November 14th show!

Tularosa Basin Gallery Passport

Mano y Mente will be participating in the inaugural Tularosa Basin Gallery Passport Tour. The fall 2009 Mano y Mente exhibition will be one of 15 galleries/exhibitions listed in the passport and distributed throughout 5 local towns. Participants who fill up their passports receive gift certificates to a local high-end restaurant and/or signed prints by renowned local artist, Robin Makowski. Mano y Mente's director is one of two founders of the event, which draws additional attention to the Tularosa Basin's growing art scene. More information to follow!

Fall 2009 Session Arrives

The three artists that compose the Fall 2009 session have arrived to tackle a new range of obstacles in the Tularosa Basin. One treks up a White Sands dune with his "plein air" easel in tote. Double click on the photo to view the keen detail on the still-wet canvas.

Agave Greets the Fall Session

The Mano y Mente mammoth agave prepares to greet the fall 2009 session. It has resided on the property since 2000 and currently stands about 5 feet tall by 5 feet across. Many an artist has created work inspired by this beautiful beast of a plant.

Tularosa Hollyhocks in Full Bloom

One would never suspect that the hollyhock is native to southwest and central Asia given how vigorously it has taken to this region of New Mexico. While roaming the streets of Tularosa one can find them in abandoned lots, alongside colorful buildings, in unfrequented alleyways, and as colorful giants in manicured perennial gardens. Above you see a rose-colored hollyhock family alongside the Mano y Mente wall.

Painting Spotlight: Trusty Tractor

Artists seek inspiration in objects of current use as well as those dusted over by time and past utility. A fall 2008 Mano y Mente resident, Jafang Lu, painted the 40 year-old tractor above, which still sits outside the Mano y Mente studio awaiting its next go at an expansive field or a bountiful harvest. Lu, who studies and teaches at Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia, paints the radiance of light in patient, thin layers. She returns to each of her subjects at the same time of day and in the same quality of light to create consistent hues and shadows. Her works illustrate this patience and the depth of her colors give her subjects brilliant life.

Spring 09 Muses: Old Trucks

some trucks hide in the brush like hidden stones....

some hide among the wreckage of a forgotten building...

and others become exterior accessories, still shiny and good friends with an elderly prickly pear cactus.


"Lovingly worn" trucks have become muses for the spring 2009 artists. See some of these mechanical relics in all their painted glory at the May 2nd show, 220 Granado Street, Tularosa, NM.

May 2nd, 7pm Show!

Information about Mano y Mente

Mano y Mente is a small, private artist-in-residence program located in the historic, beautiful town of Tularosa. “Mano y Mente” means “Hand and Mind” in Spanish. The name reflects the program’s creative and pensive nature and is in Spanish to pay tribute to the region’s cultural influences.

Mano y Mente is not a school, the director is not a professor, the "artists in residence" are not students. Mano y Mente is an artist program designed for professional artists to focus, create, and exchange ideas. Mano y Mente participants are selected from a national and international pool of applicants and are invited to spend 10 weeks living in Tularosa while painting throughout southwestern NM. Artists are chosen based credentials including talent, diversity of art experience, productivity, individuality, and compatibility.

During each session, Mano y Mente participants spend every other week at a different landscape painting region (White Sands, Three Rivers, Lincoln National Forest, etc.). The alternating weeks are spent in-studio working on individually inspired works of art.The work exhibited at each final show is inevitably influenced by the stunning local landscapes alongside the artists’ own experiences, techniques, and interests. Styles of present and past Mano y Mente artists have ranged from pin-point realism, expressionism, to surrealism and abstraction.

The use of the studio and housing space, and the transportation to local landscape-painting regions is free to the Mano y Mente artists. Both the patron and the director/founder are art and local history enthusiasts and hope that each session’s participants leave New Mexico with the same zeal and curiosity!

Spring 2009: Dog Canyon

This week we have ventured to Dog Canyon. Its mountains display twisted and overlapping rock formations, diverse desert plants, and shadows that shift from deep indigos to red by the hour. All in all, Dog Canyon presents an overwhelming amount of artistic inspiration and painterly challenges.

Sprouting Spring

Artists from the 2009 spring session arrived to find the Mano y Mente property on the verge of spring. There still is a slight chill in the air but it's slowly disappearing to give way to leafy foliage and t-shirts. Above, Mano y Mente artist Ember Soberman focuses on cactus pears against a deep red rock wall.

Below, you see Soberman's stunning "Hey there Prickly Pear" in all its cheerful glory. It was the result of devout investigation over the course of several weeks spent alongside the prickly pear cactus shown above. Soberman employs multiple layers of see through washes to create a weathered, atmospheric aura throughout her pieces. "Hey there Prickly Pear" is one of four cactus paintings she has created during her stay at Mano y Mente. Soberman, armed with bravery and watercolor pencils, also cozied up to the mammoth, spiky Mano y Mente agave.

Overview talk: Ice Cream!

Two times per session (about once every three weeks) each artist gives fellow participants a 10-30 min. in-studio talk about something related to art or creativity that they’re interested in and think the other artists in residence would benefit from. Artists have complete freedom and creative license in designing their overview talks....

This week an overview talk was given on the culinary art of old fashioned ice cream. In the photo you see a 60 - 100 year old ice cream hand cranker. A metal container filled with cream, sugar, and flavoring is surrounded by ice. The container and its internal wheel slowly mix the ice cream at the same time the mixture is slowly frozen from the ice.

Photos of the finished, tasty ice cream are to follow!

New Spring 2009 session!

The spring 2009 artists arrive this week. Tularosa's winter is about to cease. Soon the bees will buzz, the wind will blow, and green will once again conquer this currently grey oasis. We look forward to another productive, innovative session!
(photo courtesy of "flickr".... great Tulie art exists in the most unexpected locations. In this case we're looking at a water tower at the edge of town. )

Large Turnout for November 15th Show!

One by one art appreciators from Tularosa, Bent, Cloudcroft, El Paso, Taos, and Boston filled the gallery and celebrated the accomplishments of Mano y Mente's fall 2008 artists. At one point there were so many visitors we could hardly stretch out our arms in the historic gallery space, which was once a Billy The Kid era bank. One artist (Craig Paul Nowak) actually displayed some of his work in the bank's antique vault, which is shown in the second photo. The night was eventful and the art was stunning! (More photos of the Fall 2008 Art Exhibit to come...)

Landscape Spotlight: A Piece of Everything

Fall 2008 artist Craig Paul Nowak often creates art pieces where he explores the relationship between the artist's interior and exterior self. His work frequently includes self-references, self-examination, and his work is both conceptual and introspective in nature

(see http://www.craigpaulnowak.blogspot.com/ for examples). Thus, this displayed series of landscape paintings created during Fall 2008 was a slight departure from his normal theme and represents the artist looking outward. He skillfully shows many snippets of sites visited during the program. Check out his website for frequent additions to his impressive portfolio.

I challenge past Mano y Mente participants to name each of the site locations exhibited in this composition!

Fall 2008 Show! Newspaper Publicity!

Written in the 10th Anniversary Issue of "The Ink" Newspaper:

(Tularosa) The Mano y Mente Artist in Residence Program will showcase its national and international artists' dynamic and diverse art on November 15 at 7pm at 220 Granado Street. The Fall 2008 Artists include Jafang Lu from Taiwan, Craig Paul Nowak from Chicago, IL, and Douglas Rassier from Minnesota. Each artist will exhibit his or her style ranging from pinpoint realism to colorful, Dali-inspired surrealism. These are up-and-coming artists in the art world and the show is not to be missed!

For the past two years the Mano y Mente Artist in Residence Program has been attracting professional, faraway artists to the remote, enchanted village of Tularosa. During each 3-month session a new group of artists spends half its time painting in diverse landscape painting regions (White Sands, Three Rivers, Mal Pais, etc.) and other half of its time painting within Tularosa. The artists interpret their experiences through their own imaginative, individual styles. Every session ends with a public exhibition and with artists completely captivated by stunning southern New Mexico. For details, visit www.manoymente.com .

Bonito Lake and New Mexico Greenery

An artist from the Fall 2008 Session fills a canvas with the greenery of Bonito Lake near Ruidoso, New Mexico. With visions of tumbleweeds in their minds, some artists are surprised to discover the extent of green in certain regions of New Mexico.

Date Harvest

These past three weeks we've had a plentiful harvest of figs, dates, and sunflower seeds. Mano y Mente artists have had the opportunity to pick and munch on all three. Here is a handful of dates that we will eventually dry and eat. Date trees grow well in Tularosa's warm climate. As you can see, there are plenty of more dates where these came from.

Sunset in the Rearview and an Open Road

(Image: the former Mano y Mente landscape painting vehicle still knows how to stage a great photo. Both the moon and a snippet of the sunset make an appearance.)

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http://www.newmexico.org/explore/scenic_byways/index.php

The above link sends you to the New Mexico Department of Tourism's informative website. It lists scenic Land of Enchantment byways. Here are the first five great suggested byways, click on their website link for the next twenty.

Abo Pass Trail - The Abo Pass Trail is a unique route which showcases the natural beauty of the Salt Missions area.

Billy the Kid National Scenic Byway - Come celebrate the history of the Wild West on Billy the Kid Trail.

Corrales Road Scenic Byway - Travel Corrales Road, shaded by cottonwoods and offering breathtaking views.

Dry Cimmaron Scenic Byway - A multi-state route traveling through Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

El Camino Real National Scenic Byway - Travel the Royal Highway of the Interior Land.

Landscape Spotlight: Clouds

Clouds, Blue, and Light: a powerful combination


(Second Image: Jose Hernandez, "Desert after Rain," 2006. Oil on Canvas.)

The slightest change in the sky dramatically alters the desert landscape. Deep blue mountains turn flaming pink when the sun is low on the horizon and white tumbleweeds turn into large dark masses when draped by a cumulus shadow. There are fewer trees in the desert that reduce the broad view of New Mexico's sky. Therefore, you see "cloud ranges" in addition to "mountain ranges" far into the distance.

Above we see a photograph of clouds in Tularosa with a white lining of light. The following image is of an enchanting desert landscape painting with moody clouds painted by Jose Hernandez. Jose was born and raised in Mexico and moved to Tularosa over a decade ago where he continues to create dramatic art. His clouds and desert scenes are spot-on and communicate the same feeling of awe one gets standing under the big sky in a New Mexican desert. Each session Mano y Mente invites one local Tularosa artist to share the studio with the national and international artists in residence who both paint and live on site. Jose is one such artist.

Ode to the Sun's Departure - Three Rivers

After a long day of landscape painting Fall 2008 artists say "Hasta La Vista" to the hot New Mexico sun and greet a Three Rivers sunset with a dose of well-deserved exuberant festivity to reward all their hard work.

Light through the sands

Except when the wind or a desert beetle is whirling past a concentrating artist's ear ... White Sands is the quietest place on earth.

Landscape Spotlight: White Sands Monument

Mano y Mente artist in residence program visits a variety of stunning landscapes throughout the course of each session. Every other week during a session we will post an example of how different past/present Mano y Mente artists have been inspired by a particular landscape. This week we have chosen White Sands Monument.

Above Image: Fall 2007 artist Jennie Booth, "Red Ant," Oil and Wax on Paper. (double click on image to enlarge)

Jennie often weaves colorful symbol throughout her artwork. About this piece she states that the red ant symbolizes hard work, the agave symbolizes existence in spite of adversity (tears) in this climate, and the whirlwind (which whirls feet, hands, radios, and scissors) represents her coming to Tularosa from the "small" town of New York City. Behind the main figure you see the Sacramento Mountain Range and the big, beautiful, blue sky that New Mexico is known for. See more of Jennie Booth's captivating art at www.jenniebooth.com .

Striking Tularosa Doors

Wandering the recently shady, green neighborhood streets of Tularosa it is hard not to notice the striking beauty of many doors. Blue door paint alongside pinkish adobe stucco is a popular color combination.

www.manoymente.com

www.manoymente.com is updated each session to include current applications and an overview of the program. The website was changed to its more "illuminated" format in October 2007. Check it regularly for additional details and "hidden hoppers."

New Session, New Artists

Mano y Mente began its Fall 2008 session on September 6th. In the next three months, as in past sessions, we will venture to many a landscape all over this region of southern New Mexico. We will unfold our easels, shield ourselves in large hats from the sun, and interpret dramatic landscapes. Here are some of the artists from past sessions creating work in different geographic settings. Included is a photo of studio productivity from Fall 2007.

In Bloom

Birds, bees, and FLOWERS have been good to Mano y Mente this September. 'Tis tempting to be lured out of the studio by the colorful mayhem ensuing from this year's rains.

Studio Morning, Sunny Sunday

Introspective 10 a.m. at Mano y Mente. Quiet one-on-one time with an eager easel.