H Margret Arts
Paintings Prints Sculpture Video
“Captive Head Breaks Out” video – click the link at right- for 3 min vintage art video. Created in 1999, with a hand-drawn art storyline and original music, the video debuted at the Angel-Citi Indie Film Festival at CCA, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, 1999. Captive Head & other images available in prints on paper or canvas.
“No surprise really. The artist not only comes from a journalism background, she’s a visual artist in the bargain. Telling stories is natural to her, whatever the medium. The film Captive Head Breaks Out is based on a symbolic being called Captive Head…given that one character from her personal mythology has taken to the silver screen, one wonders if others will. H Margret, like a modern Homer, perhaps has been creating a new epic without realizing it.” Craig Smith, Santa Fe New Mexican Pasatiempo
My art path began in the late 1970’s. Early media were pastels, conte, oil paint, paper and masonite. Later, I switched to acrylics for health safety. I showed at the Schubert Gallery in Albany, Oregon, in the 1980’s and Shirley Coffin was a key mentor. I owe much to her and her artist group. Seattle was my next stop. Lots of shows, few sales. I had a brief stint of work for Dale Chihuly, the famous glass artist, at the Boathouse. I applied to 12 graduate schools for MFA work. All 12 rejected my applications. Cranbrook, Mills & RISD; I also applied to state schools in CA, WA, OR, UT, TX. It was crazy to be rejected by all after showing 7 times in one year in Seattle galleries and a painting used for an Intiman Theatre cover. Years later, I was told MFA’s were an “insider game” and you had to know art professors in the program you applied to. That was how they controlled who got MFAs. Recognize the pattern here? Two years later, 1993, I landed in Santa Fe, NM, and rented a 300 sq ft space on Canyon Road with hanging light bulbs– no track lights. Concrete floor and a scary kitchen didn’t bother me. I slept on a fold up futon couch and opened the studio to customers most days. Many artists lived in the small studios on Canyon Road then. We helped each other with tips on how to ship art abroad and other business techniques to succeed in our studio galleries. I didn’t know that Santa Fe was a world-class art market but as art customers came, I found out they were from all over the world. Most of them truly loved art. They were middle class people, not the billionaires or millionaires that engulfed Canyon Road after 2001.
A Japanese art lover studied my work and made a pile of works on paper, speaking no English, he handed me a Visa Card to pay, taking the art with him, wrapped in glassine paper and cardboard. Another time, a Scandinavian couple visited on a snowy day. They looked through the portfolios and asked me to put the group of paper drawings on the wall with tape. I did. After looking at the 16 water color & ink drawings from The Spectre series, they said they couldn’t decide, so they bought them all. Again, the art went out wrapped for travel. These and many other wonderful experiences showed me that regular people loved and wanted original art. As one artist said, “Canyon Road was far better than graduate school!”
I worked & lived on Canyon Road for 10 years. Captive Head Breaks Out was created there. After Canyon Road, I moved to Sandoval Street to operate a larger space. 9-11 events ended the Santa Fe artist movement for artists, except the wealthy ones. Artists couldn’t make a living and moved to Mexico, Thailand and other places. I hung on for 14 more years, but the monetization of Santa Fe destroyed the creative energies. Artists are not financiers. I saw for myself how the investor class destroys the creative class.
Couple, Bronze cast heads on 3 part moveable stands. 72″ tall, 7″ X 7″. Sold as pair.
Going Up! Acrylic/canvas, 30″ X 36″
“This is tһe firѕt time I frequented your web pagе…. I amazed with tthe analysis youu mɑde to make tһіs ρarticular post incredible.
Magnificent job!”
“whoah this weblog is fantastic i like studying your articles.
Keep up the great work! You recognize, lots of individuals are searching around for
this info, you can aid them greatly.” FoxTrendFollowing
