Santa Fe based artist Helen K. Tindel, prepares for her upcoming solo show at Blue Rain Gallery showcasing around 15 paintings—a mix of new and old. While the artist doesn’t paint with a fixed purpose or theme, many the show includes many of Tindel's distinctive floral works, embedded with special meaning.
Always? Always, acrylic with resin, 8 x 8 in.
The artist has been surrounded by creativity since birth. Her father was Greg Tindel, an artist and framer and, on her maternal side, were three generations of Santa Clara Pueblo painters, including her mother, Margarete Bagshaw. “I return to flowers often because of something my mother used to tell me when I was little,” Tindel shares. “I would ask whether she loved me or my brother more, and she would say her love was like sunshine on flowers. She passed away in 2015, so painting flowers has become one way I stay connected to her.”
While Tindel has a special connection to flowers, the artist doesn’t want to be pigeonholed, so she chooses to paint for herself. “My work ranges from abstract and brut art to more delicate, recognizable imagery,” she says. The same can be said for her style and technique—painting from her whole self, not from a single method. “I paint, draw, scratch with large knives, layer color, scrape, blend with my hands and fingers, wipe with towels, spill, spray and mist,” she explains. “I cry, laugh, breathe and live through each piece.”
Before the Future Began, oil with resin, 16 x 36 in.
One show piece, Always? Always—a small acrylic and resin painting of a single flower—is inspired by a common phrase of love: “I will always love you. Always? Always.” The artist shares, “This is a warm piece about a love that stands on its own, deep and enduring. Its simplicity reflects the nature of that love: pure, uncomplicated and easy to hold.”
Another floral work, Before the Future Began, displaying a field of poppies made in oil and resin, is ladened with poetic meaning: “Under a deep, silent moon, luminous flowers bloom in the space between now and what comes next, capturing a moment steeped in quiet wonder, hope and unfolding potential,” Tindel says. “These flowers are reveling in moonlight, illuminated by the quiet mystery of a special night. Being outside at night carries a feeling unlike any other, and this piece is about capturing that atmosphere.”
Daughter, charcoal, acrylic and Prisma color on panel, 30 x 30 in.
For show piece Butterflies, another small work depicting a dark, semi-abstracted swarm of butterflies, Tindel notes that the combination of butterflies and storms symbolizes the profound connection between fragility and strength. “The butterflies carry the colors of sunshine, sunrise, sunset and fire,” she elaborates. “They are delicate, strong and warm as they move through every kind of storming weather: rolling clouds, black skies, snow, wind and rain.”
Butterflies, oil, acrylic and sgraffito with resin, 8 x 8 in.
When asked what she hopes those who see her show take away, she says, “I hold no fixed hopes or expectations. This work is my soul and my life made visible. Each person comes to the show from their own place, carrying different experiences, thoughts, feelings and the weight of a different day. I honor that and trust they will meet the work where they are. The way we feel during an experience, whether immediately after, days later or years later, is never the same.”
To experience Tindel's work in person, head to Blue Rain Gallery’s Santa Fe location from May 8 to 22. A reception will be held on opening day from 5 to 7 p.m. —
Blue Rain Gallery 544 S. Guadalupe Street • Santa Fe, NM 87501 • (505) 954-9902 • www.blueraingallery.com
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