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Up in the air: Joan Fenicle’s latest exhibit explores the art of clouds
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Joan Fenicle has spent nearly her entire life surrounded by the landscapes of New Mexico and Colorado. Over time, the sky above those landscapes has become a source of inspiration for her art.
“Even the storm clouds fascinate me, and I never feared the lightning and thunder they brought,” Fenicle said. “Mythology tells us of the immortals that inhabit that realm, be it the Greek gods and goddesses, or the Viking stories my grandmother taught me.”
That lifelong fascination with clouds is the focus of her newest exhibit, “In Praise of Clouds,” on view through May 25 at Wild Hearts Gallery in Placitas. The show features oil paintings of Southwestern skies and landscapes, mounted on birch panels. The work continues Fenicle’s exploration of clouds as both visual subjects and reflections of life’s impermanence.
“As one who chases clouds — looking for a safe place to pull off the highway to capture a cloud formation, sunset or storm — I know just how quickly they change in shape, color and mood,” she said. “Just as in life, when we hesitate and procrastinate, (we) lose the moment.”
For this body of work, Fenicle chose oil for its “flexibility and luminous characteristics,” saying that the medium “often takes its own direction part way through a painting if you listen to what it wants to become.”
Though she also works in photography and mixed-media, painting has become her preferred way of telling stories, something she says has grown more meaningful with age.
“I’ve always been a daydreamer and a storyteller — paintings are one way to share those stories with others, which seems to have become more important as I have become older,” she said.
Each painting begins with a moment that stuck with her, whether it’s a place, a view, or a slant of light. One piece in the show was inspired by a quiet stop in Capulin, a small village between Cuba and Abiquiú.
“I found a spot to view the coming storm and beautiful red rock formations,” she said. “What a peaceful place I imagined.”
Her paintings, like her practice, are rooted in reverence for the land. “Art doesn’t have to be beautiful or comfortable; it can indeed make us angry or uncomfortable,” she said. “But I want to remind viewers that this world is indeed a beautiful place we should cherish and preserve.”
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That mindset runs through all her work, much of it shaped by her time spent wandering trails and backroads in the Southwest. “My best times have always been on the backroads and trails, away from the chaos, noises and smells of the city,” she said. “I enjoy my own company and that of a faithful dog.”
An artist reception for “In Praise of Clouds” will be held on Saturday, May 17, from 1-3 p.m. Fenicle will also be present during First Sunday ARTScrawl on Sunday, May 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
