By pengwen
For SONewMex.com
Santa Fe, N.M. – Canyon Road, as the brochure says, is “the art and soul of Santa Fe.” And so it was with great anticipation and delight that about a dozen Socorroans traveled north on Friday, Nov. 2 to celebrate “our gal” Natasha Isenhour’s debut at The William and Joseph Gallery, 200 Canyon Rd Bld. C, Santa Fe.
<img src=http://SONewMex.com/images/NITheWall.jpg align=center b=1 alt="Natasha Isenhour's paintings line one wall of The William and Joseph Gallery">
I’ve been following Natasha and her paintings since almost the very beginning of Steppin’ Out and I remember well the first time I saw her work and met her at the Garcia Opera House during an exhibit.
(The gallery which began as a duo with sculptor Sharon Fullingim and Natasha Isenhour – and has grown to include Skeeter Leard and Margi Lucena– is celebrating 7 years during next weekend’s Festival of the Cranes.)
In the intervening years, Natasha has taken wing in her painting, expanding her capabilities and her exhibiting experience. But Santa Fe had remained illusive till now.
<img src=http://SONewMex.com/images/NILittleLilly.jpg align=left hspace=3 b=1 alt="Little Lilly was a delightful hostess">
Situated at the very start of Canyon Road, on the corner of Paseo de Peralta, The Williams and Joseph Gallery opens from a courtyard at the back into a spacious gallery. It features works by various artists including some wonderful wall and large sculpture by Barrett DeBusk, whose “Fat Happy” sculpture is the signature logo for the gallery in contrast to its unimposing, sedate gallery sign.
You can’t miss Natasha’s work as it lines the entire wall to your right as you enter.
“Isenhour’s paintings capture and hold the viewers attention in timeless meditative spaces. Hidden light floods her architectural compositions, creating a luminescence as intense perspective entices the viewer inside,” says a promo piece for the opening reception.
That’s well said. For me, Natasha Isenhour’s paintings beg to be seen – not in the beggarly “Will Work for Food” sense, but with a “don’t you want to get to know me better?” feel. And when you do stop and look, when you do get drawn in, you feel better for it – happier, fuller, more relaxed or more aware.
As if each painting was meditation in itself.
<img src=http://SONewMex.com/images/NIMaryandMsSmith.jpg align=right hspace=3 b=1 alt="Natasha with Mary Bonney and Ms. Smith at the opening">She christens each painting with wonderful names: “Leaving the nest”, and her two pictures with cats “Lion Dreams in the Door” and “Hypnotist and the Pendulum”.
The William and Joseph Gallery exhibit is titled “Audible Silence” and features solely her architectural style in a nicely hung show. Her use of an animal in a dilapidated, empty room gives her new paintings a focal point, a storyline, while freeing the imagination to travel more possibilities.
Isenhour also recently began a series of abstracts which play with space and primal forms. The human body is rarely her subject matter but a recent portraiture conveys that same depth of feeling and introspection that we see in her other works.
Audible Silence will hang at the <a href=http://www.thewilliamandjosephgallery.com>William and Joseph Gallery</a> through Dec. 6.
Natasha Isenhour also is represented by Cobalt Fine Arts Gallery, Tubac, Az; Wild Holly Gallery, Carefree, Az; Austin Galleries, Austin, Texas; The Cell Theatre, Albuquerque, NM; and the Angus McDougall Gallery, Bernalillo, NM.
Or you can see her paintings at The Stage Door Grill, just west of her own gallery, the <a href=http://www.FIGalleries.com>Fullingim-Isenhour-Leard Galleries</a>. The new restaurant (worth a rare review in itself!) and FIL Galleries are both located in the historic Baca Building, 115 Abeyta St. in Socorro. The gallery is opening daily at noon until 4 pm and by appointment.
John Larson with the Mountain Mail did a great story on Natasha and the opening. You can see the story <a href=http://www.mymountainmail.com/stories/artnatashaisenhour20071025.php>here</a>
For SONewMex.com
Santa Fe, N.M. – Canyon Road, as the brochure says, is “the art and soul of Santa Fe.” And so it was with great anticipation and delight that about a dozen Socorroans traveled north on Friday, Nov. 2 to celebrate “our gal” Natasha Isenhour’s debut at The William and Joseph Gallery, 200 Canyon Rd Bld. C, Santa Fe.
<img src=http://SONewMex.com/images/NITheWall.jpg align=center b=1 alt="Natasha Isenhour's paintings line one wall of The William and Joseph Gallery">
I’ve been following Natasha and her paintings since almost the very beginning of Steppin’ Out and I remember well the first time I saw her work and met her at the Garcia Opera House during an exhibit.
(The gallery which began as a duo with sculptor Sharon Fullingim and Natasha Isenhour – and has grown to include Skeeter Leard and Margi Lucena– is celebrating 7 years during next weekend’s Festival of the Cranes.)
In the intervening years, Natasha has taken wing in her painting, expanding her capabilities and her exhibiting experience. But Santa Fe had remained illusive till now.
<img src=http://SONewMex.com/images/NILittleLilly.jpg align=left hspace=3 b=1 alt="Little Lilly was a delightful hostess">
Situated at the very start of Canyon Road, on the corner of Paseo de Peralta, The Williams and Joseph Gallery opens from a courtyard at the back into a spacious gallery. It features works by various artists including some wonderful wall and large sculpture by Barrett DeBusk, whose “Fat Happy” sculpture is the signature logo for the gallery in contrast to its unimposing, sedate gallery sign.
You can’t miss Natasha’s work as it lines the entire wall to your right as you enter.
“Isenhour’s paintings capture and hold the viewers attention in timeless meditative spaces. Hidden light floods her architectural compositions, creating a luminescence as intense perspective entices the viewer inside,” says a promo piece for the opening reception.
That’s well said. For me, Natasha Isenhour’s paintings beg to be seen – not in the beggarly “Will Work for Food” sense, but with a “don’t you want to get to know me better?” feel. And when you do stop and look, when you do get drawn in, you feel better for it – happier, fuller, more relaxed or more aware.
As if each painting was meditation in itself.
<img src=http://SONewMex.com/images/NIMaryandMsSmith.jpg align=right hspace=3 b=1 alt="Natasha with Mary Bonney and Ms. Smith at the opening">She christens each painting with wonderful names: “Leaving the nest”, and her two pictures with cats “Lion Dreams in the Door” and “Hypnotist and the Pendulum”.
The William and Joseph Gallery exhibit is titled “Audible Silence” and features solely her architectural style in a nicely hung show. Her use of an animal in a dilapidated, empty room gives her new paintings a focal point, a storyline, while freeing the imagination to travel more possibilities.
Isenhour also recently began a series of abstracts which play with space and primal forms. The human body is rarely her subject matter but a recent portraiture conveys that same depth of feeling and introspection that we see in her other works.
Audible Silence will hang at the <a href=http://www.thewilliamandjosephgallery.com>William and Joseph Gallery</a> through Dec. 6.
Natasha Isenhour also is represented by Cobalt Fine Arts Gallery, Tubac, Az; Wild Holly Gallery, Carefree, Az; Austin Galleries, Austin, Texas; The Cell Theatre, Albuquerque, NM; and the Angus McDougall Gallery, Bernalillo, NM.
Or you can see her paintings at The Stage Door Grill, just west of her own gallery, the <a href=http://www.FIGalleries.com>Fullingim-Isenhour-Leard Galleries</a>. The new restaurant (worth a rare review in itself!) and FIL Galleries are both located in the historic Baca Building, 115 Abeyta St. in Socorro. The gallery is opening daily at noon until 4 pm and by appointment.
John Larson with the Mountain Mail did a great story on Natasha and the opening. You can see the story <a href=http://www.mymountainmail.com/stories/artnatashaisenhour20071025.php>here</a>