December is widely regarded as a season of light, as the darkest and shortest days of the year gradually yield to brighter, longer ones. Across cultures and traditions, this time has been celebrated as a triumph of light over darkness. These celebrations remind us that difficult times, though inevitable, can be endured and even transformed into opportunities for growth and positive change. Embrace this spirit by exploring the following art shows opening or continuing throughout December.

Our first frost warnings arrived this week along with Halloween, Día de los Muertos and First Friday art openings. This Friday evening, November 1, check out Sacred Protection at The Next Best Thing to Being There on Mountain Road and R3SI$T! at the Old Walls Gallery located in an historic schoolhouse just a block from Central Ave in an alley running between 8th and 9th Streets and Copper and Kent.

In Albuquerque, October brings both relief and a sense of time speeding up. The relief comes with cooler weather and a renewed appreciation for our sunny days and clear blue skies. The acceleration begins as hot-air balloons fill the sky during the annual Balloon Fiesta, then quickly gains momentum as Halloween, Día de los Muertos, Election Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the rest of the winter holidays rush by like a fast-forwarded parade. It’s only in January do we catch our breath and time slows down for a couple of months.

For artists, this whirlwind is amplified by a surge of art shows and commercial projects. With that said, I’m highlighting a couple of upcoming art events in hopes you can find time for them in your busy schedule.

Life overwhelmed art this summer but a couple things were completed in August and there a couple of things to look forward to as well. In the finished column is the courtyard mural and another hexagram painting. In the looking forward column are the acceptance of a couple of pieces from the Postcard to America series in a couple of shows. Thank you so much for your support through these unsettled times!

For many years I dreaded June because it was a grief-trigger. Both my husband and father both passed away in June one year apart in 2001 and 2002. But It also holds my wedding anniversary and the birth of my youngest son as well Father’s Day—and now only the good memories remain—so happy June to all!

If you’re in the area, please join me for “Cards and Mocktails” at Electra Gallery, 825 Early Street, Suite D, Santa Fe for the closing of the Art of Tarot Show on Friday, May 31, 5-8pm. Scroll down for more good news and art endeavors.

Thanks to all of you who told me about Electra Gallery’s call for art, Seven of Flowering Hearts will be part of The Art of Tarot exhibit opening this Friday, May 3rd. I’ll also be taking up a couple of the House of Cards decks to be in stock at this delightful off-the-beaten-track gallery located at 825 Early St. Suite near the Railyards in Santa Fe. The show opens on Friday, May 3 from 5-8pm.

My March Madness begins on Friday, March 1, with three artist receptions at three different galleries where I am exhibiting one or two small works: in Albuquerque it’s the Lunar New Year Dragon show at The Next Best Thing to Being There and the Women’s Work show at Ghostwolf Gallery— Santa Fe it’s a return to the Art Mozaik gallery for Art Unleashed! 

So why love and dragons? I have work in two shows opening on Saturday, February 10. The first show at The Next Best Thing to Being There on Mountain Road in Albuquerque celebrates the Lunar New Year from 4-6pm. And this year happens to be the Year of the Dragon. The second show is the 3017 Gallery downstairs at Artisans ABQ on 3017 Monte Vista Blvd, and is titled What’s Love Got to Do with It? from 4:30-7pm on the same day.

It’s a new year and we are all hoping it ends more peacefully than it is beginning. Making art is a constant exercise in optimism. We don’t need art like we need food, shelter, and clothing, but we do use it for at least three purposes—decoration, recreation, and reflection. Artists make art for a mixture of these reasons—it can be a saleable commodity but we mostly we are trying to create beauty, enjoy the creative process, and respond to the world around us.

As we head into this holiday season I hope you are surrounded by loved ones and friendly faces as we all pray for peace on earth.

Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving from 10-3pm at The Next Best Thing to Being There pop-up, the 12 Days of Christmas cards and prints will be available along with decks and small metal prints from the House of Cards series.

Then on First Friday in December, Hexagram 39: Obstruction, will be showing in Ghostwolf Gallery’s Enigma Show. Later in the month some of my older work will be on exhibit during the waning days of Tortuga Gallery. Finally, the show at UNM Oasis and the exhibition at the Gobble This restaurant continue.

The Next Best Thing to Being There (along with my mural and art at this extraordinary shop) is featured along with others Only in Albuquerquein  on Very Local (a streaming service)— there is also watch party at the National Hispanic Cultural Center Wednesday night November 1st at 6pm.

This series is inspired by the I Ching, the 2000-year-old Chinese divination system. The I Ching became part of the fabric of Chinese philosophy. Each hexagram consists of a combination of six yin (broken) or yang (solid) lines and each combination of has a particular meaning. I’ve layered these hexagrams with imagery that illustrate my understanding of these meanings.

I recently completed the 18th “postcard”—Colorado: Rocky Mountain High. The inspiration for this artwork came as I drove back and forth from Albuquerque to Denver for an art show in March and I was struck at the number of cannabis stores littered along the various towns off of I-40. The growth of legal recreational cannabis stores in my home state of New Mexico mirrors this development. However, Colorado was one of the first two states to legalize marijuana in 2012 and is now the second state to legalize the use (not the sale) of psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in magic mushrooms.

If you’re in the Albuquerque area stop by and celebrate the completion of The Sea of Life Mural at The Next Best Thing to Being There, an extraordinary shop, at 1315 Mountain Road, Albuquerque this Friday, June 2, 4-7pm. Also, scroll down to see the paintings that have been included in Ghostwolf Gallery’s annual Superfunkadelic! and Tortuga Gallery’s Circle art shows—both open this Friday, June 2, 5-8pm.

The Sea of Life Mural is almost complete at The Next Best Thing to Being There, an extraordinary shop at 1315 Mountain Road, Albuquerque; Wednesday afternoon, I’m heading off to the San Francisco area to deliver a piece to Arts Benicia for their Reimagining History exhibition juried by Sandow Birk; and when I return next week I will be delivering work for the It’s Time to Talk: The Menopause Art Exhibit taking place at Under Charlie’s Covers – Fine Used Books in Bernalillo.

Since the last newsletter I completed the mural on Marble and 15th in Albuquerque—previously known as Garden Gate Mural but the owner has dubbed it the Magic Garden Mural—a great name. Recently I have been working on the underdrawing for the Sea of Life Mural at The Next Best Thing to Being There, art gallery and gift shop and will have an opening there on First Friday, April 7, 5-8pm. The show will exhibit metal and paper prints from the Postcards to America series. Stop by and say hello!

On the Road—The works-on-paper from the Postcards to America series continue to be selected for inclusion in national juried exhibitions—delivered one to Georgia in January and another is going to Louisiana in February. At Home—Work on mural designs continue and warmer weather in February will allow the actual painting to begin—more importantly two friends have or are in the process of transitioning to the undiscovered country.

2022 was an hectic year starting with a new mural, then taking the art of eight Albuquerque Artists to show at the Attleboro Arts Museum in Massachusetts, laying out books, designing and illustrating covers, organizing a Metaphysical art show at Tortuga Gallery, and ending the year with beginning a new mural…

The first weekend of December is full of art shows and many of them are fundraising opportunities for community organizations. Each year I donate a piece of art to the Harwood Art Center’s 12×12 Exhibit and to the Endorphorin Power Company’s Annual Art Party. This year I’m also giving my subscribers to this newsletter and followers on social nedia a 22% off coupon on original art through my website. 

With November around the corner, the closing of 2022 is upon us. Also, it’s the closing of our “Let’s Get Metaphysical Show!” at Tortuga Gallery from 4-8pm on Saturday. Don’t miss this wonderful show with nine metaphysical artists displaying their unique and vibrant visions

October begins on Saturday along with the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Tourists are pouring into the city and it looks to be first “normal” fiesta since 2019. I’m highlighting four of the many art events that are worth braving the traffic.

September tends to kick off the busiest time of year— new school year starts up, poetry and art events increase, and in Albuquerque tourists arrive in greater numbers as the weather cools down. In spite of these challenges I’m trying to keep my life simple by taking one day at a time! If you are in the Albuquerque area, check out First Friday events on September 2nd and the Placitas art and book sale on September 3rd.

This month I am featuring a wonderful book that I have working on the design of the cover and the interior, including its cover illustration! Marjorie St. Clair (writersadventure.com) has lived a colorful and creative life as a feminist, writer and mentor to other women in expressing themselves. I previously designed her two writing workbooks including the cover illustrations, Wild Women Write: Re-connecting with the Wild Feminine and Writes of Passage: Writing through the Seasons of Your Life. I recommend Marjorie’s creative and insightful exploration of women’s lives, rich with prompts to help the writer in both self-discovery and self-expression.

I’m feeling jet-lagged from a kind of time traveling after returning to Albuquerque from re-visiting Massachusetts, where I spent my formative years as a young adult. The recent news of mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas have also added to my sense of dislocation. Here we go again—change is so hard—yet I think it’s important to believe that we can change for the better, both as individuals and as a society, especially when it seems impossible. So let’s double our determination to make decisions now that will make a better future for all.

I’m feeling jet-lagged from a kind of time traveling after returning to Albuquerque from re-visiting Massachusetts, where I spent my formative years as a young adult. The recent news of mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas have also added to my sense of dislocation. Here we go again—change is so hard—yet I think it’s important to believe that we can change for the better, both as individuals and as a society, especially when it seems impossible. So let’s double our determination to make decisions now that will make a better future for all.

How do you measure the success of an art show? Sales? Number of visitors? Amount of media interest? Or the impact it makes with the viewers? I don’t have the numbers yet to measure sales or the number visitors, but I do know that from the media interest and word of mouth that people have really enjoyed the show and are taking an interest in what a great art community we have in Albuquerque.

First, I would like to applaud all of you for your support in making these artistic adventures happen! I returned Monday after delivering 60 pieces of art from the eight Albuquerque artists chosen for VIVID: A Sampling of Today’s Albuquerque Art Scene. I was delighted to attend the opening on Saturday, April 9, at the Attleboro Arts Museum located in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The show runs through May 6th.

It’s been seven years since I was first introduced virtually to Attleboro Arts Museum’s Executive Director and Chief Curator Mim Brooks Fawcett by some friends and supporters in the area. In our conversation, the idea to have a group of work by Albuquerque-area artists exhibited at the Museum was born and six years ago I signed a contract to deliver and the work to the museum in the Spring of 2021. The Artists were selected by Fawcett in January of 2020. Last year the exhibit was postponed due to COVID to 2022, but now we have the artists, the artwork, a title, and the dates for the show!

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day has always been one of my favorite times. As a child, I enjoyed having no school, hanging out with my cousins, doing puzzles, playing games, and, as I got older, going to snow camp. This past week I spent my time finishing up one artwork and starting another as well as collecting final submissions of artwork from the other artists who will be showing with me at the Attleboro Museum this coming April. For me this winter will be all about planning and getting ready for this art adventure seven years in the making.

2021 has been a year of change and change is hard, but now it’s time to take a break and celebrate life with all its ups and downs.

November arrives on Monday and I’m giving thanks already! ‘m grateful for continued good health, my Mother’s long life, my two sons, extended family and friends. I’m also grateful for the time I have to make and exhibit artwork and write poetry. And I’m so very grateful for all of you who follow and support these creative endeavors!

It’s October already and it’s even looking like fall here in Albuquerque. Check out Jade Levya’s work at Ghostwolf Gallery and the One Heart, One Mind show at the Santa Maria de la Vid Abbey. And another road trip for the Postcards to America quickly approaching.

A representative sample of Julie Brokken’s artwork and studio life will be in the back room of the Tortuga Gallery through the end of the year. Ripples from the Center: a Little Beauty & Art, Poetry & Heart to Enlighten You on Your Way, a book of her art and poetry is available online. Coming up this First Friday, September 3, a month-long group show and events focused on Grief and Gratitude will be held at Tortuga Gallery, 901 Edith Avenue SE, scroll down to see the listing of artists and events.

One my favorite parts of a road trip is coming home again and reaffirming why I love New Mexico so much even when in I lampoon it as the Land of Bombardment in my latest artwork in my Postcards to America series.

On First Friday, July 2nd, please join me this month in stopping in at Next Best Thing To Being There boutique on Mountain Road to support Lesley Long, a local artist and former housemate, who is going through treatment for cancer and the unfortunate economic side effects that go with it. Then mosey down the road to Ghostwolf Gallery to meet a couple of new artists and say hi to the old ones.

Along with most of us in the U.S. we are celebrating the ability to travel and to be closer to friends and family. From May 30 to June 8 I’ll be traveling with my youngest son to complete his driver’s education, deliver artwork to a show in upstate New York and visit an old friend in Ithaca. Meanwhile the Albuquerque art scene is chugging along again…

On May 1—visit the online auction to benefit the Rio Grande Borderland Ministries. On May 7—come by and Ghostwolf Gallery at our new location in Old Town’s patio market for First Friday.. Finally on May 21— The Art of Quarantine closes at Gallery with a Cause at the New Mexico Cancer Center–visit the website and vote your favorite artist.

Spring 2021 Restart—After a long winter, spring is approaching with a sense of hope with Ghostwolf Gallery reopening in a new location and my artwork being exhibited in two group shows—one at Tortuga Gallery and the other at Gallery with a Cause at the New Mexico Cancer Center.

Most holiday shopping is online this year for good reason. Ghostwolf Gallery is allowed to be open at 25% capacity (about 5 people)—but Amy, leader of the pack, has wisely left it up to each artist’s discretion. I have decided to be at Ghostwolf Gallery at 2043 South Plaza St NW on the next two Sundays, December 13 and 20, between Noon and 4pm for last minute holiday shopping. If you are out and about, come say hello and wear your mask! We’ve got plenty of gift items from $5 on up.

This is the time of year when artists like myself collaborate with local art organizations to help them raise money. This year it is more urgent than usual to help keep the doors open for the future.

The times seem especially chaotic, but chaos can bring change and growth. My hope is that we learn to thrive together through these difficult times.

August has been a busy but quiet month of working with other artists on their websites, with poets and writers with their books, and finishing the edits on my first book consisting of poetry alone (no art other than the cover)—but September looks to be even busier.

Marvin Gaye wrote his classic song What’s Going On? in 1971 and nearly fifty years later it sounds like it could have been written today. I started my Postcards to America series last fall because as the mother of two young men of color problems from policing to mass incarceration to healthcare disparities combined with the challenges of climate change were weighing heavily on my mind. When the pandemic started, I thought that no one would want to see artwork about these problems, but I needed to address them for my own peace of mind. I was wrong.

We are all trying to find a way forward through problems we can only solve together—the COVID 19 pandemic, the racism pandemic, the violence pandemic, the climate pandemic. As a mother, and especially as a mother of two young men of color, I feel overwhelmed. Making art and writing poetry is how I process these feelings.

Like everyone else my life has become Zoom-centric. I watch my favorite comic relief on Zoom, listen or read to poetry on Zoom, and consulting and teaching using Zoom. I just want to zoom ahead to future normal. Here are a few of the non-zoom projects I’m working on.

I hope you and your loved ones are all in good health. Let me share a little distraction from the bad news—here are some updates on ongoing creative projects that are keeping me sane during this crisis.

Join Ghostwolf Gallery in celebrating women in the fourth annual Women’s Work exhibition, celebrate the launch of the mural at Little Bird de Papel, and learn about New Mexico Suffragists!

A Roman fertility feast, a Christian martyr losing his life by defying an emperor to secretly marry soldiers to their beloveds,
a Celtic legend about birds mating on February 14th?  No matter why February 14 became the day to celebrate love,
we humans have always loved who we love “to the Moon and back again” no matter the obstacles.

This time of year we all spend time looking back and looking forward. Entering 2020 and a new decade, our direction as a country and a planet seem more urgent than ever. And I am reminded that we each only have NOW.

A very beary holiday at Ghostwolf Gallery this December and don’t miss Tortuga Gallery’s Creative Art Fair, December 6-8.

Grateful this month for all the different kinds of connections.

Have you ever noticed how many idioms and characters in folklore use the name Jack? This month Jack and His Legendary Bones, makes his Ghostwolf Gallery debut at the October 4, 5-8pm opening.

September arrives and its time to get serious. Just as it comes up to two years from my sister’s end-stage cancer diagnosis and the recent news that another friend has developed cancer, I am honored to be showing at the Gallery with a Cause at the New Mexico Cancer Center. It opens on Friday, September 6, 6-8:30pm.

August is heating up with two First Friday exhibits at Ghostwolf and Tortuga Galleries on August 2, a ribbon cutting for the Orpheum Community Hub Mural on Monday, August 12, 1:30-2:30pm, and the Albuquerque Art Showcase at the Convention Center form August 15-19.

July’s Creature Feature, Mural Madness, and Sunday Selfies.

June arrived with the Orpheum Community Hub Mural well underway and a featured spread in Albuquerque The Magazine…

Spring has definitely ignited in Albuquerque with 70-80 degree days, blossom-laden trees, mural planning full steam ahead, and exhibits multiplying.. Read on for more about the Orpheum Hub Mural progress, Mother’s Day Tour and Art Show in Huning Highland, latest news from Ghostwolf Gallery, and future dates to save in your calendar.

It’s April and the wind is blowing in Albuquerque.  After a quiet and recuperative winter, I’m airborne again with Hexagram paintings arriving en force at Ghostwolf Gallery, several of the House of Cards series paintings (among others) hanging at Slice Parlor, and a new mural picking up steam at the Orpheum Community Hub on the southeast corner of Coal and 2nd downtown. These plus other opportunities are cropping up like the weeds, the wind and rain has planted in my xeriscaped front yard.

Ghostwolf Gallery celebrates National Women’s History Month with it’s annual Women’s Work juried exhibition. Now in it’s third year, this eclectic exhibition explores female identity: past, present, and future, through the works of local women artists.