Featuring: Albuquerque Artist, Carla Forrest, Contemporary Painter, Painting the New West

Desert Daybreak

Carla Forrest,
Contemporary Painter
Painting the New West
​Aliso Art Studios,
3812 Central Ave SE, Suite 207,
​Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108
[email protected]     www.carlaforrest.com
​@carlaforrestfineart

---

Alpestrine

Award-winning contemporary artist Carla Forrest paints the New West in her spectral luminescent works, inspired by direct observation of nature and life. Honored as a Local Treasure by the Albuquerque Arts Business Association, Carla obtained her Bachelor in studio art from State University of New York, Master of Science in Teaching Visual Arts from Rochester Institute of Technology, and Doctorate in Organizational Learning and Instructional Technologies from the University of New Mexico. 

Monsoon Sunset

Ode to Diebenkorn

“I approach art as an observer of the soul, enlightening the viewer about the presence, wonder, and dignity of nature and life. I want the viewer to value place and person in a space of spirit and heart and bring this illumination into their personal environments. While painting, I think about scale and how insignificant and unimportant we are in relation to the natural elements like sky, mountains, rivers, foliage, and fauna. I think about light—warmth and cool—and the play of highlight and shadow, and how nurturing our sun is in the cycle of life. This direct observation of nature and presence inspires my spectral luminescent works. My plein air and objective abstract pieces are created through a multiple layering painting process starting with brushes and then layering tiles of color and striations using pallet knives and other mark-making tools and materials. My palette and three-dimensional form come from what I see in U.S.A.’s Southwestern landscape−full spectrum colors and stellar shapes, not just greens, blues, and square angles. I just love New Mexico! It is a painter's paradise.”

---

New Mexico artists are amazing!
Discover New Mexico’s Art Treasures & support 
the people who create them.