Autumn's Golden Canvas

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree." Emily Brontë

There's something magical about autumn in the West and Southwest. It doesn't arrive with the gentle fade of Eastern forests, but bursts forth in an explosion of color that sets the air ablaze. When crisp morning air carries the scent of piñon smoke and the first frost kisses the high country, we become witnesses to nature's most spectacular performance. The golden hour stretches longer now, casting that distinctive Southwest light across landscapes.

Walking through our galleries, we celebrate this transformative season through artists who've dedicated their lives to capturing these fleeting moments of natural grandeur. Their canvases become windows into autumn's soul, each brushstroke a testament to the profound bond between artist and land.

From her studio nestled near Glacier National Park, Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey finds inspiration in the boundless skies above Montana. "You cannot live in Montana without having breathless moments of awe every day. The skies are endless inspiration for color, clouds, thunder, rain, and brilliant azure days," she reflects.

Nancy's silk paintings bring an ethereal quality to autumn scenes that traditional oils simply cannot achieve. Working with French dyes on crepe de chine silk, she creates pieces like Fall Legends that glow from within. The medium allows colors to flow and blend naturally, mirroring how morning light filters through golden aspen leaves or evening shadows dance across canyon walls.

Her distinctive approach marries traditional Western subjects with innovative technique, creating dynamic works that showcase her masterful contemporary style. In autumn, this means pieces that capture not just the visual spectacle of the season, but its emotional weight and the bittersweet beauty of leaves letting go, as well as the promise of renewal hidden beneath apparent endings.

No artist in our collection captures the essence of autumn quite like Roberto Ugalde. Born in the Sierra Madre mountain range of Mexico, he grew up surrounded by peaked vistas, flowing rivers, and abundant wildlife in a landscape that shaped his deep appreciation for nature.

Roberto has made aspen trees his signature subject for a simple reason. As one admirer noted, "Roberto has the most gifted way of capturing the trees as they turn their own bodies into pillars of light. At times, it blows my mind, because the way the light filters into his art... it's like I'm standing in a photograph of an aspen grove."

His technique, inspired by Jackson Pollock's approach of applying paint to a horizontal surface, creates works that pulse with life. Pieces like Autumn Glow and Land of The Beautiful don't just show us aspens; they help us feel the gentle rustle of leaves overhead, the dappled light filtering through the canopy, the whisper of wind through branches heavy with golden coins.

"Every time I look around me, I see this beautiful world full of colors and forms, and my first impulse is to transform my vision and emotions in a way that connects and reconnects people to Nature," Roberto explains. In his autumn works, this connection becomes almost spiritual.

Hadley Rampton draws energy from "the challenges and beauty of nature, by the dynamics of light, atmosphere, and temperature in the Rocky Mountains and in the deserts of the Southwest." Her work exists in that magical space between abstraction and realism, where a palette knife becomes a conductor's baton, orchestrating symphonies of color and form.

Working primarily en plein air, Hadley believes in being present with her subjects: "I prefer to work onsite where I not only see the scene before which I stand but feel its light, weather, and mood." This immediacy translates into autumn paintings like Colorful Colorado and Those Last Leaves that capture not just fall's visual splendor, but its fleeting quality - that sense that this moment, this light, this exact configuration of color and shadow, will never exist again.

Her palette knife technique creates textures that mirror the rugged beauty of the high country itself. Each stroke carries the weight of mountain air, the bite of October wind, the satisfaction of a perfect hiking day when the aspens are at their peak.

Faye Crowe brings a unique perspective to landscape painting, informed by her professional background as an architect. By incorporating a variety of materials, including wood, metal, clay, and sand, she effectively builds pieces of art that capture the natural electricity and comforting warmth of the American West.

This architectural sensibility serves autumn subjects beautifully. In pieces like Canyon and The Great Plains, Faye constructs landscapes with the same attention to structure and composition that she once brought to buildings. The result is work that feels both monumental and intimate, capturing the grand sweep of Western vistas while never losing sight of the smaller details that make each season unique.

Her goal is to create mixed-media artwork that transports the viewer to a destination while creating a multi-sensorial experience. In autumn, this means paintings that don't just show us golden fields and crimson sunsets, but make us feel the crunch of leaves underfoot and smell the woodsmoke drifting from distant chimneys.

For David Mensing, each painting is a statement where every aspect of the presentation matters. His careful selection of titles reflects the character and spiritual basis of each work, and his architectural background contributes to compelling designs that invite contemplation.

Dave finds inspiration in natural places, believing that "in Creation, one can glimpse the eternal capability and eminent character of God." This spiritual dimension brings profound depth to his autumn works. Pieces like Pensively suggest not just the visual beauty of fall, but its deeper significance as a season of reflection and transformation.

His background as a white-water rafting guide and camp director brings intimate knowledge of the outdoors to his work. You can sense this in his autumn pieces; the understanding that comes from sleeping under October stars, from waking to frost-covered meadows, from experiencing firsthand the profound silence that settles over the landscape as it prepares for winter's rest.

"I believe the 'why' of a painting matters more than the 'what.' The most exciting pieces to paint have both a visual and philosophical foundation," explains Peggy Immel, whose approach to autumn scenes goes far beyond surface beauty.

Before beginning each piece, Peggy asks herself, "Why are you painting this?" It is a practice that helps her stay focused on the original intention and ultimate goal. Sometimes this involves visual aspects, such as light, color, or contrast, while at other times it's more about the philosophical aspects of a particular subject.

Living in Taos, New Mexico, Peggy is surrounded by autumn's glory in one of its most spectacular settings. Her works, such as Willow Wonderland and One Afternoon in Taos, capture not just the visual drama of fall storms and the golden hour light, but also the emotional weight of living in harmony with the rhythms of the natural world.

As an avid hiker, climber, and skier, her passion for the landscape is enhanced by direct outdoor experience. This is evident in her autumn paintings, which carry the authenticity that can only come from someone who has earned their bond with the land through footsteps and sweat, through watching countless sunrises from high peaks and feeling the seasons change in their bones.

What unites all these artists, and what makes autumn in the West and Southwest so compelling, is the light. It's a quality of illumination that exists nowhere else on earth, a golden hour that stretches from early morning to late evening, painting everything it touches with warmth and possibility.

This light has drawn artists to places like Santa Fe and Taos for over a century. It's the same light that Georgia O'Keeffe found so intoxicating at Ghost Ranch, the light that continues to call painters, photographers, and dreamers to our corner of the world.

Here in our galleries, we're privileged to represent artists who not only see this light but can capture its essence on canvas and silk. Their autumn works don't just decorate walls; they transport us, remind us of the profound beauty that surrounds us, and reconnect us to the eternal rhythms that govern our world.

Because that's what great art does: it doesn't just show us the world as it is, but reveals the world as it could be, should be, and sometimes, in those perfect autumn moments, actually becomes.

Visit Sorrel Sky Gallery to experience these autumn masterpieces in person. For inquiries regarding artists, artwork, or to schedule a private viewing, contact our Durango location at 970-247-3555 or our Santa Fe gallery at 505-501-6555.