Last Friday, I visited High Desert Art and Frame for the All About Love exhibition by Paula Manning-Lewis. Her art is all about emotions, energy, light and love. Manning-Lewis says her purpose as an artist is to share a feeling, an emotion, an energy of love. She believes, “Love is the most important feeling we as humans can experience. It’s the one emotion that stays behind when we leave this life. Love is what we are here for. Love grounds us and makes us soar!”
A body of work
Manning-Lewis has been a professional artist for twenty years. Her body of work includes coloring book designs which are manufactured and sold by Desert Sage Graphics. In addition, she has created a landscape and rock series consisting of pastel on suede board and watercolor on paper. She has also done a series of acrylics on recycled guitars, complete with beaded strings.
Record albums become vinyl art
When her father passed away, Manning-Lewis inherited a collection of over 40,000 record albums. She began painting on vinyl because she wanted to make round paintings, but couldn’t find round canvas. Since her Dad had many extra copies of the same records, she decided to recycle them by painting her designs and selling them as vinyl art. In case you were wondering, her Dad approved of the record paintings before he passed away. Manning-Lewis currently works in oils and sometimes acrylics. Her current body of work is called Spiral Abstracts, more commonly know as Abstract Expressionism.
Chroma Studios
Manning-Lewis lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with my husband, guitarist and composer Aaron Lewis, about half a mile from the Rio Grande River. In 2008, her and her husband cofounded Chroma Studios, professional working studio spaces for artists and musicians. Going strong in its fifth year, they rent out private studios in two different locations in Albuquerque.
All About Love will hang at High Desert Art and Frame through the end of July, 12611 Montgomery Blvd. NE #4, Albuquerque, NM 87111, (505) 265-4066, Monday - Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm. For more information about Paula Manning-Lewis visit www.paulamanninglewis.com.
