The roads less traveled: 'Shared Visions' explores the abandoned places of New Mexico, Colorado through photography, watercolors

Steven and Kathleen Jackson spend countless hours winding around the back roads of New Mexico and Colorado in search of striking vistas and abandoned buildings.

Open at Santa Fe’s New Concept Gallery, “Shared Visions” pairs his photography with her watercolors, often capturing the same images through their very different mediums.

Both Santa Fe artists share a reverence for the beauty of crumbling walls and abandoned places.

The roads less traveled: 'Shared Visions' explores the abandoned places of New Mexico, Colorado through photography, watercolors

A retired banker, Steven started out capturing dramatic black and white images on film and refining them in the darkroom. In 2006, he turned to digital, leaving him more time to wander New Mexico’s byroads. He subtly tones his haunting photographs.

In “Colmar,” he focused on a dilapidated home nearly tumbling to the ground. The building is on the border of Colfax and Mora counties.

“You can see the remains of the village from (Interstate 25),” he said. “I-25 basically split the town in half.”

He enjoys seeing what happens to the structures as they deteriorate over time.

“Some were intact,” he said. “Now they may be a crumble of stuff on the ground. It’s interesting to see how these things age. Once upon a time there were wealthy people in the houses.”

“The Pecos, Ilfeld” shows the placid river beneath a menacing sky.

“That’s a little community off I-25,” he said. “If there are clouds, they were there. I don’t mind using Photoshop to take out a beer can. Sometimes I’ll lighten or darken the sky. We tend to go out when the weather isn’t great. It’s more interesting and the light isn’t as harsh.”

Steven’s dramatic images contrast with Kathleen’s delicate watercolors.

“I’m an architect, so I’m really into buildings,” she said.

She prefers watercolor because of its transparency.

“Especially with these houses, it’s interesting to see the different layers,” she added.

The old barn in “East of La Veta” reminds her of growing up on an Illinois farm. She discovered the barn near Trinidad, Colorado.

“It’s surrounded by rock dikes that radiate out from the mountains,” she said.

Her painting “Las Lagunitas Rock House” shows the bare trees and blocked walls of the old structure.

“There’s still a church there and a couple of buildings,” she said. “There was one with tar paper and railroad ties. You never know what you’re going to see.”

Located near Maxwell, “Rain soaked” shows another abandoned building while a darkly moving sky hovers above it.

“Across the road from that, there were exotic animals; there were camels in a field.

“I’m thinking what can be done with this,” Kathleen continued. “Who was living here? They’re not cookie cutter. They’re simple, but they have all this character.”

As an artist, Kathleen worked in pastels for years. She recently turned to watercolor, sketching with pen and ink, creating small portraits of the structures and landscape she and her husband find while exploring New Mexico’s back roads.