Yesterday, I spent the afternoon in Corrales visiting the Galeria de Corrales. This co-operative gallery represents 24 local artists and craftspersons who media include fine oils, pastels, watercolors, photography, jewelry, sculpture and fiber arts. Among the many talents, visitors to the gallery will see artwork by Annette Galvano, Anita Blythe, Ed Goodman, Sandra Garcia, Eric de Boer, Cathy Gormley, Nina Baldwin, Molly Barnett, Sandy Tanner, Jasmine Tritten, Lou LaFrado, William McCoy, Rick Snow and Maxine Blom. Every other month, the gallery engages in a curating process of new artwork followed by an invitation-only Friday reception featuring the artists of the month.
Bill McCoy was volunteering his shift at the gallery when I stopped by. What an interesting man and an accomplished artist. He shared his life story with me, from his first art lesson as a child to his retirement as a letter carrier for the United State Post Office. Bill came from a family of artists and it was at the tender age of nine that one of his uncles took him outside and taught him about perspective. His uncle asked him to look down the street at the telephone poles to see how the each of them became smaller and smaller, even though in reality the poles were the same size. Bill didn’t fully grasp the concept of perspective until high school when he dabbled further into the arts.
After four years in the Navy, he went off to college and majored in Liberal Arts and Art History. Soon after graduation, he married and had a family. With four children to support, he felt that he couldn’t make a living as an artist so he took a job with the United States Post Office. Art never left him. With any free time he had, Bill continued to paint, drawl and assemble monochromatic and mixed media pieces. Now in his retirement years, Bill is a full time artist who clearly has reunited with his passion. Take a look for yourself at the abstract artwork that accompanies this review.
Galeria de Corrales, 3923 Corrales Road, Corrales, NM 87048, 505.890.4929, Open daily 10 am - 5 pm, www.galeriadecorrales.com
