About the Artist

Artist Statement

For me, being a landscape artist in New Mexico is like living pure joy. I only need to step outside my back door to find inspiration. And, although panoramic mountain and desert views and beautiful skies are in every direction, it's often the little things... a chamisa in bloom, the shadow it casts across the ground, or the irrigation waterways that pass through the farm and ranchlands, that send me to my easel.

 

I have painted in different mediums over the years, but something special happened when I picked up pastels for the first time. This was truly a "hands on" experience. Everything changed. I had finally found a way to express what my heart was trying to say. The most rewarding thing is when that expression touches someone else's heart.

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best... "In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine".

 

I can't really ask for more than that.

 

Artist Bio

 

Margi Lucena knew by age 6 that she wanted to be an artist. She was exposed to art early in life, watching her father paint at his easel. Coming along with him at times to his job as a lifeguard at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, Calif., she would spend the day on the pier and watch a woman she knew as "Mrs. Hess", painting seascapes , portraits, and passersby.

 

The family later moved to Independence, Calif. in the Owens Valley, located on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There she was exposed to and influenced by the painting and sculptures of Dorcas Birchim, another woman who made her living with her art.

 

Getting married, moving to Hawaii, and raising a family , Lucena continued with her art , but , not until 1990, when she and her husband , Dado, moved to Oklahoma , did she make painting her full time pursuit, winning honors in various art events. Later came moves to Arkansas, and finally to San Antonio, New Mexico in 2002, where Lucena resides today .

 

In 2003 Lucena joined as part owner of Fullingim, Isenhour and Leard Galleries, later Curious Crow Gallery, in Socorro, NM. She painted and demonstrated there through 2013. During these years, She gained representation in the Selby Fleetwood Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, Cobalt Fine Art Gallery in Tubac , AZ, and RSHanna Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX. For the years 2012 and 2013, Lucena was also an Artist in Residence at the historic Inn at Loretto in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

 

Lucena's impressionistic and representational style of painting comes from a love of the landscape , which has grown tenfold since moving to New Mexico. The beautiful land, diverse culture, and simplicity of life in general has influenced her art in many ways. She paints en plein air, and in her San Antonio studio full time. Lucena is also teaching workshops, with emphasis on working with pastels on applied textured surfaces.

 

Gallery Representation

 

Selby Fleetwood Gallery, 600 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM

www.selbyfleetwoodgallery.com

(After 15 years on Canyon Road,  Selby Fleetwood Gallery closed when Selby and Eddie retired in December of 2019. I enjoyed 10 very successful years of representation there, and will miss them very much!)

 

Cobalt Fine Art, Tubac, AZ

www.cobaltfineart.com (2010 to present)

 

RS Hanna Gallery , 208 South Llano St., Fredericksburg, TX

www.rshannagallery.com (Represented from 2012 to present)

 

Wilder Nightingale Fine Art , Kit Carson Rd., Taos, New Mexico.   Mar. 2020 to present

 

Affiliations

 

International Association of Pastel Societies, Master Circle

American Women Artists

American Impressionist Society

Pastel Society of New Mexico, Distinguished Pastelist

Plein Air New Mexico, Signature Member

Pastel Society of America, Associate Member

Pastel Society of the West Coast

 

Selected Awards

 

2021 FASO  Boldbrush  Competition  First Place Award Painting.  Judge Tibor Nagy 

2019 Artdataintel, Boldbrush 7th Top Winning Artist in 10 Years

2018  FASO Boldbrush Award, Finalist, January Judge Jie Wei Zhou

2017  Questa Wild Rivers Plein Air Festival, People's Choice Award

2017  Questa Wild Rivers Plein Air Festival, Honorable Mention, Judges Gregory Summers and Richard Nichols 

2017 FASO Boldbrush Award,  August Outstanding Pastel

2016 Santa Fe Plein Air Festival Award of Excellence, Pastel. Judge Frank Lalumia

2016 Plein Air Painters of New Mexico National Show, Honorable Mention

2015 Masterworks of New Mexico 1st Place, Pastel Judge Joe Anne Arnett

2015 Boldbrush Painting Competition January Outstanding Pastel, Judge Timothy C. Tyler

2014 Masterworks of New Mexico 3rd Place, Pastel

2014 PSNM National Show, Southwest Art Magazine Special Media Award, Judge Doug Dawson

2014 Plein Air Moab Special Recognition Award , Judge Jeanne McKenzie

2014 Boldbrush Painting Competition Feb. Outstanding Pastel, Judge Kim Hill

2014 Pastel Journal Pastel 100 Competition, 4th place, Landscape and Interior, Judge Clark G. Mitchell

2013 Boldbrush Painting Competition Dec. Outstanding Pastel, Judge Marina Dieul

2013 Boldbrush Painting Competition June 3rd place, Judge Carol Marine

2013 Pastel Journal Pastel 100 Competition, Landscape and Interior, 2 Honorable Mentions

2012 Pastel Journal Pastel 100 Competition, Landscape and Interior, 1st Place, Judge Richard McKinley

2012 Masterworks of New Mexico, New Mexico Statehood Award, Judge Santiago Perez 

2012 PSNM National Show, 3rd Place Award , Judge Kim Lordier

2011 Masterworks of New Mexico Award of Excellence,  Judge David A. Leffel 

2011 PSNM National Show, 3rd Place Award, Judge Desmond O’Hagan

2011 Boldbrush Painting Competition Dec. Outstanding Pastel, Judge James Crandall

2011 Boldbrush Painting Competition Aug. Outstanding Pastel, Judge Trent Gudmunsen

2011 Boldbrush Painting Competition Apr. Outstanding Pastel, Finalist, Judge Robert Lemler

2011 Boldbrush Painting Competition Oct. Outstanding Pastel, Finalist, Judge Matt Smith

 

Publications

 

2022 PleinAir Magazine, "Undercover Beauty", by Bob Barr 

2022 Pastel Journal, Artist Network Painting, "Snow Days", by PleinAir Portfolio-Outdoor Painter

2019 Pure Pastel, Contemporary Works by Today's Top Artists, by Anne Hevener 

2016 Southwest Art Magazine "Reflections of Beauty", by Gussie Fauntleroy

2016 Pastel Journal, Artist Network, "Painting Weather In Pastel", by Anne Hevener

2014 Contemporary Art of the Southwest Schiffer Publications by E. Ashley Rooney

2012 New Mexico Magazine, "Plein To See"

2010 The Pastel Journal, "Seasonal Sensation", by Christine Proskow

2010 Southwest Art " On Location - Six Artists Hooked On Painting Outdoors" by Gussie Fauntleroy