At home in the Land of Enchantment
Lee McVey, Farmhouse and Fields, pastel, 9 x 12.
This story was featured in the October 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
The mountains, canyons, and arroyos of the Southwest have enchanted Lee McVey ever since she moved from her native New York to Albuquerque, NM, 15 years ago. A robust plein-air movement was reverberating throughout her picturesque new homeland at the time, and she caught the plein-air bug. “That really made a big difference in my studio work,” she says. “It started to improve rather quickly.”
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- Lee McVey, Lavender Morning, pastel, 12 x 12.
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- Lee McVey, Near the Echos, oil, 16 x 20.
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- Lee McVey,, Autumn Chamisa, pastel, 9 x 12.
McVey knew from a young age that she wanted to be an artist. After earning a degree in education with a minor in painting, she spent the next several decades working as a public-school art teacher while reserving her summers for painting. Upon relocating to New Mexico, she plunged into painting full time. While her style has changed little over the years, falling somewhere between realism and impressionism, McVey notes that her approach—her “voice”—is becoming more refined in both her oils and her pastels as she reaps the benefits of each medium. “There is something immediate about pastel work,” muses the landscape artist, whose influences range from Clyde Aspevig to Richard McKinley, with whom she has studied. “I layer my oils like I do in pastel,” she adds, “but oils need drying time.”
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- Hillside Rio Grande, oil, 18 x 24.
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- Lee McVey, Light on the Canyon Wall, oil, 12 x 12.
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- Lee McVey, Yellow Blooms, oil, 30 x 30.
From time to time, McVey takes out-of-town painting trips, but these days, she finds much of her inspiration right at home. “Albuquerque is quite a beautiful city,” she says. “I’ve often thought that artists are so lucky because we see differently than the general population. I do feel privileged as an artist, because beauty is all around us.” —Kim Agricola
McVey is represented by www.leemcvey.com.
This story was featured in the October 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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