Show Preview | Summer Group Show

Taos, NM
Act I Gallery, August 6-September 10

Cletus Smith, A Mile Out of Town, oil, 16 x 20.

This story was featured in the August 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

Vivid greens, dreamy blues, bright corals—these colors are synonymous with summer. This month they dazzle our eyes not only in the Taos scenery but also on the walls of Act I Gallery during its summer group show.

The display features new work by more than two dozen gallery artists. Gallery owners Deanna and Gary Tilley plan to pack the walls with as many paintings as possible and expect to hang some 80 pieces. The show officially opens with an artists’ reception on Saturday, August 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. Painters Cletus Smith and Elizabeth Black offer demonstrations on the Thursday and Friday prior to the opening.

Smith and Black join participating landscape painters such as Tom Lockhart, Lorraine Alexander, and Dinah Worman in celebrating the colors of the season. These vibrant shades have emerged naturally from the artists’ creativity, says Deanna Tilley. “We’re not guiding them. We really wanted them to have the freedom to create what they’re feeling right now. We’ve found that when we ask artists to pursue a specific direction, it can block them. We want to see what they’re inspired by,” she says.

Smith’s color palette has brightened lately as the former watercolorist has returned to oils. “Oils are all about power. Watercolor is about finesse,” the Oklahoma-based artist observes. His works depict scenes in Oklahoma that have a universal appeal—rolling hills, trickling streams—as well as scenes from his former home in New Mexico. Even though he’s left behind the infamous brightness of New Mexico light, he’s made a conscious effort to keep vivacious hues in his paintings. Still, he’s never sure what’s going to emerge when he picks up his brush. “I just jump on a horse and ride,” he says of his creative process.

Peggy Judy, Reflections, acrylic, 18 x 24.

Horses remain the primary subjects for Colorado-based painter Peggy Judy. Her husband was an equine veterinarian, and the couple owned a farm for 30 years, so her models were always close at hand. With the farm now sold, Judy began adding cowboy and rodeo scenes to her repertoire. A signature submission for this show, REFLECTIONS, depicts a horse standing in water—a new and challenging subject for her, she says. “I think you should scare the crap out of yourself every once in a while for self-growth. If you wonder whether you can do something, the only way you can say for sure is if you do it,” she adds.

Suzanne Betz has also been known for her portraits of horses, sometimes rendered with a dreamy sensibility. Lately the Taos artist has been painting water more frequently—it’s a subject matter she has explored since the 1980s. In her series for the show, titled Transcendence, human figures ascend, moving from the depths into the light. “I’m always attempting to bridge [the gap] between the known and the unknown,” she says. Like Smith, Betz is also returning to oils, which is bringing new vibrancy to her work, just in time for summer. —Ashley M. Biggers

contact information
575.758.7831
www.actonegallery.com