Show Preview | Winter Group Show

Santa Fe, NM
Sage Creek Gallery, November 28-December 31

Calvin Liang, Spider Rock, oil, 20 x 16.

This story was featured in the December 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2014 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!

Instead of hosting a show of miniature works during the holiday season, which Sage Creek Gallery has done for a number of years, gallery co-owner Sande Sievert invited two dozen artists to each contribute two works, from small to medium in size, to the Winter Group Show that is on view this month. “My artists like group shows because it gives them a chance to showcase just a few of their special pieces,” says Sievert, who is focusing the show primarily on work by artists she represents. “They’re happy to have the freedom to create whatever they want for this show, and what we get is their best work.”

Opening with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on November 28 and running through December 31, the show highlights the diverse styles and subject matter created by artists such as Calvin Liang, Sue Krzyston, and Sarah Siltala. Other artists contributing work to the show include Edward Aldrich, Bill Gallen, Marilyn Yates, Kevin Courter, Bryce Cameron Liston, Ron Rencher, Charles Iarrobino, and Michelle Torrez.

Liang’s two oil paintings for the show, SPIDER ROCK and PASSING CLOUDS, CANYON DE CHELLY, were inspired by a five-day trip the artist took to Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly National Monument three years ago with his wife and teenage son. “The rocks and the colors are wonderful,” says Liang, who lives in Southern California and has visited Canyon de Chelly on four other occasions. “It’s a special place. I love to paint it. My wife, son, and I took a horseback ride into the canyon on our last trip there.”

Sarah Siltala, Perch on a Yellow Pitcher, oil, 10 x 10.

Using her own collection of historic and modern Native American objects, including moccasins, baskets, drums, bowls, and pots, Arizona artist Krzyston creates highly detailed still-life paintings. HARMONY AND HISTORY—one of her two oil paintings featured in the show—features Native American pottery, beaded moccasins, and a woven blanket. “When I set up a still life, I choose items that speak to each other, have forms that relate to each other, and vary in texture and shape,” she explains.

Siltala, who lives in Rio Rancho, NM, uses her personal collection of treasured objects as the subjects of her two still-life oil paintings in the show. PERCH ON A YELLOW PITCHER depicts a blue-headed vireo, a songbird found in North and Central America. In her other work, AMERICAN REDSTART AND GRAPES, a Japanese tea bowl sits on an antique box. Grapes spill over the bowl and are shared with the small and often colorful warbler that breeds in North America. “I am an avid birder and find my inspiration when I am in nature observing birds in their natural habitats,” says Siltala. “I’m most attracted to small songbirds. The unexpected presence of a bird in an interior still-life setting showcases its delicate existence in an unnatural setting.” —Emily Van Cleve

contact information
505.988.3444
www.sagecreekgallery.com

Featured in the December 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art December 2014 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!