A solemn rock wall worn with time overlooks a jubilant stream crashing down through a hewn canyon, while a group of horsemen can be seen charging through a slit in the ancient stone. These are just a few of the scenes in Becky Siefer's work.
Siefer, a local artist who lives near Summit lake, draws much of her inspiration from Canyonlands National Park and similar local areas. But all of them are impressionistic and not based on a specific place.
"I really paint more from what I feel, than what I see," Siefer said.
Much as the beauty of a river bend is a happy accident of the perfect elements coming together, Siefer's process encourages the right materials to flow together.
She squirts and pours intense acrylic ink straight from the bottle in some cases onto mineral-based paper. In other cases she uses paper made with fibers to replicate the veins in stone and other textures.
When the water or alcohol in the paint evaporates the minerals left behind create a textured pattern. In a sense she uses rock based products and captures the rough canyons of the Southwest.
Wax is used to create the composition lines and create highlights. She may stamp on details can be stamped on using a hand roller to further texture a piece.
"You truly are inventing as you go along," she said.
The impressionistic scenes are meant to appeal to imagination. Some find petroglyphs or walls built by the ancient Native Americans she did not intend, but they draw on the viewers prior experience and she encourages interpretation.
Siefer spent time as a graphic designer and doing illustrations but turned a corner in her art after she moved to Colorado. She had previously lived in Indiana and Florida.
"I'd never lived anywhere else where the light played on the landscape quite as dramatically," she said.
Siefer is currently an occupational therapist with the Cortez and Mancos school districts. She has been displaying her art in a gallery in Moab for five years.
Olio is hosting an art show for Siefer called "Beyond the Pavement from May 10 through July 19. The opening reception will be May 10 from 4-6 p.m. at Olio 114 West Grand Ave. Mancos.
mshinn@cortezjournal.com