Shelbee Mares attributes her unique perception to her
mother who gave her a keen sense of light and color.
“My mother showed me how to look at something and
actually see it. We would sit in the grass and examine all
the intricate aspects of a flower – the color, the
shadow, the shape. Then she would point to the grass and
ask me if I saw the blue and the yellow shades. At first I
could only see green. But as she explained how colors are
composed, light reflects, and what shadows are made of, I
began to see the world as an artist would see it. I
couldn’t have asked for a better education.
In many ways it is light and motion rather than flowers or
the adobe walls of Taos that dominate Mares’
iconography. Severed from the bonds of representation, her
efforts illuminate the drama and action of pure painting.
Mares’ canvases examine the mythology of movement and
celebrate the discovery of unknown territory.
