Chris Cashiola and Janice St. Marie Bring Color to VGPL Art Spaces in October

Chris Cashiola's oil painting exhibit runs through October and Janice St. Marie's jewelry exhibit begins Oct. 1, running through November.

Cashiola found his inspiration in the European Impressionist and the Post

Impressionist movements, taking to heart the words of Claude Monet who said

“When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have in front of you, a

tree, a field . . . . . Merely think, here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of

pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color

and shape, until it gives your own impression of the scene.” Chris tries to always

leave something for the imagination of the viewer when painting his landscapes,

which he often does plein air, finishing the canvas in the studio. Oil painting, he

says, has given him the way to fuse his art to his passion for the natural world and

landscapes of New Mexico."The beauty of painting is that you always develop

and learn new things," Cashiola says.

Janice St. Marie's jewelry exhibit runs October and November. When Janice St. Marie was 12 years old and living in a small town in Minnesota, her father would drop her off at the flea market where she would set up her jewelry on a little card table and create custom necklaces and earrings for the locals as they browsed through the market. “I have never stopped making jewelry,” she laughs. “In fact, I have some beads from so long ago that they could now be considered vintage!” Through the years St. Marie has sold to retail stores and had private showings. She uses turquoise, amber, coral, and semi-precious stones as well as a variety of other beads to create unique necklaces.

She has lived in Santa Fe since 1985.