Meet Risa Taylor | Committed to painting the landscapes of New Mexico and living every minute of it.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Risa Taylor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Risa, how do you define success?
I am retired and lucky enough to not need to support myself by selling my art. Therefore, my definitions of success are not related to how many paintings I sell.

I feel successful in moments when I can demonstrate a skill that I have worked to learn. I feel successful when I look at one of my paintings and see that the piece has strength and beauty. I feel successful when I feel happy when I observe people interested in my work and enjoying the painting.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My paintings incorporate three things that I love very much: being spending tine outdoors, New Mexico landscapes and color. I have loved color since I was little and experience Synesthesia. Experiences, emotions and even things I learned in school are associated with colors as they occur and in memories.
Beautiful colors excite and greatly intrigue me. It is my use of color that makes my paintings exciting.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Day 1- Drive up to the top of the mountains that border Albuquerque. Stop along the way to see views and take photos. Watch sunset from the top and then get dinner at one of the million amazingNew Mexican food restaurants. Day 2- Drive up to Santa Fe and spend the day looking at museums and the Canyon Road galleries. More New Mexican food,
Day 3 and 4- Take my camper van/ painting van up to Abiquiu, NM. Hike and spend the days plein air painting, Abiqui is where Georgia Okeefe painted. Eat at Abiquiu Inn and camp at Ghost Ranch campground.
Day 5 and 6- Drive to Taos. Hike and plein air paint at many sites around Taos. Tour great galleries. Camp in Red River.
Day 7- on the way home stop at Los Luceros Historic Site and Coronado Historic Site. Eat mire New Mexican foid.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My life partner makes it easy for me to get away from the house and spend days painting onsite around New Mexico. She gets a loud shoutout!

New Mexico is blessed to have a huge community of amazing artist. I am endlessly grateful that I have been able to paint with and learned from some of the best artist in the country.

Website: Risataylor.com

Instagram: Risataylor

Facebook: Risa. Taylor