The Narrow Leaf Yucca

In a broad sense these most recent paintings are a continued observation and appreciation of the ubiquitous flora and geography that make up the northern New Mexico desert. These oh so common plants and landscapes are important to me as a painter precisely because they are easily overlooked and taken for granted. I feel called as an artist to shine a light on grasses, yuccas, chamisa, arroyos and the like because of their seeming insignificance as well as for the innate beauty of form, pattern and texture that exists here. And of course who knows how much longer this wild beauty will be available for us to enjoy, the imperative is to paint now.

This being said these paintings of the Narrow Leaf Yucca are also about invitation and accessibility. These landscapes can be entered; these are places that I want to hang out in, I want to rest against the boulders, I want explore the trails. I want to take in the long view, the middle view and notice the detritus beneath my feet. One can enter as a human but wander as an insect or a bird looking both inward and outward. The painting is the invitation.

These paintings talk about spaces, moods, atmospheres, patterns and being a small part of the great whole.

-Natalie Bieser, 2017

Sky Trail, 2017, watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 41 x 29 in.

Emerging Sunset, 2017, watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 41 x 29 in.

Walk with Me

Come walk with me through the landscape. Try using not just one foot in front of the other, something we just do unwittingly but walk with all of the senses. Walking with the eyes scanning up, to the right, to the left, downward, going from a soft blurry focus to a hard gaze.

Walk with the ears, moving the awareness to the rear, or to the far distance, how far away can I detect a sound or how loud is the silence?

Walk with the nose as well. What is carried on the breeze? Sometimes it is the smell of rain. At other times the warm sun helps a plant to release precious oils into the air. As we move into a shady spot the scent of moisture sometimes dank or mineral is detectable.

Many of my paintings reflect the long view and others the middle view, my most recent work CHAMISA takes a look at the near and under foot. In northern New Mexico the Chamisa plant is everywhere and everyone seems to have an opinion of this plant, often times something to do with allergies. I see the beautiful chaos that defines the Chamisa shapes, the incredible celadon colored stems and of course the magnificent yellow late season bloom.

I invite you to walk through the Chamisa.

Chamisa I, 2017, Watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 30 x 22 in.

Chamisa II, 2017, Watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 30 x 22 in.

Chamisa III, 2017, Watercolor on Arches watercolor Paper, 30 x 22 in.

NATALIE BIESER | Arroyo Moods

In an ongoing appreciation of the ubiquitous, the common, the endemic, or the mundane in nature, I find myself attracted to what are known as washes, gullies and here in New Mexico the arroyo.

As the landscape spreads ahead of me it speaks. I channel it as I move down the trail, a lot of the snow has melted back leaving a puffy and delicate crust under my feet and my prints are the first since the last snow. I’m headed down toward a nearby, no-name arroyo, it attracts me like a magnet. It pulls me toward it as if I were a drop of collected summer rain, streaming into the waiting bed.Today the arroyo’s mood is serene and benign, there is a crisp and clean look about its surface. Ripples and other irregularities in the bed rise clearly in the cold air and bright sunlight, the mood is inviting. 

I’ve been in this same arroyo under very different moods. Sometimes quiet but expectant, as distant thunder booms in a leaden sky,  will the rain flow this way? When? Better stay out. Another mood, one of rage,  due to a violent summer monsoon, the muddy rainwater rushing by… carrying with it whatever it can, from empty plastic water bottles to bits of leaf and wood and I’m sure small insects and at times other wildlife. 

These moods can flip so quickly; the rushing water passing with 20 minutes at times and leaving changed characteristics in its wake, always waiting to be changed again. These variable moods are the basis for my new group of watercolors of the common arroyo.

– Natalie Bieser

All the rage, 2017, watercolor on watercolor paper, 41 x 29.5 in.

Laying in wait, 2017, watercolor on watercolor paper, 41 x 29.5 in.

NATALIE BIESER | Square One: Grasses

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Square One: Grasses

Grasses, this plant form is so common and literally underfoot that many of us barely take notice. My own interest  in the grasses beneath my feet and along the trail side began when I was raising Morgan horses, I found so much satisfaction in seeing a beautiful horse standing in a field of grass. During that period I saw grasses as a food source for my horses and an element of the natural beauty surrounding me.

My appreciation of grasses was enhanced later on while serving as a docent at Point Lobos State Reserve, on the California coast. A visiting biologist spoke of the importance of grasses in the food chain and referred to them as square one. They are found not only terrestrially but beneath the seas as well, in the forms of delicately swaying meadow grasses to the undulating Giant Kelp, supporting creatures great and small.

Currently my appreciation of these exquisite forms occurs in northern New Mexico. The ubiquitous presence of Indian Ricegrass, Side Oats Grama, Big Bluestem and so many more enrich my views on a daily basis, sometimes with a gentle nod or a chaotic jumble of stems delicately colored. They demand that I take note and inspire me to pay homage through my paintings, to that which helps to make life possible. These paintings are an offering in appreciation of square one. - Natalie Bieser

Dead Grasses, 2016, Watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 22" x 30"

Natalie Bieser: Chaco Canyon

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Mute and mysterious, is how the the ancient buildings and surrounding desert backdrop of Chaco canyon first presented to me.

As the heat of a July day began to build, I sat in the slim shade of an overhang above the main ruin and slowly became quiet. While gazing down on the ancient stone work and rubble, the antiquity of the canyon settled into me. I don’t really know what, in the centuries past was said here, or what exactly was done here by whom or how many, I do know what I’ve read. What concerns me as an artist is the power of the Chaco mystery, it ignites my imagination.

For this painter Chaco is an inspired setting, there are messages on every breeze, in every placed stone and in every long view. The Chaco mystery is the source of the three paintings presented in the portfolio and holds the germ of more to follow.

-Natalie Bieser, 2016

Ancestor Place, Watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 22"x30" 2007