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Leigh GustersonLeigh Gusterson has always been attracted to the wild and lovely natural places of the world. Her wonderfully lively oilpaintings are a means to capture and share this spirit. In a palette that favors pastels and electric blue and green hues,Gusterson lays out these landscapes with a pillowy, dreamlike ease. Rustic scenes of rolling hills, farm animals, old pick-uptrucks and country churches are a delightful reminder that there are areas of the world that survive outside the ceaselesschurning towards the future. In this sense the artist provides her audience with a visual and spiritual vacation through her artwork.Gusterson is inspired by the moment and the place. She forms the basis of a new composition en plein air working fast andfiercely to capture the spirit of the setting. The work is not finished there but brought inside to exist in her consciousness for anumber of weeks as she processes what is there and decides what strokes are needed to complete the piece. By examining herwork we see an approach that is loose and forthright, modeling out major details in an impressionist mode while allowing a greatdeal of abstraction to exist alongside an obvious talent for realism. Her work with automobiles is a prime example, capturing thegraceful lines of the form while employing expressive color and textural qualities to enhance the surface treatment. The paintedautos become nearly sculptural in the process.The artist lives as simply as her works imply,choosing to forgo much of the gadgets, technology,and frills of modern life. She lives in the world inwhich we, as her audience, are merely guests. “Iwould like my art to express that joy and freedomof this simple, direct, authentic, grounded, down toearth way of life,” she explains.Her paintings have been exhibited, collected,and published for decades, and she has taughtpainting workshops for twelve years. Gustersonlives and works out of her home studio in a remotemountain village in northern New Mexico.www.leighgusterson.comwww.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Leigh_Gusterson.aspxPlacita Evening Oil on Canvas 28” x 32”Donna and Ellen’s Pond Oil on Canvas 20” x 30”20 ARTisSpectrumLeigh Gusterson