Monday, February 18, 2019

Taos Landscape Qi, Plein Air Painting and Poetry, Design Studio Gallery

Reefka Schneider, Confluencia, Watercolor
Taos Landscape Qi    
February 20 - March 1, 2019
Watercolors by Reefka Schneider 
& Poetry by Steven Schneider

Features plein air paintings and 
companion poems exploring
the quiet moments in nature where
we find ourselves.
  



Water Color, Reefka Schneider                                             
“A work of art is like a visual form of prayer.” – Ian Roberts
               The way some people say “QuĂ© Taos” makes one feel like it should rhyme with chaos instead of house. For me this beautiful place has provided a refuge of silence and healing. Qi is life energy, the soul of a place. All my “Taos Landscapes Qi” watercolors are painted en plein air. I work to capture and express the Qi, the inner life, the silence and beauty of a moment in Nature. In this way I share with you the healing energies I experience while painting.
               These original watercolor paintings provide a unique experience of Taos landscape Qi that you can take home with you -- to share as a gift or treasure for yourself.
                                                                                                                        Reefka

          Poetry, Steven Schneider
In writing these “Taos Landscape Qi” poems, I found it to be a creative challenge to move from writing about the figurative artwork Reefka did for our earlier projects to her landscape artwork in Taos. Rather than find my way into the poem through human emotion, I explore new paths into the poem through the gesture of an aspen, spruce tree or mountain in the landscape.
My recent trip to China and their tradition of yiging – “the world of meaning through images” – is an aesthetic that informs these poems. In China the tradition of combining poetry with paintings of mountains, trees and rivers dates as far back as the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) scroll paintings that so inspired me at the Shanghai museum. These poems deepen and enhance our appreciation of the art,  “add flavour,” much as the Literati paintings known as wenrenhua did in the period of the Ming Dynasty.  
                                                                                                                        Steven

Poetry Reading for Southwest Popular /American Culture Conference. 

Wed. 2/20,12:30 p.m. in the Whyte Room, Hyatt Hotel

Reefka Schneider, The Blessing of the Rain, Watercolor



The Blessing of the Rain

It begins with the darkening of the sky.
Summer afternoons out on the mesa,
The wind picks up.
Whirling dervishes dust devils dance.
Llamas, goats, and burros scurry for shelter.
Then the wind-driven rain
Drenches dust-choked chamiso and sage.
The air dampens and cools.
Now palpable and fresh,
The body feels lighter.
The mind awakens from its torpor.
The rain, the blessing of the monsoon summer rain:
The song of quickening --
So you may see again
The clear light of the high desert
You reach out to and touch.

Steven Schneider

Friday, February 8, 2019

Automatic Dream Theater: Brooke Steiger


automatic dream theater:  Brooke Steiger

February 16 - April 20, 2019
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 16, 5-8pm
Artist talk: Friday, March 15, 5-8pm

Extended Gallery Hours:
Friday, March 1, 5-8pm
Friday, April 5, 5-8pm

automatic dream theater by Brooke Steiger is an evolving, multi-media project featuring several small scale, found-object sculptures in the form of insect, animal and hybrid/human characters. These nature-inspired personalities inhabit theatrical sets and installations. Each serve as muse in a variety of other media: photographs, drawings, paintings, prints and books. Meant to delight the eye, engage the intellect, and cultivate a sense of wonder. This narrative work is a synthesis of observations gathered through the filter of education and travel.
automatic dream theater  will be an immersive visit into Steiger's studio and the world she has built for her characters, which will be transplanted into the main gallery.


Follow Brooke Steiger on Instagram @steiger.brooke

Above right /Below, images from Steiger's studio.