An artist’s life in the balance

Marissa Ridell’s summers in Taos

NOT EVERYONE moves to Taos lock, stock and barrel after an inspired visit or two. For some, the journey emerges over many years in a delicate balance of career, family and geography.

On Thursday (Aug. 5) from 4-6 p.m. there is an opening reception in the Encore Gallery at Taos Center for the Arts (TCA), 133 Paseo del Pueblo Norte for “Fleeting,” an exhibit of work by artist Marise Riddell who lives in McLean, Virginia, and maintains a studio and home in Taos.

The paintings on view span 13 years of Riddell’s 20 summers in Taos and are “inspired by the desert, the colors of the landscapes that surround Taos, and the multicultural people of the area.”

Riddell taught for many years at the now closed Corcoran School of the Arts and Design on the Ellipse facing the White House in DC. She now teaches at The McLean Project for the Arts in Virginia.

Her journey to Taos began in 2001 on a road trip with a friend. After a serendipitous four- hour conversation with Turtle Heart in his gallery of the same name on the Saint Francis Plaza in Ranchos de Taos, she realized she needed to “get to know Taos from the inside out.”

After returning to her life on the east coast, Riddell began figuring out how to get back to Taos. During summer breaks from teaching she returned for

one month, then two months at a time, and at Thanksgiving until the beginning of the winter term. Now she lives in Taos for 6 months at a time.

She said it is “difficult to balance life in Taos with life in the Washington, DC area. It requires a lot of organization and commitment. Before the Corcoran in DC closed, I did three workshops at the Stables Gallery (TCA), bringing my DC students here to paint. So, early on, my heart was divided between the fast pace of DC and a quieter life in Taos.”

Her inspirations include “Raoul Dufy, Thomas Hart Benton, The Fauves and Expressionists, all of my teachers, along with The Washington Color School painters, Philip Taaffe, Paul Reed, William Scharf, Howard Hodgkin and Mary Vernon. I am also inspired by nature and New Mexico as I am drawn to the sharp colors against the vibrant blue skies.”

Riddell said her creative process involves “getting out of what is in front of me to what I don’t know. My drawing skills are very high, but I try very hard to ignore the skill and find something that I cannot explain. To me, painting is about not knowing what will happen on the canvas. That excites me.

“Art is such a personal thing. Most artists are reclusive, dyslexic and introverted. I am not in the narrative art business and political art does not interest me as only a tool for politics. Narrative art takes a different personality to mine. I do not have a story to tell and although there is nothing wrong with that, it does not work for me. For me, reality is to be discovered, not annotated.”

Figuring out what to name a show or work is a step artists sometimes struggle with. Riddell names her work “for identification,” and finds both the naming of a show and work challenging.

“As soon as I name a painting, it gives the viewer something to hold on. But in effect, to me, that name is only for identification. The show name, Fleeting, was a struggle to come by, but has a double meaning of the fleeting nature of nature itself and the painting process, which is fast and fleeting. A painting will change from day to day and it takes an artist’s eye to know when it is done.”

Riddell said she has always wanted to be an artist, but the “road has been long and difficult, as life has intervened. I have had many years when I have had to put painting on the back burner as I had to raise children as a single mother and had to work outside of painting to do that.”

In addition to the opening reception Thursday, Aug. 12 at 4 p.m. at the TCA, Riddell will host “Artist Talk: A Life In Color.” She is planning to talk about color and how it has impacted her life and art.

For further details about the artist, visit her website mariseriddell.com.

This event is free to the public. Following opening day, the gallery will be open before all events in TCA theater and by appointment. Email info@ tcataos.org to schedule a viewing.

For further details about events at Taos Center for the Arts visit tcataos. org. Be sure to read the TCA house rules before purchasing tickets for the lecture. TCA is closely monitoring reopening guidelines for New Mexico. House rules are subject to change.