Articles
Meet Artist Vicki Conley - El Malpais Community Art Program
Vicki Conley
Vicki Conley has been a creative person all her life. “From making things from holiday craft magazines to selling my own pompom creations in middle school. I must be making something all the time. It is just who I am.”
Vicki grew up in Albuquerque and attended college at New Mexico Tech earning a BS in Chemistry and received her MS in Physiology from the University of Arizona before moving back to Ruidoso Downs where she lived for 42 years building a successful pottery business while being a stay-at-home mom. Vicki just recently retired from 42 years as a studio potter and owning her own gallery.
Vicki explored watercolor and printmaking and discovered fabric as a medium in 2003.
She uses fabric like other artists might use paint. Vicki states “The texture of the fabric and quilting adds an extra dimension to the artwork that draws the viewer in for a closer look.”
When Camisha Cordova, PLIA’s Outreach Coordinator, asked Vicki whom she admires, Vicki stated that she admires both conservationist John Muir and President Teddy Roosevelt and consider them the “fathers of the National Parks.” Vicki also admires other artists and says that often that sparks creativity in her.
Vicki loves traveling to National Parks and enjoys the outdoors, so her inspiration from nature is unmistakable in her art. “Most of my inspiration comes from the outdoors and as my husband and I travel, I am always getting ideas from what I see. I work both representationally and improvisational to execute my ideas.” states Vicki.
Gifts from the Malpais, Vicki Conley
Like most artists Vicki is continuously creating, designing, and states, “I really enjoy the design part and often have a new idea to pursue before a current piece is finished. I have always been an artist who enjoys the process of art and I love to sew. I never liked sewing clothes and when I found I could use fabric and thread to make art I was hooked.” This opened a whole new world to Vicki.
Other than the El Malpais program, Vicki has entered many juried exhibitions and was part of the prestigious Quilt National 2017 in Athens, Ohio, and last summer she was honored to have a two-person exhibition with her daughter Shannon Conley at the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum in La Conner, Washington.
“One of my future goals is to be selected as an Artist in Resident at a National Park. The residences are incredibly competitive, and I just keep trying.” says Vicki.
“I am honored to have been commissioned to make this piece of art and am happy that there are organizations like Public Lands Interpretive Association that feel art is valuable to the visitors enjoying the public lands.”
0 comments