At Wild Hearts Gallery, March’s featured exhibition invites visitors to slow down and take in the view.
Have a Seat by Colleen Z. Gregoire will be on display March 3 through March 29. The collection of oil paintings explores New Mexico landscapes through an unexpected but familiar focal point: chairs.
Gregoire explains that the idea grew naturally from years of painting porch scenes.
“I have been focused on porch settings for years, and chairs are a natural element in that environment,” says Gregoire. “And so I decided to sort of take the chairs off the porch and find them in different settings.”
Some of those settings are drawn from real locations, while others are imagined. In one painting featuring yellow Adirondack chairs set against the Placitas Mountains, Gregoire blended observations with invention.
“I didn’t make the mountains up, but I did make up the back patio with the Adirondack chairs,” says Gregoire, describing the scene as “my ideal settings to have a conversation and relax and relate to your friends.”
Originally from Kansas, Gregoire explains that New Mexico’s dramatic scenery has had a significant impact on her work.
“It’s been exciting for me to see these new vistas,” says Gregoire. “We don’t have mountains in Kansas. The rolling hills and the big skies and the depth of field, that sense of space that you see here has been something that I’ve enjoyed incorporating into the paintings.”
While chairs remain the central subject, the exhibition balances domestic spaces with expansive landscapes. Reference photographs often serve as a starting point for her compositions.
“I have a lot of reference photographs that I use, and I’m always taking pictures of exterior and interior shots and landscape shots,” says Gregoire. “A lot of times, those are sort of that base for creating a painting.”
From there, Gregoire reshapes the scene to make it her own. “If I see a great porch in Madrid, I’ll use that as a starting point, but then I’ll change things around,” says Gregoire.
One piece in particular stands out to Gregoire. “I think it is A Setting of Grandeur, which is the largest piece in the show,” says Gregoire. The painting highlights the Sandias from a Placitas viewpoint and includes a patio setting that “suggests a nice place to put aside your differences, and just really relate to friends as a family.”
Ultimately, Gregoire hopes viewers see themselves reflected in the scenes.
“I hope they can put themselves in these settings that invite you to just enjoy your environment and enjoy the person next to you,” says Gregoire.
Gregoire will also offer a live oil painting demonstration during Sunday ARTScrawl on March 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., painting outdoors beneath the gallery’s portico.
Beyond the exhibition itself, Gregoire expresses gratitude for the local arts community.
“I feel very lucky to be a part of this very supportive community in general,” says Gregoire. “It’s a wonderful artistic community, and especially as part of Wild Hearts Gallery, which has exceptional artists. We hold each other up.”
An opening reception for Colleen Z Gregoire: Have A Seat will be held Saturday, March 14 from 1 to 3 p.m. The exhibition runs March 3 through March 29 at Wild Heart Gallery (221-B NM-165, Placitas) and can be viewed Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and by appointment.