Art Gallery in Taos, New Mexico

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To provide Taos quality Art Gallery assistance as a Art Gallery, Fine Art, Oil Paintings and Framing.

Pat Woodall Fine Art meeting your Art Gallery needs since 1984.

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Pat Woodall
TITLE: Essence of Art: Pat Woodall Paintings In The Unknown
Sub:
By Melissa Glarner
Taos is a community full of surprises. Visitors and locals alike would certainly agree that sometimes the most profound beauty in northern New Mexico can be discovered in the most unexpected and unassuming places. Walking into Pat Woodall Fine Art could be described as one such experience. Tucked away in the corner of a busy downtown shopping plaza, a gallery visitor is soon transported into a tranquil world that feels completely removed from the more bustling surroundings. Marveling at the sheer number of paintings that adorn the elegant and cavernous quarters, a guest may not even notice that the gallery is a working studio as well. Woodall, a gracious man who often imbues his words with a charming philosophical flair, is so organized that his painting and print stations appear to blend seamlessly with the art itself.
Working in five different mediums—oil, acrylic, monotype, pastel and watercolor—it is clear that Woodall appreciates the gift of creative expression, and mines his artistic talent to its very depths. He possesses an incredible work ethic, painting most every day while always trying to maintain a keen awareness of the lessons inherent within the process. Woodall offers group and private painting instruction by drop-in or appointment, and it is here that he gets to share the wisdom he has gleaned from decades spent making art. A private class, to hear Woodall describe it, is a three hour journey of consequence and surrender. “Choosing the size of the canvas, choosing the direction to turn it, choosing the color of the underpainting—there are consequences to everything you do…�
He starts talking about life in general, and how all of the details and preparation come together to create successful outcomes, but is quick to add, “You need to see the painting, surrender to it, and accept that you’re not going to wipe the paint off and start over.�
An art class with Pat Woodall covers many details that even a more experienced painter might not stop to consider. There’s the ideal distance away from the canvas, the positioning of the elbow, the quieting of the mind—these are things that he is careful to explain, and in a way that allows the lights to go on in someone’s eyes.
Woodall knows that when the light is there, it’s time to get to the actual painting. The first step is laying out the palette precisely. “If you played the piano, you’d have to know where the keys are,� the artist quips. Once the palette is arranged and the magic of artistic creation begins to happen, it’s only a few short hours before the lucky student gets to walk out with their very own finished painting. By doing it this way, Woodall can be assured that the lesson won’t get too complicated, and the judgmental mind will be much less likely to interfere.
In viewing a Woodall’s painting, it’s easy to see what he means about the place of “no mind� to which he so often refers. Arroyo Seco is a dreamlike vision of village life, dotted with trees that appear to dance in the wind, seemingly moving with the same cadence that the artist maintains as he speaks. Deliberate and quietly soothing, there are no tentative marks anywhere on the canvas. Arroyo Seco is one of those rare pieces of art where a house suddenly becomes a home, and a road appears comfortingly familiar. Woodall has said that he never revisits his paintings, instead allowing them just to be. He freely shares about how he knows a piece is finished, simply stating, “When I start putting the same color in the same place—that’s my mind coming back into it.�
In delving deeper into the more mysterious aspects of his art-making, Woodall eagerly tells of the time he participated in the Sedona Plein Air Festival in 2010. The scene he describes is something out of a John Irving novel, should the author have chosen to set his stories in the desert Southwest:
It’s Halloween and Woodall is in a town just outside of Sedona, a funky place where people go to be forgotten. The sun’s going down and he hears a woman screaming at a guy: “I didn’t take your wallet! I’m going to get you…� People are walking by in Tinkerbell costumes. The lone artist is captivated by the long shadows cast across the road, the low moon, and the waning light. He paints furiously, trying to capture as much detail as he can as the temperature plummets and the light disappears. The owner of a nearby French restaurant greets Woodall with a latte, and she proceeds to watch him paint. As he nears completion of the painting, the kind restauranteur retrieves a cup of soup, and returns with not only the warm meal, but with the prediction that Woodall’s painting will be deemed best in the show.
When Woodall discovers the next day that his Haunted Hamburger Lane had, in fact, won the festival’s most prestigious honor out of more than 300 other entries, he is floored. What’s more, when the judge offered his reasoning for the selection, he curiously stated that, “It was the painting that needed to be painted.� This was what Woodall had known all along. It was the painting that needed to be painted.
Rod Goebel, the late Taos artist who came to prominence in the 1970s, is credited with giving Woodall permission to devote himself to his art. In the early 1990s, when Goebel was in the late stages of a terminal illness, he invited several Taos artists to join him in his wild garden for two weeks in an informal workshop of sorts. He impressed upon the group the importance of seeing, of allowing the paint to do the work, of not trying to copy anything. This pivotal time for Woodall culminated in Goebel taking him aside. “Hey, listen Pat,� his mentor implored, “I want to give you permission to paint. I think this will make a big difference for you because you are a painter, and you want to paint and need to paint, and you will always paint… but I’m going to give you permission now.�
Now, Woodall keeps those words close to him and gives implicit permission to everyone he teaches. He holds the space for each person’s own creative process to unfold. And that’s what his ordered steps are about—they’re set up to give permission.
What Woodall has crafted for himself is very much the result of many people coming together to support him over the years. From his loving wife Carmen, who runs Southwest Framers adjacent to Woodall’s gallery, to the seventh grade teacher who encouraged her young pupil to try his hand at art, there are many people to thank in Woodall’s world.
At this point in his journey, the focus has shifted from one of trying to become established as a professional artist, to emptying the mind and approaching art from a purer place. “At some point in this artistic process,� he explains, “you start to realize what you’re doing. As soon as you realize this, most of your innate wisdom says and most of your understanding says ‘forget what you have learned.’ That’s what I’m moving toward, reclaiming more of that child-like wonderment, that enchanted state that is always where the next artistic breakthrough lies. It’s a place that makes a person feel free.�
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An exhibition of new paintings and monotypes by Pat Woodall will open at Pat Woodall Fine Art, 207 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, March 1 and continue through April 30. 575.758.3320 or 575.770.0393. patwoodall.com.

1) Pat Woodall Fine Art Gallery And Southwest Framers

Service Locations

Art Gallery Taos  -  Fine Art Taos  -  Oil Paintings Taos
Framing Taos  -  Monotypes Taos  -  Artist Taos

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Pat Woodall Fine Art Photo Gallery
Updated as of 4/9/2024

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