Santa Fe – Jen Tough Residency July 2026
In July of 2026, I was juried into the Jen Tough Gallery artist in residence program and I spent two weeks creating artwork in New Mexico at a spectacular studio space. Now I could easily ask AI to write up my statement for me- but let’s talk person to person. Something I think is what art is all about.
This residency allowed for a deep concentration on a new series titled “Watching the Skies”.
The Watching the Skies series, to me, is really about that idea of looking upwards, about trying to understand reality on Earth. We often look into the sky and say – I feel so hopeless, or helpless, or happy, or in awe, or just overwhelmed, to a point where we just don’t even know where to look.
And it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s not for me a religious thing. It’s about understanding that there’s something bigger in this universe than us. And this whole series is about looking upwards, trying to understand what the big picture is. And for me, that’s a big part of my journey as an artist. I think that’s something that we all relate to, that is the common experience of humans. That we don’t quite get the big picture. We don’t know what the plan is, but isn’t there some magic in that? The clouds, the forms they take, the overwhelming majesty of the prairie skyline or desert skyline – they make me feel small and like the universe is something so much larger.
So during this residency I created around 15 paintings all based on the skies of the south west and the north west. I worked in acrylic on loose canvas that I stretched to the walls (something I love to do) and used my signature textures as well. I also did some plein air painting at iconic sites such as Ghost Ranch – the former home of Georgia O’Keeffe, and in the middle of New Mexico near Madrid.
I truly was inspired and feel like I have created some of my strongest works yet. See the collection here.
Alberta’s Artist in Residence – 2024-2025
As the Alberta Artist in Residence for 2024–2025, I embarked on a year-long project to capture the diverse landscapes of the province through the practice of plein air painting. This initiative draws deeply from my personal artistic journey and the inspiration I’ve found in the Group of Seven, whose groundbreaking approach to painting the Canadian wilderness has profoundly shaped my own perspective. Like the Group of Seven, I seek to engage directly with nature, using it as both subject and catalyst for emotional expression. Their legacy of capturing awe-inspiring moments—whether in the quiet transformation of light across a landscape or the powerful shifts in a natural environment over time—has influenced my desire to create work that reflects not only the physical beauty of Alberta’s terrain, but the deeper rhythms of change and growth within these spaces.
This project aims to explore how nature can evoke a sense of timelessness and continuity, while also embracing the fleeting, ever-changing aspects of the land. This site will document the works completed for this project and the scale of each piece.