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Jo Diane Kasper grew up in the mountains of Arizona, studied fine art and photographic art at Arizona State University and the University of Iowa.  She lived in New York City for many years working in fine art photography and exploring several fields including horticulture. Jo returned to the southwest in 1997 and made New Mexico her home.

Growing up in Arizona gave Jo a deep love and appreciation for the subtle and often mysterious beauty of the land and the ancient places of the southwest. Her paintings, watercolors, sepias, and oil paintings of these ancient ruins and sacred places capture the divine and mystical connections between Spirit, Nature, and Humans. Her paintings reflect these connections in a transcendent impressionistic technique; evoking a sense of the precious and eternal oneness of the universe in which we live.

Bright Rain Gallery will host a reception for Jo’s opening show during First Friday ARTScrawl on April 6th from 530p-830p. A separate reception will take place during the Old Town ARTScrawl from 530p-830p on April 20, 2012

Rachel received her BFA from Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and her MFA from the University of New Mexico.  She is currently an adjunct faculty for Central New Mexico Community College, Fine Arts Department, and private painting group workshops.

Rachel’s paintings function as textural snapshots; individual entities that capture specific moments or ideas and yet still relate to each other by the nature of the markmaking, color, and spatial relationships between the forms. The paintings speak about a transition that hasn’t been very consistent in its progression or strength. It has been, at alternate times; gradual, painful, lovely and overwhelming. Nothing has been expected, and yet everything has been welcomed.

The visual strands that Rachel creates weave together to form the fabric of her particular process, or progress, through this transitional space. And though they’re generally non-representational, Rachel intends that people identify with them out of the memories or moments that the colors and marks recollect. That personal identification is part of what Rachel is so drawn to about painting. Painting gives Rachel an opportunity to connect with people, some of whom she has never met, but all with whom she has shared some common experience.  Rachel’s most recent paintings have started incorporating recognizable organic shapes.

Rachel see her work as a sort of visual topography; a recording of internal and external experiences within a carefully constructed space.

It is in these carefully constructed spaces – between the active and the still, between constraint and freedom, and between logic and instinct – that she takes the viewer to new landscapes by way of a personal adventure.

Bright Rain Gallery will feature Robert Redus, jeweler and artist, during the February Artscrawl, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Robert’s show will open February 3^rd with an opening reception from 5PM -8PM and hang thru March 1, 2012.

This show features a series of acrylic paintings derived from landscape as well as his distinctive and unique jewelry.

The thin lines in his non representational acrylic works breaking up the subtle flat fields of color are places to stop for a moment; noticing each direction.  Robert’s paintings evolved from a commitment he made between April and November 2011 to paint a series of 500 small paintings on paper. The process developed over many weeks of painting outdoors and seeing the negative space in the landscape.  Increasing the size, painting on canvas and incorporating a muted palette, allowed for a more organic, loose approach to the work, yet still emphasizing a level of intricate detail.

Robert has been a jeweler for 30 years.  A few years ago he decided he would purchase a minimum of new material used to make jewelry; as there is plenty of material available that more often ends up in landfills.  He has used a wide variety of materials including, vintage bowling balls, concrete, reclaimed and salvaged tile, broken and discarded sushi and restaurant plates, chopsticks, automotive paint nodes, rulers, discarded records, broken glass, reclaimed metal.

Eason Eige is showing his newest paintings, The “GOLD Series”, and the “New Works” at Bright Rain Gallery from January 6^th to February 3^rd.

Eason’s painting continue to amaze with what he describes as “freely painted oils – not hard edged buts soft edged”…naturalistic painting subject is the massive cactus in front of the San Felipe de Neri church (in Old Town Albuquerque) where he continually renews his approach to creating fresh and powerful images.  The cactus becomes the Rorschach for his internal and aesthetic play. The “Gold” and “the New” series is his newest exploration of organic form, extreme arbitrary color and refinement of texture.  Eason pairs brilliant and warm color to create a distinct mood and an otherworldly quality that is mysterious and utterly attractive.

More about Eason Eige:

Born and raised in Iowa, Eason Eige was educated in Painting, Drawing, Printmaking and Art History at the Kansas City Art Institute, Parsons and Winterthur.  For twenty one years he was chief curator of the Huntington Museum of Art in West Virginia.  Eason began painting again six years ago after 30 years of his busy museum profession. Eason recently donated a generous collection of antique and contemporary Native jewelry to the Albuquerque Art Museum (the Eason Eige collection) which has shown in its entirety and now shows partially.  He will be receiving the “Local Treasures Award” for this generosity and his painting accomplishments.

“Art is everywhere. I love the instant gratification

and spontaneity of creating on the go.

I am ‘the pocket artist’”

Becky is a passionate mobile media artist. Equipped with her iPhone, or what she fondly refers to as the ‘studio in her pocket’, she captures images in her daily life. Then, using the iPhone, her iPad and a wide range of mobile apps, she draws, composites, and transforms these images into beautifully creative limited edition giclée prints.

Always fascinated with art, Becky has explored a wide variety of mediums over the years. She received her Bachelors in Fine Arts from Arizona State University. For the past 20 years, she has been a partner in Zocoloco Studios – an award winning design firm specializing in print, motion graphics, and video. Becky is also a founding partner in the motion group – an organization committed to creating a worldwide community of motion graphic designers, vfx artists and animators through their video-on-demand site: motion.tv, industry news portal: cgnews, motion+connect online broadcasts, and their annual motion event.

Kyle Ray will open in December at Bright Rain Gallery with his new paintings in time for the Old Town Holiday Stroll and the December Art Crawl.

Join us at Kyle’s reception on December 2^nd from 4:30-9:30PM at the Bright Rain Gallery and enjoy his unique colorful and dynamic style.  Kyle is known for his mosaic and stained glass work. This show will feature his latest work on canvas with unusual textures, color and style.  His depth and textures highlight his wide range of style from contemporary designs to traditional styles. 

Trevor Lucero shows a limited group of new paintings at Bright Rain Gallery from November 4th to November 30th. Trevor, with an MFA from UNM, grew up as a rancher in New Mexico and shoots from both the contemporary and western hips of the Art world.

This new group of observational works by Trevor focuses on precision and play….looking like a storm blew through it, separating colors and brushstrokes from cartoony to oddly realistic passages. Join Trevor at the opening reception on Friday, November 4th from 6:00 – 8:30pm.

Also showing are works by Jane Putnam. Jane is a figurative painter trained by a master Russian Orthodox icon artist. Her own work spans from traditional to playful new takes on contemporary culture.

Travis Bruce Black shows Everything Sing at Bright Rain Gallery from October 7th to November 3rd. Big booming Brights set the stage for these complex creatures, highlighting his interest in creating works that uplift and excite himself as well as his audience. Spend time with Travis at the opening reception on Friday, October 7th from 5:30 – 8:30pm.

Everything Sing is a continuation of the over 180 bird paintings Travis has created: The Chirp Series. His innovative and technical approach is ever-changing, with the newest work combining a propensity toward watercolor with acrylics and silk screen techniques. This show is an exploration of the natural world combined with the often quirky internal world of Travis.

Monique Janssen-Belitz’s new show, Shifting Lines, will be at Bright Rain Gallery from September 2nd to October 6th. Visit with Monique and enjoy her show at the opening reception on Friday, September 2nd from 5:30-8:30pm.

While living in New Mexico, Monique’s art has focused on the rich natural and cultural histories of the Southwestern landscape. She uses multi-layered collage techniques to create highly textured images, evoking the continual movements of people, animals and the land itself. Shifting Lines will be a new body of work that continues her exploration of the New Mexican landscape.

More about Monique Janssen-Belitz:
Monique Janssen-Belitz, MFA (UNM) was born in the Netherlands and grew up in Germany. She received her Bachelor’s degree in art education from the Ludwig-Maximilians University in 1981. Moving with her family to the U.S., she first settled in Maryland and later in Oregon. In the summer of 2007 Monique moved to Albuquerque and recently received her Master of Fine Arts degree at UNM.  For over twenty-five years she has been active as a painter and print-maker, showing work in both the U.S. and Germany.