Peter Wood, New Mexico Artist

From Taos, New Mexico artist Peter Wood:

I've been living in the Southwest for half my life. The other half, first in New York, then California. My Taos, New Mexico studio is the original model T garage of a historical hacienda that once belonged to Kit Carson who lived across the street. These buildings are very near the Plaza of the Town of Taos.

When I took over the rent on that studio, my days of being on the LA art scene were long over. Those were the days of experimenting with painting and lifestyle. As a painter I was particularly interested in working figuratively - classically, but with an eye to a modern use of shapes. It was about how the figures took their place on the canvas. This led to a brief period of Abstract painting, which is a joy in a very painterly way.

Gone too were my days as a Renaissance Pleasure Faire craftsman in Northern and Southern California. I was a leather smith specializing in the sculptural design of beautiful and useful shoulder bags and luggage. I was known as Squire Bagnose, itinerant meddler in crafts.

It was in the mid-sixties that I first heard of the Hopi and my studies began. I made kachina dolls out of leather and was fascinated with traditional Hopi symbols and Hopi life-as-religion. I became fixed on authenticity and began visiting on Hopi.

TAGS: Western Art