Angel Fire ArtSpace Says, “I Know Jo”, Do You?

By Jo Mixon

This week our featured I Know Jo business is Angel Fire ArtSpace.

I love my job! This week I learned to express my inner artist using yupo paper and watercolor. My son Marcus and I had the privilege of taking a one-hour painting class from artist Katherine McDermott. The lesson we took is the same class that she teaches to the veterans who come to Angel Fire for the Veteran’s Healing and Wellness Retreats. I know now first hand how making art with this technique is the key to relaxing creativity. We learned about colors and blending and wiping the page clean if what you have painted doesn’t make you happy. That in itself made me happy! So we smiled and giggled and relaxed and focused on whatever designs the brush, color, water, and paper revealed.

Katherine, owner operator of the Angel Fire ArtSpace began her art teaching career in Angel Fire in 1998 when she was asked to take over a weekly art class at the Community Center. She had become friends with other local artists, one of whom saw her ability to teach. Then in 2003 she and Vicki Leahy opened the art gallery. Shortly afterward a group of about ten local artists had the desire to show their together in one gallery. The first of these opened in the Mountain View Mall. Katherine, now sole owner of the Angel Fire ArtSpace still offers the artwork of more than a dozen local and regional New Mexico emerging Fine Artists, as well as six of the original artists. The gallery includes fine art, jewelry, pottery, and sculpture. You can find a listing of the artists on her website, www.angelfireartspace.com. She envisions her “artists” part of her family and works to provide a positive Gallery experience for the artist and customer alike.

Angel Fire ArtSpace is now located in Centro Plaza. The retail end of her business sometimes leaves her little time for painting. So as a solution Katherine’s studio will soon move into her gallery. This will allow her to be able to paint her pieces, represent and showcase other artists as well as herself, and still hold her art classes and workshops. If you are interested in an art class or purchasing artwork go by her gallery, visit her website or call for an appointment. She can be reached at 575-377-6273 or 877-377-6560.