Winter Solstice at Black Mesa, 30×24” oil on canvas by Diane Stoffel. Photo Courtesy FLAC

FULLER LODGE ART CENTER NEWS

Black Mesa is an old friend to most Los Alamosans, especially to those who work in Los Alamos but live in the Espanola Valley. Those commuters get to see the mesa every day, in all kinds of weather (actually it’s technically a butte, not a mesa).

Local artist, Diane Stoffel, lives in La Mesilla on the east side of the Rio Grande and commutes to Los Alamos for her job as exhibits coordinator at Fuller Lodge Arts Center and the gallery at Mesa Public Library. More than a year ago, Stoffel started painting plein air oil paintings of Black Mesa since she had a great view from her back yard. The idea for a show at the Portal Gallery grew from that daily intimacy with the mesa.

Black Mesa is the subject of ever-changing light and shadow, color and intensity, shifting with atmospheric conditions and the arc of the sun. Each season brings a different palette of colors to its form and surroundings. Through a combination of plein air and studio paintings, Stoffel captures Black Mesa’s enigmatic role as a sentinel over the Rio Grande Valley and its home within San Ildefonso lands in all its seasonal majesty. 

The show, coupled with the main gallery’s juried show “Peregrino,” the “Traveler,” provides an exciting evening out this Friday, Mar. 6 from 5–7pm at Fuller Lodge Art Center, 2132 Central Ave. Both exhibits run through April 4. The regular hours at Fuller Lodge Art Center are Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.