Carrizozo celebrates the world of Art

• World Art Day was celebrated in Carrizozo's art district on April 13 and 14.

World Art Day was celebrated in Carrizozo's art district as galleries were host to  presentations by artists from New Mexico discussing in detail their body of works and inspirational muses on April 13 and 14.

Cynthia Johnson, owner of Limina Gallery, organized the event to bring culture and arts together exhibiting pieces from New Mexico at three galleries on 12th street.

Limina showcased 17 artists' paintings titled "Music in Muse."

"This is a truly a fun and interesting look at how visual art and music interplay naturally and impactfully in our lives,” Johnson said.

Award winning photographer John Courtney’s pieces are on display at the gallery as well. Johnson and Courtney held an open Q&A for guests about his work.

Learning technique and skills

“I remember my first dark room was in the second bathroom in the home I grew up in. My parents allowed me to do this. My younger sister had to share that thing, she was very understanding. I can remember the smells of the developing chemicals. I was lucky my parents allowed me to do this," Courtney said.

His love of photography began at a very young age when he became obsessed with his brother’s camera.

Years later in high school, a close friend took him into the photography lab where he learned the process of developing and printing photos.

By the time he was 18, Courtney's photographers were on exhibits in galleries. 

“I am in the Bosque most weekends. There are mountain lions out there. One day I am going to find them and shoot (photograph) them," he said.

A journey traveled

 It was after he finished college that his professional career took off.

Courtney said that his favorite piece is one that he shot when in high school traveling to South Bend, Indiana on a bus that had stopped in a small Mississippi town. Walking around, he came across a bar with neon signs. Two old men were sitting in front of the bar smoking cigarettes and a cigar. 

"There was a moment when the two were just staring, not saying anything. There was a smoked filled quality to this black and white image that speaks about the magic of the moment, " he said.

Three years ago, he decided that he had something “photographic” to say wanting to build a body of work that had "gravity to it." 

Dreams can change

At Gallery 408 Joan Malkerson’s sculptures of “The Women of the Dance” are on exhibit. Her five pieces represent women in dance, and how history of the dance has changed over decades.

Her love for the dance began when she was young and wanted to become a ballerina.

Each sculptures represents a specific type of dance during different eras illustrating real dancers from various backgrounds. She spent some time researching dancers and the sculptures took her about 2 years to complete; changing details occasionally.

“When I was a small child, age five, I took ballet lessons from Lilan Cavillo. Somehow, that just didn’t happen for me,” she said.

She began sculpting 15 years ago. “I feel in love with working in clay,” she said.

“These sculptures connect to my own personal history of a love for the dance I grew up with. We all dance. While making cakes, my mother would dance to Louis Armstrong," she said.

Material she finds for her sculptures "substantiates her subject matter" with each one based on a dancer.

"There is not a great intention in my work but I finds my inspiration by “listening to what others around me say," she said. "I find myself being challenged by each piece I create."

Working out details

Photographer Nancy Gregory was featured at the Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography.

An award-winning photographer, she spends much time at White Sands National Monument waiting for an opportunity to capture a second in time that will never be again, she said.

“I feel a deep connecting to this gorgeous state of New Mexico with an inaudible calling to observe life forms, to feel the energy, and to compose an image that attempts to convey the spirituality of a place,” said Gregory. “Warren has given me a beautiful opportunity to be here. I am very grateful.”

Gregory has lived in New Mexico for two years. 

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A lifetime of work

“In the galleries, we would have judged shows, not just photography but painting and sculpture, fabric and glass art. The artists were competing with each other. It was very challenging for me,” said Gregory.

Her first goal when she moved to New Mexico was to find a gallery that would show her work, not necessarily to sale it, but to share it.

"I chose this gallery (Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography) because everything about it drew me to it,” she said.

Gregory said that she spends a lot of her time studying the skills and the styles of the photography on display at the gallery.

“I can tell that some of them are well planned. Art is subjective. Some photographers feel constrained, others believe in a decisive moment, a moment you are prepared for, but you do not know it is going to happen,” she said.

Her husband encouraged her to build a career in photography, she said, that was bolstered by the inheritance of her father's camera equipment upon his death.

More:World Art Day celebration

Exhibits and more

The Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography is the largest in New Mexico with 7,500 square feet of art, according to Tripadvisor.

“We are currently adding to our panoramic wall with huge pieces. Some over six feet in length,” said Warren Malkerson. “We now have a map where the photographers can mark where they are from. We are not just a local gallery."

The gallery is also home to the winners of the New Mexico magazine contest and are on display year round.

For more information about the Limina Gallery go to http://www.liminagallery.com/, Gallery 408 visit www.http://gallery408.com/zozo/, or the Tulrosa Basin Gallery of Photography at  https://www.photozozo.org/.

Pamela L. Bonner can be reached at 575-202-5555, Pbonner@Ruidosonews.com or at 575-257-4001 ext. 4102.