Approach To Ghost Ranch by Lee MacLeod
Oil on Board
16 x 20 in.
$1200
Available from the artist
Ghost Ranch in Northern New Mexico is one of Lee MacLeod’s favorite places to paint and find subject matter. He is drawn to the same incredible rock formations and the huge vistas that have fascinated a wide array of artists. “It is a magical place,” he says, “so I totally understand why so many great painters have been drawn to Ghost Ranch and the Abiquiu area. They are a tough act to follow and I can only hope that my vision is different enough to prove interesting.”
Lee currently lives in Santa Fe, about an hour south of the Ghost Ranch. Since moving to Santa Fe in 1993, Lee, a former illustrator, became interested in fine art and works both in plein air and in the studio. “My direction sure has changed,” he notes. “When I was illustrating, I had a very realistic style and obvious brushwork and personal calligraphy were non-existent in my work. Now I strive to be sure that those are part of each painting. I am trying for a sense of place so I try to avoid getting hung up in the detail that was so much a part of my illustration past.”
He is a member of the Oil Painters Of America, the California Art Club, Plein Air Painters Of New Mexico, Plein Air Artists Of Colorado, and the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association. He has exhibited in the juried national shows of all of these organizations. He participated in the Torrey Pines Plein Air Invitational in 2008, and the Paint the Rockies Plein Air Invitational in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2019. He was a field instructor at the Plein Air Convention in Santa Fe in April 2018. Twelve of his paintings were chosen for the 2018 New Mexico Magazine Artist Calendar.
Over the years he has had the fortune to study with a number of great artists. His associations with Santa Fe artists, Bill Gallen and Dave Ballew, as well as friend and mentor, Craig Nelson, have been invaluable in formulating an approach to both seeing and painting the natural world.
Lee is represented by Marigold Arts in Santa Fe.
His work can also be seen on his website.
