The first weekend of May is a special time in the sleepy village where I live.
(A side note on villages: Aren’t they always sleepy? That’s what makes them villages. Not cities; not even towns. Ours truly is a village, incorporated as such in 1971. Hence, it is known as The Village of Corrales, and there has been since I can recall a sign that says something to the effect of “Drive slow and see our animals, drive fast and see our judge.” I know, it’s not the most grammatically correct sign. But what do you expect from a village?)
May 1 and 2 are the days when many of the artists and craftspeople who call Corrales “home” open up their studios and galleries and invite the public to visit.
Corrales Art Studio Tour, poster © 2010 by Krysteen Wazask. All rights reserved.
I am participating in the Corrales Art Studio Tour with two other artists, in a centuries-old former dance hall — now a creative space called Movement Studios — that sits in the center of Corrales.
(A side note on the center of Corrales: You know you’re there when you see a road sign warning Congested Area. Whenever Jim and I approach the sign he coughs and sniffles, at which point I, having forgotten that he does this every time we drive through the village, ask, “Something wrong?” He points to the sign, clears his throat, and says, “Congested Area.”)
Although I am quietly panicking over the fact that I’m behind on making art, I am deeply grateful to be spending the weekend with two talented artists who are also kind and lovely individuals. I’ve known them for only a short while yet I am honored to share this experience with them both.
(A side note on artists: I stand in awe of most simply because I’m blown away by their talent. But not all artists are likable, and there are some I probably wouldn’t choose to get to know. Well, these two artists are people I want to know better. Seeing their art and learning what moves them makes me want to know more about their lives, past and present. They are creative and authentic. Buena gente, as we say in Spanish.)
Here is a bit about them, starting with the one I met first.
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john toomey
Working Memory-Resurrection-Fern and Working Memory-Hymn-Recording, 30″ x 24″ mixed media paintings, images © 2010 by John Toomey. All rights reserved.
My art is communion with natural form. My imagery, which stems from both observation and improvisation, is born from dreaming upon the horizon, both drifting towards sky and descending into soil. My work is a contemplation of forces that shape, veil, reveal, and reshape forms of nature. It is a dialogue between abstraction and representation, cause and effect, growth and decay.
WORKING MEMORY
I am an artist, arts educator, and twenty-year resident of New Mexico. I teach art to pre-school and elementary aged children at Cottonwood School in Corrales. I make landscape-based abstractions, mostly mixed media paintings on paper. And although I have a profound love for my New Mexico home, it is the landscape of rural west Tennessee that set me on a path towards becoming an artist.
I spent most of my childhood outdoors, roaming and exploring the fields and woods that surrounded my home. As a teen I began to realize an interest for drawing and painting, finding my primary source of inspiration and imagery out in those familiar places. In those fields I dug a well that continues to provide, regardless of where I put down roots.
This is especially true with respect to my current body of work entitled “Working Memory,” a series of paintings in progress that return me to home and deal with the loss of that home. These are mixed-media works on paper, made with acrylic, pastel, watercolor, and bits of organic debris, pressed flowers, leaves, and soil. Most importantly though, this series deals with the ever so gradual loss of my mother as a result of Alzheimer’s disease.
My mom’s greatest love was taking care of our home, gardening and tending to the flowers, trees, and birds. I know her greatest desire was to live out her days in that beautiful place, but sadly she no longer recognizes her family or remembers her flowers.
“Working Memory” is about a boy paying homage to his mother, remembering the gifts that she instilled within him — a deep love of nature and a purposeful connection to place.
I dedicate this work to my mom but also to all who have experienced loss as a result of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
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mary hobbs
Bahamas, photo © 2010 by Mary Hobbs. All rights reserved.
I carry my camera with me all the time, photographing my young children and their friends at the grocery store, dentist’s office, just before bed. Watching them at play or in repose, I am compelled to take pictures. This practice is a way for me to discover something profound in everyday mundaneness, to recall events from my own past and explore a child’s emotional landscapes.
I am especially intrigued by how our psychological world can be so different from the physical space we inhabit, how different each child’s experience can be in the same moment — one joyful, the other stressed, another bored.
In a poolside snapshot of a little girl, the traditional touchstones of a carefree childhood — a Popsicle on a sunny day, being wrapped in a warm towel after exiting the pool — are missing. Instead she is surrounded by oversized sneakers, a barrel trash can and rough blades of brass. This image is not so much a photograph of a happy child at the pool, but something more complicated. It is this complication, this juxtaposition of objects in a child’s physical space and the child’s response to this juxtaposition that fascinates me.
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I hope you will come and visit with us on May 1 and 2, in the center of the sleepy village of Corrales. Our address is 4605 Corrales Road (#25, #26, and #27 on the studio tour map). You can see more of John’s and Mary’s art, and my own. You can learn about Movement Studios and the classes that happen there when we’re not inhabiting the space.
We’d love to see friends and strangers, talk about coyotes and snakes and the trials and tribulations of making art and making a living. And just hang. And, well, maybe sell a piece or two.
they sound like really good artists
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I would love to see more of Mary Hobbs’ work. I am constantly thinking about my children and the complicated emotions that they are going through when everything in the world is new and they are learning about what it is to be a person. I feel like many adults don’t give children credit, they may believe that they are simplistic creatures that only think about being entertained by bubbles. I think our childhood shapes our lives, and I would love to see how Mary translates that to art.
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Agree with you both, kseverny and jen.
jen, I don’t know if you clicked on Mary’s link, but there are a few more of her photos. What strikes me is how not posed they are, how she captures such natural motion and emotion.
I think a lot about my daughters and how their experiences now and since they were born will shape the rest of their lives. It’s kind of a big burden to think about, and I don’t think our parents fretted over it as much as we do. Maybe because of that evolution, our own awareness, we can’t help but wonder about these things. But yes, it is the psychology of childhood experience that Mary captures, in some respects.
What I liked about both these artists was that linkage to childhood, in general and their own. Both reflect in their art something deep.
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ybonesy, what a fantastic post. So inspiring. I love the work of the artists that you will be showing with on May 1st and 2nd. How did you meet both of them? I assume you met when you showed your art earlier in the year. I always wonder what it is that draws us to certain artists. Is it the work or their creative spirits that first pulls us in.
Very different work. Yet both capturing a sense of loss. Of childhood, innocence, old age. There is a sense of peace about John’s work. It’s tactile and I want to run my fingers across it. Mary’s work has a curiosity about it. A moment in time. Snapping the photo at just the right moment.
ybonesy, what work are you going to have in the show? I wish I could be there, to fly in for the few days. It reminds me of our art crawls here. We’ve got one coming up in a few weeks in the Minneapolis Arts District. I have a sense of panic myself about everything I don’t have done. But, in the end, everything is as it should be.
Thanks for posting this. I’m inspired to continue.
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Yet both capturing a sense of loss. Of childhood, innocence, old age
Love this statement from your comment, QM. True.
John is the art teacher at a wonderful Montessori school here in the Village of Corrales–Cottonwood. Both my daughters attended the school as toddlers up to kindergarten. I knew of John then but never got to know him. Only last summer when his partner and I became part of the same Mom’s & Daughter’s group did we get a chance to finally sit down and talk about art. Mary I met through John. I had seen their work together at a house party they hosted along with another couple of artists.
This is an interesting notion you bring up about whether we are attracted to the work or the creative spirit of the artist. Both for me. It’s hard to separate the two once you get to know someone and become familiar with their work. Their insides are reflected in their art, I guess is what I’m trying to say. (Wonder what that says about my insides.)
QM, I’m excited about the artwork you’re doing. I thought of you while writing this post. I especially thought of you while looking at Mary’s photos, not because your photos and hers are similar but because she has focused on a recent series of about a half dozen cohesive pieces. I think she’ll also be hanging in a small hallway in the gallery space some older pieces that don’t go with the series. I know you’re working on a recent series. I can’t wait to see them all together. It will be powerful. And so you.
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QM, I will be showing my artwork — pendants, milagro necklaces, and bracelets. Also t-shirts I’ve had done of my work. I’ve really gotten into wearing my t-shirts now that the weather is warming up. 8)
I am working to complete one large piece called Axis of Evil. I features four 12x12s mounted on a 33×35. That one will hang on one wall that’s perfect for it. I was so glad that John and Mary were not turned off by the political nature of it. Sign of a true artist, the understanding that you can’t control what comes out. I am finishing up one of the 12x12s and have started the other. Here is a not very good thumbnail of the one I’m finishing up. It is a mixture of gouache painting (I’m still putting contour into the face), spray paint (I love spray paint–I am a closet graffiti tagger, I’ve decided), and old comic book cover collage.
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They sound like wonderful artists.
Ohio calls their towns villages. I always thought that was a quaint way to put it.
From section 703.01(A) of the Ohio Revised Code:
“Municipal corporations, which, at the last federal census, had a population of five thousand or more, or five thousand registered resident electors or resident voters as provided in section 703.011 of the Revised Code, are cities. All other municipal corporations are villages. Cities, which, at any federal census, have a population of less than five thousand, shall become villages. Villages, which, at any federal census, have a population of five thousand or more, shall become cities.”
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Interesting, Robin. Village if Corrales is not so much a size designation, although it is a lit smaller than the two cities it borders. It seems more a lifestyle choice, to remain semi-rural. One of the ordinances of the village is lot size: nothing smaller than 1 acre (2 in some parts) unless pre-1971.
Given how spread out homes are, a lot about this studio tour is focused on helping visitors find the artists.
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Looks like a great show yb. Isn’t it wonderful to meet new artists…the cool ones that you can actually form friendships with? I miss all that camaraderie from my own gallery. I’ve been through Corrales but it’s been years. 7300 folks. How peaceful is that? Heck, I pass 7300 people in the morning just getting to the freeway 😉
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Wow – Mary’s photos knock my socks right off. Her beachy-vacation work reminds me a bit of Martin Parr’s, but I find more warmth to the intimacy in Mary’s work. I could spend hours looking at these images.
We have some really talented folks here in the Land of Enchantment! Can’t wait to see you all at the studio tour this weekend.
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[…] time again. ybonesy and I are heading out for our annual 2 week blogcation. She’s got the Corrales Art Studio Tour coming up this weekend. And I’m gearing up for Art-A-Whirl 2010 at the Casket Arts Building, […]
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Heather, yes, it is wonderful. I bet you do miss that kinship, as you are a fabulous artist, set designer, and all around wild and creative woman. Interesting, too, that Sharon’s comment follows yours, as Sharon also created a gallery, one of Albuquerque’s best.
Hey, Sharon, looking forward to seeing you. I love Mary’s photos, too. I just saw a collection of several that she posted on Facebook, and what I notice is that intimacy. I called it a quietness, but I think intimacy is a better description.
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