Southwest Artist League member Lucy Hadley has an exhibit on display on the Southwest Artist Leagues wall at the Cortez Cultural Center through February.
The exhibit features watercolor paintings of landscapes throughout the region.
Two of the watercolor paintings were painted en plein air, or in the open air, which means they were painted outside. The two en plain air watercolors are entitled San Juan Mountains and Fall Aspen. Hadley painted them while she was up in the mountains off of Dolores Road and up above Mancos.
I paint with a couple of my friends every Friday, she said. And we take trips in the summer to paint.
Covered Ridge which features a red barn and This Old Tree that depicts a bare tree were inspired by photographs. And Summer Flowers is an amalgam of different flowers in bloom.
I just started looking at a flower and drawing it and placing it on a page, and then getting another flower, Hadley said of her process. Then I studied it and just kinda added darks and lights.
Some of her paintings take between one and two days to finish and others are finished within a couple hours, Hadley said.
Hadley has been painting ever since she was young.
I painted as a kid, and I took art in college, she said. And I taught art here at the elementary school. And after I retired from teaching, I painted a lot more because I had the time.
Hadley is also known for her hand-made quilts, teddy bears and tole paintings.
For more information, call the Cortez Cultural Center at 565-1151 or visit the Cortez Cultural Center, 25 N. Market St., Cortez.
