Vista Grande Public Library, Artists for April and May

This April and May, VGPL welcomes two complementary Eldorado artists: Gwendolina Feisst will exhibit her landscape photography, her first exhibit at VGPL, and Heidi Vogel will return to the library with her always-popular, colorful watercolors of nature and animals.

Gwendolina Feisst’s exhibit, titled The Beauty I find in the World, is the first of her work to be shown at VGPL.  Gwendolina is a volunteer at the VGPL and proud to show her photography in the 2D exhibit space.

Photo by Gwendolina Feisst

The artist’s father presented her with her first camera when she was just nine years old. Since then, photography has remained an important part of her life.  “With the camera I focus my field of vision and enter a state of meditation,” she says. “I see and create with what I find.”

 Feisst studied art at the “Freie Kunstschule Nürtingen” and became an art therapist. She works in several other mediums besides photography:  oil painting, sculpture (especially in clay), weaving, and mixed media.

Watercolor by Haidi Vogel

Although Heidi Vogel is exhibiting watercolors at the library, she has not always worked in that medium.  She launched her art journey by reading books, soon discovering that she could recreate on paper what she observed in the world. In addition to classes at a local university, she participated in workshops with various artists whose work she admired, in the process exploring various styles and techniques until eventually choosing to paint using a palette knife with oils.  This technique allowed her to create pure colors and rich textures and to apply those color lessons to brush work. It was during the COVID pandemic that Vogel took up watercolors.

There will be a reception at the library for the artists on Saturday April 5, from 1-3 pm. As always, the exhibits are a partnership between the library and community artists, and 20% of sales benefits VGPL, Southeast Santa Fe County’s independent 501c3 library.