Grant Macdonald "Places and Memories" - Solo Exhibition

Grant Macdonald

Places and Memories

Grant Macdonald Places and Memories Solo Exhibition: September 11 - 17 Artist reception: September 11 5 to 7pm on the cover: Golden Morning on the Chama oil 48x36

225 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM www.meyergalleries.com

Grant Macdonald moved from Texas to New Mexico in 1987 and expanded his artistic horizons to the dramatic vistas and sunsets of the Land of Enchantment.

Born in Leesburg, Virginia, Macdonald was raised from age two on a ranch in west Texas. He began drawing at age six. His desire to become an artist was encouraged by his family, and he received his bachelors degree in Fine Art from the University of Mississippi. After serving a tour of duty in the Air Force, he received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, with a thesis on portraiture. His instructors in Austin included Everett Spruce and Ralph White.

In 1971 he moved to Kerrville in the Texas Hill Country, where he gained widespread recognition for his landscapes and wildlife art. Since moving to northern New Mexico, the focus of his work has shifted toward the immense and varied subjects offered within that region.

More recently, he has expanded his range of subject matter to include places that he and his wife, Sharon, love to explore, such as the coast of New England, the cities and countryside of France, and also portraiture.

Macdonald has participated in several major exhibitions, including the American Art Classic and the Western Heritage Sale in Houston, the Collector’s Sale in Dallas, and major auctions in the U.S. Macdonald has been featured in several notable art publications such as Art of the West and Southwest Art magazines.

“What I seek to portray in my art is not so much what people see, but what they remember about a place. I am a realist, but I’m not attempting simply to document nature: I try to identify the essential qualities that elicit an emotional response and communicate that response through my work.”

Grant Macdonald’s solo show, Places and Memories, features a body of work inspired by the artist’s travels through Northern New Mexico as well as recent trips to Holland and France.

Macdonald is known for his dramatic sunset paintings that capture the Southwest’s awe-inspiring evening skies. While this signature style will be present in the exhibition, Macdonald’s recent painting trip to Abiquiu and Taos inspired new perspectives on familiar landscapes.

Pedernal 18x24 oil

Sunset and Poplars 24x18 oil

East of the Setting Sun 16x20 oil

“I’ve visited these scenes many times but typically during the day or in the evening,” says Macdonald. “But the morning light transformed what I’d seen before as autumn trees were back-lit by the sun, which gave me a totally new approach.”

Morning Light at Ghost Ranch 40x30 oil

Equinox 15x29 oil

Morada at Abiquiu 18x14 oil

“What I aim to do in my work is not so much to convey exactly what I saw, but what I remember,” says New Mexico landscape painter Grant Macdonald. “I paint the things that I thought were impressive or significant, or what drew me to the subject. The idea is to create what a person would recall about a place - what affected them emotionally.”

Golden Morning on the Chama 48x36 oil

Evening Star 14x18 oil

Tulips in Holland depicts Macdonald’s impression of the Keukenhof Gardens, which boast over 70 acres of tulips and other flowers. “It was the most spectacular garden I’ve ever seen,” recalls the artist. “You could walk for miles among the flowers.”

Tulips in Holland 11x16 oil

High on the Mountain 20x16 oil

Sunset over Tres Orejas 18x24 oil

Autumn Light 24x20 oil

“I try to identify the essential qualities that elicit an emotional response and communicate that response through my work,� says the artist.

Winter Lace 16x20 oil

In art, a study is a drawing, sketch or painting done in preparation for a finished piece, or as visual notes. Studies are often used to understand the problems involved in rendering subjects and to plan the elements to be used in finished works, such as light, color, form, perspective and composition.

Study for Golden Morning on the Chama 12x16 oil

Study for Morning Light at Ghost Ranch 12x9 oil

previous page: detail of Pedernal 18x24 oil

Grant Macdonald Places and Memories Autumn Light 24x20

$6,400

East of the Setting Sun 16x20

$4,800

Equinox 15x29

$5,900

Evening Star 14x18

Golden Morning on the Chama 36x48

$4,600 $19,500

High on the Mountain 20x16

$4,800

Morada at Abiquiu 18x14

$4,600

Morning Light at Ghost Ranch 40x30

$13,500

Pedernal 18x24

$5,700

Study for Golden Morning on the Chama 12x16

$3,900

Study for Morning Light at Ghost Ranch 12x9

$2,400

Sunset and Poplars 24x18

$5,700

Sunset Over Tres Orejas 18x24

$5,700

Tulips in Holland 11x16

$3,300

Winter Lace 16x20

$4,800

225 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM www.meyergalleries.com