrs. and taught
for 7 of those.
I have been playing with
clay for about 8 years and sell at local markets and art shows. I
have just recently moved to New Mexico from Utah and am getting used
to a much smaller town.
I love working with
polymer clay due to the bright colors and versatility. The color
palette is similar to paint so it is a good mix with my painting
background and I think I tend to lean toward color combinations that
I used in my dancing days. Lots of bright colors and sparkling jems.
I have been married for 22
yrs. to a funny and very supportive guy and I have three wonderful
daughters who are still young enough to really like me. I love to
read, watch movies at home, listen to good music, drink good wine and
yep, play with clay.
I support HANDMADE and SHOP
LOCAL.
Holly Franklin DUSTYPOTS: About four years ago I saw an article in the newspaper about a clay
artist, Laurie Pierce, in Sandia Park. She does wonderful murals,
tiles, and pots. I was inspired to call her about taking lessons,
although I'd not done anything remotely artistic since
kindergarden. Thanks to her classes and the fun of the media,
I've become a clay addict. I enjoy making small murals and tiles in
high-relief and bright colors. I don't regard my self as an "artist"
as that implies more expectation of my work than I have. I just like
slapping the mud around. If I like it, I fire it. I try to keep it
upbeat and quirky. I am very lucky to have found this craft and the
new friends connected with it.
April
Sanchez is a Burque native. When not grinding away at the 9 - 5, she
can usually be found snapping pics, all around New Mexico or knitting
up a storm. April is often accompanied by her supportive boyfriend,
creative daughter and spoiled rotten Chihuahua sidekick.
http://www.myspace.com/dukecityapril138http://www.facebook.com/dukecityapril138aprilrosesanchez@yahoo.com
Myria Mandell is a multi-generational native of New Mexico. She learned how to sew by hand at the early age of 3. Later on, in middle school, she finally learned how to use a sewing machine and continued her lessons in high school when she took a Fashion Design class. She enjoys spending her free time making original/one-of-a-kind pieces of clothing and purses. Her favorite method is to "up-cycle" by taking used garments and bags and turning them in to completely original pieces. She also makes jewelry using semi-precious stones and can customize pieces based on a person's birthday or health issue.
She also makes embossed note cards using her dad's vintage photography.
In addition to the above she is also a self-published poet.
http://myriamandellpoetry.com
Gerald Mandell Photos took
most of his photos during the late 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s. He was,
in my opinion, a wonderful photographer; however, he refused to show
his work to anyone - anywhere…even when I volunteered to do all the
work for him!
Gerald Mandell was a Spanish Colonial Historian and writer. His articles were published in several issues of the New Mexico Historical Review, as well as a few other Historical Journals around the world. He won article of the year for the NMHR two years in a row. He was also a research consultant for the Don Diego De Vargas Project at UNM.
http://geraldmandellphotos.com
The Octopus Parlour is a small room inside the head of artist Lauren King filled with hard-working octopi that help to bring her artistic ideas to life. Vintage pieces, brightly colored objects and sparkly bits are all blended together with high quality metals to create fabulous works of wearable art. All silver used is sterling, all solder is lead-free and all scrap silver produced is melted down and cast into new creations.
Octopus Parlour was started in 2008 as a venue for showcasing her
work, but Lauren has been making art for as long as she can remember.
She has her BFA in Glass with a minor in Metals from Massachusetts
College of Art.
Lauren has taught glassblowing at Urban Glass in Brooklyn NY and both metalsmithing and painting at Buck's Rock
Camp in New Milford CT. A gallery of both her paintings and jewelry can be found online at
www.octopusparlour.com.
Agatha MacAlpine was born and raised in
Ohio.
She left at the age of eighteen to travel around the United States with
a concentration in the southwest. Influenced by a close friend, she
started painting extensively in
Austin, Texas, and since then has sold paintings in
Texas,
New Mexico,
Oklahoma, and Ohio.
Originally from Southern California, Thomas Amason began
traveling at a young age before settling in Oklahoma for several years.
He did sculpture and trash art and eventually found his way to painting
after moving to Albuquerque.
Albu Design is a wife/husband team of artists living in the
high desert of
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
We were trained in
New York City and have worked in several media over the past 15 years.
We specialize in creating modern jewelry that incorporates our original illustration, design and photography.
We love making jewelry that our fans love— fashionable, hip designs that mix sweet with funky.
Strongly committed to helping animals, we volunteer and donate a percentage of sales to various local rescue organizations.
I,
Betty Busby, majored in ceramics at the
Rhode Island School of Design. After graduation, I founded Busby Gilbert Tile Inc. in
Southern California and ran it for 18 years. In 1994, I sold it and moved to
Albuquerque, NM to raise my son.
Creating fiber art and teaching have occupied me since then.
Much
of my work is technique driven, I enjoy discovering new abilities to
construct an image in different ways. I never set out to make
something “pretty”, the appearance of each project is determined by the
idea behind it. Creating my own
raw materials
is also important, I have been dyeing my own fabric since I began
quilting over 30 years ago, and I am familiar with fabric construction
from the raw fiber on up.
My works have been exhibited in many
national and international level quilt and art shows, and are in
collections all over the country.
See the slideshow here:
http://flickr.com/photos/8322956@N04/show/Gallery 101 Main in Collinsville, Conn. represents my work-
gallery101main.comFor additional information, please visit my website,
http://home.comcast.net/~bbusbyarts/site/Shadez of Michelle has a great new blog to check out;
http://shadezofmichelle.blogspot.com/
Dhan Lotus is a painter, and has painted for 45 years, starting when he was 10 mostly in oil, but also in acrylic, and watercolor. He also carves wood and has done many folk art mermaids, similar to those found in Mexico.
Dhan is from Los Angeles area in California, but has lived and worked in Hawaii on Maui, and on Cape Cod, Mass. Most recently he has been living in New Mexico - a year and a half in Santa Fe, and now is working and living at the Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, which is very exciting due to his love for O'Keefe's work. He has been painting Retablos of the Virgin of Guadalupe, as well as other Saints such as St. Anthony, Sacred Heart of Jesus, etc. He also paints Buddhist meditation paintings and Angels, which is what he is working on now at the Ghost Ranch.