32nd Anniversary Season 2018—2019
The Placitas Artists Series is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs,
December Visual Artists
Visual Artists Reception
December 16, 2018 at 2 pm
All artist images are copyright protected and may not be duplicated or shared
without the express consent of the artist.
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Jane Fritz is an award-winning artist who became hooked on watercolors when she
created a painting journal while traveling for 10 months with her husband
throughout southeast Asia. She is a Signature Member of the New Mexico
Watercolor Society, a member of the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies,
and the Watercolor Society of Alabama. Fritz exhibits in state, regional, national,
and international exhibits. Having traveled and painted in over 20 nations, she has
work in private collections in several countries.
Jane says: “My work focuses on landscapes and wildflowers to share my profound
sense of peace and awe when I am in the wilderness. A pathway of shadows or other
guiding lines leads the viewers’ attention to a luminous focal area with the most detail
and contrast. This center of interest beckons observers into the painting and entices
them to examine the details of the flowers or to imagine what is beyond the horizon.
My hope is that my work will help foster an appreciation for wilderness and nature
that encourages people to work toward preservation of the ecosystems that sustain us
all.”
Pat Harrison, a native of the Southwest, has been painting the region's unique tri-
cultural society, its rich colors, and massive land formations for over 55 years. She
has participated in over 15 solo or two-artists exhibits, over 50 juried exhibitions, as
well as group and invitational shows in museums and galleries in California, Arizona,
New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Texas, and New York. Her work is included in
numerous office collections of banks, doctors, lawyers, as well as private collections
around the U.S., the former Yugoslavia, Canada, and Britain. From 1969-1977 she
was a partner in Galeria del Sol, an Old Town Albuquerque gallery with Jane Mabry,
Carol McIlroy, and Betty Sabo.
Pat says: "I am a traditionally trained artist in watercolor, egg tempera, and oil. My
subjects are mainly Southwestern but, lately, I've branched out to include subjects from
my travels in Europe, Mexico, and India. My special love is painting burros, those
patient, charming, and enigmatic creatures found all over the world; and I tend to
anthropomorphize them."
Dianna Shomaker grew up on a small farm in western Washington state
during the 1930s. A child of the Depression, she created her own hours of
play with whatever she could find, inspiring the tremendous creativity that
continues to fuel her art to this day.
Shomaker’s work has been awarded prizes in competitions throughout the
country and has been shown in juried shows nationally and
internationally. Her primary media include encaustic wax, collage, acrylic,
and oil. The goal of her work involves creating layers of development that
cause the viewer to look for the message contained in her pieces.
Shomaker currently shows at the Corrales Bosque Gallery in Corrales and
the Onyx Swan Gallery in Albuquerque.
Dianna says: “My goal is to inspire myself to think more deeply and to be
more creative in the unfolding of a drama on canvas. If a work is successful it
should provoke and tease both the viewer and me. I want it to be an enjoyable
journey for everyone.”
Born from the work of Alyse Frank and Barbara Zaring, a
nontraditional, dynamic approach to plein air painting serves as
ongoing inspiration to Risa Taylor. All of her paintings begin on either
a black or red canvas. Her landscape paintings are started via plein air
and finished in the studio.
Risa says: “My work includes focused attention to multiple aspects of
painting. Along with creating an image, I enthusiastically explore the
interaction of colors. I work to powerfully extend the surface and
boundaries of a canvas, match brushstrokes to meaning, and expressively
communicate my experience of the subject I am painting.”
