Reception, Saturday, Apr 1
3-5 pm

Show catalog

View works by PAPNM members, Janet Shaw Amtmann, Lyle Brown,  Tobi Clement, Marilyn Drake, Charles Edmondson, Katherine Irish, Natasha Isenhour Mike Mahon, MaryAnn McGraw, Lee McVey, Paul Murray, Nancy Silvia., Janice St. Marie, Betty Tichich and Marilyn Wightman.

Margi Lucena was a long-time signature member of the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico.

In Margi’s “Artist Statement” for Rob Nightingale, owner of Wilder Nightingale Gallery in Taos, she wrote: “For me, being a landscape artist in New Mexico is like living pure joy. I only need to step outside my back door to find inspiration. And, although panoramic mountain and desert views and beautiful skies are in every direction, it’s often the little things…a chamisa in bloom, the shadow it casts across the ground, or the irrigation waterways that pass through the farm and ranchlands, that send me to my easel. I have painted in different mediums over the years, but something special happened when I picked up pastels for the first time. This was truly a “hands on” experience. Everything changed. I had finally found a way to express what my heart was trying to say. The most rewarding thing is when that expression touches someone else’s heart. I can’t really ask for more than that.”

Natasha Isenhour, PSNM/DP who was a longtime friend of Margi’s wrote: In the quarter century we knew one another, we enjoyed a depth of friendship a person is fortunate to have even once in a lifetime, if that. We finished each other’s sentences, communicated without words, shared our deep passion for art, beauty, music, poetry and great food all while making room for our differences, and loving and supporting each other through hardships and triumphs. Margi wore many hats throughout her lifetime…she was a fiercely protective mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend. When we became friends in the late 90’s, she was at a place in her life where she could begin wearing her “art” hat more and more. Children grown and thriving, and settled into a landscape she loved, Margi turned her passion toward her lifelong love of art. She had painted all her life in the spaces where she could, but now she was able to devote a larger part of her days to her work. I was already settled into giving an art career a go, so early on she would come and paint at my house when she was still only painting in oil and watercolor. Soon, we would be sharing studio space and she was introduced to pastels. Her work was forever changed. Margi’s work showed, not only incredible natural talent for mark-making, but her sense for local color was legendary. Margi is the one who taught me to “see”. I hadn’t been a landscape painter when we began painting together, but on our many roadtrips, traveling 10’s of 1000’s of miles together over the years, she would point out the “blue” or “violet” in the distance. At that point, as observant as I thought I was, I had never really “seen”. Once it clicked for me, I understood what a profound gift she had shared. Not only were we best friends, but she was a mentor to me and I believe that was a two way street for us in a variety of ways over the years. Her work is an honest, spontaneous, and personal journal into her unique view of the world around her. She could truly take something that would never give you pause, and make you look at it and fall in love with it. That’s because Margi told you exactly how she felt about it with every stroke of color. She painted emotion and love like no one else I know. Margi was a survivor and a constant inspiration on how to keep moving through adversity. She would be so incredibly proud of the recognition here with her pastel family as the medium was, hands down, her greatest passion. I hope all of you will take a moment to look at her work and let it light a little fire in your heart to carry with you. She lit a raging inferno in mine decades ago and I will never let anything put that fire out, in equal parts for myself and for the best friend I have ever had.