Three talented landscape artists—Tobi Clement, Greg Skol and Gina Rossi—come together for a new exhibition at Canyon Road Contemporary in Santa Fe. Featuring a large selection of new paintings from each artist, the show celebrates the unique beauty of the Southwest and the Land of Enchantment.

Tobi Clement, Promise of a New Day, pastel on paper, 19 x 26"

 

For Clement, surrounded by the panoramic landscapes and stunning skies of the Southwest, nature and all the living things it supports has always been an important part of her world. This love of nature translates to her expressive paintings, which feature especially vibrant skies. Take her pastel Promise of a New Day, for instance. While the tree-lined valley below is beautifully rendered, the star of the show is the expansive sunset of soft blues contrasted with fiery oranges. “The titles I choose for each painting are an extension of the storytelling I see as each piece is being created,” says Clement. The artist says she spends a great deal of time painting at the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico.

Greg Skol, Sundown, oil on panel, 12 x 12"

 

Gina Rossi, Path to the Sunset, oil on canvas, 30 x 20"

 

“The landscape has always been a balm for me,” says Skol. “Coming to Santa Fe (the whole of New Mexico, really) in 1990, fulfilled a desperate need for the kind of vast, natural world that is the American West.” Growing up in New York City and living in other large cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, Skol says there was a definite disconnect from natural beauty. Now living in downtown Santa Fe, Skol carries the landscape with him everywhere he goes. He’s spent the last 30 years exploring New Mexico and the Southwestern region by car and by horse.  “There is a quote from contemporary master Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum that [describes] the psychology that I describe here: ‘It is man’s right to return to nature when society fails him.’ Intuitively, my quest for the natural world is built in...For me it just manifests as my paintings,” says Skol.

Gina Rossi, Winter Sunset, oil on panel, 12 x 12"

 

And for Rossi, it’s all about atmospheric light, color and form. The artist continuously explores the ways in which abstract mark-making and forms can lend themselves to a deeper understanding of reality. “My paintings are from the heart. I love the landscape in all of its manifestations.  From the mountains to the flat lands, I am inspired by it all,” she says. “I come from an abstract background, but I have also studied plein air...These two backgrounds help me see and feel the land, atmosphere, light and shadows in my own interpretation.”

Landscape Artists of Santa Fe will be on view from July 14 to 23, with an opening reception the first day from 5 to 7 p.m. —

Canyon Road Contemporary Art
622 Canyon Road • Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 983-0433 • www.canyoncontemporary.com

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