JOAN A. FENICLE
Joanf41@gmail.com
www.joanfenicle.com
505.771.4007
 
I have been travelling the caminos and callejones of New Mexico and Colorado for over 40 years, capturing villages and vistas in paintings and photographs.

I grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where my mother and grandmother were born in the high mountain mining camps. They were content to stay planted there. My father's people were in this country before the Revolutionary War but came west, some in search of gold, some in search of adventure. My father was born on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming where grandfather had come to live among the Shoshone and build schools. My urge to wander must come from my father's side of the family (or from a passing Raven; who knows)!

Most of my adventures have been found close to home - coming to New Mexico in the 1970s and discovering a place where ancient and modern, familiar and exotic coexist.  While not much matches the scenic beauty of Colorado, New Mexico holds more surprises. You never know what lies at the end of that dirt road until you venture down it! Rudolfo Anaya wrote that there are places on this earth where the energy that flows between earth and sky are stronger than most and, for me, New Mexico is one of those places.



As I travel the back roads (my favorite past time), I am looking for stories. An ancient tree, a lonely road, a village chapel, an old truck, abandoned buildings and ruins or a dramatic cloud formation catch my eye and become a part of the image collection that includes negatives, slides and now digital images.  Back in the studio, an image may be simplified to produce a study for a painting or may become a fine art photograph or a page in a book. Occasionally an image takes a strange turn and becomes part of my “Lost in a Dream” fantasy series.

I tend to work in series and while the series themselves may be vastly different, the pieces within a series are tightly connected and presented as a whole. The slideshow images represent one image from each series now available including small oil paintings.

Joan was honored with the 2016 Albuquerque Art Business Association President's Award, part of the Local Treasures program which recognizes artists that are devoted both to giving back to the community and encouraging young talent to continue the legacy of New Mexico’s diverse culture.