Rosa Poulsen in Morongo Valley and four artists at the Purple Agave Art Gallery

Rosa in her studio.

This is the last weekend of the 2010 Hwy. 62 Art Tours.  If you have not yet gotten a chance to grab a map and drive around in the high desert to look at art, this is your last chance!  There are many artists who are showing both weekends, and many artists who didn't show last weekend.  One artist who is showing only this weekend is Rosa Poulsen.  

Rosa has lived in Morongo Valley her entire life.  She began painting at an early age and came to it naturally - or maybe it was in her genes.  Both her Grandmothers were artists as well as her Father.  Rosa is self-taught and has a wonderful style.  Initially she shared her paintings with family and friends and they encouraged her to share with the rest of us.  She considers the nature of life is to be able to share. The joy in nature is worth nothing if it can’t be shared with someone.

For Poulsen, art is important as a way to express one’s self.  It requires imagination and inventiveness.  She also says it is therapeutic.  It is important as a record of time (what is happening at that moment in time.)

This is her first time on the art tour and is very excited to be part of it.  She has prepared a wonderful walk through her property and garden with stops showcasing a different theme for her painting.   She paints in oil and acrylic.  Her most recent theme is musical instruments blended with nature.  The mural on the beauty parlor in Morongo Valley is one of her creations.  She has shown her work at the World Guitar Show as well as at Joshua Springs.  She has also prepared a computer slide show of her past paintings set to music, and it is very well done.

In addition to painting she is a degreed gemologist, enjoys making bead work jewelry, is a musician and makes collages using tile and mirror.  

Rosa with her son

 Rosa is number 61 in the program, so be sure to mark her studio as a must see.

written by Terry Hone 

Artists at the Purple Agave Art Gallery

written by Karine Swenson

Another stop to mark on your program in Morongo Valley is the Purple Agave Art Gallery at Cactus Mart.  Number 62 on the Hwy.62 Art Tours program is a stop where you will have a chance to see the work of four artists:  Cheryl Jordan, Valerie Davis, who was interviewed here, Wally Pacholka, and Jennifer Ruggiero. 

Cheryl Jordan is a photographer, as is Wally Pacholka, who is well-known for capturing the night sky.  Valerie Davis will be showing jewelry, her glue paintings, and her mixed media sculpture.  Jennifer Ruggiero is showing photography. 

To see some of Ms. Ruggiero's photography, please visit her website here.

I had a chance to email Jennifer Ruggiero some questions this summer, so here is a little more about this talented photographer.

1. How long have you been in the high dez?
2. Where did you move here from?  (where did you move from and what brought you here?)

 I moved from NYC to Los Angeles in the late 70’s, and discovered the high desert in the 90’s. It took me 20 years before I changed my NY mindset and ventured out to what I thought was a barren lifeless landscape. After my first trip to Joshua Tree park on a very hot day in August, I realized that the desert was a verdant garden full of life where I could reconnect with my creative passion. I discovered Wonder Valley three years ago during Art Tours and fell in love so I bought a small cabin on 5 acres of land where I come to reconnect with my passions. I have a special connection with the desert and enjoy the stillness, silence and little creatures that visit me at my cabin. The night sky filled with stars and the sunrise and sunset help me to achieve the balance I need to create. I live in two communities Los Angeles and the high desert. You might say that the desert is my MUSE.

3. How long have you been an artist? All my life.  

4. Where else do you show your art? Los Angeles NoHo Festival and galleries, My photographs have been published in Utne, Spin and Clamer magazine.

5. Why do you think art is important? (or why is art important to you?)

Art is a method that I use to communicate using music and visual images. Art is a medium that I understand and feel connected to. I use photography to communicate through color and frequency. Art is non-linear and can take you to a higher level of consciousness. Art is a communicator of feelings, beauty, ugliness, likes and dislikes. For me creating art opens a window of opportunity to experience a higher level of discourse that can stimulate change.  Art has always been a part of me…the art of raising my children, the art of daydreaming, the art of capturing an image or creating a sculpture out of clay that I dug up from the earth with my hands. Art is an unconditional love that nurtures the soul and heals the spirit.

6. What are you working on for the Tours in October? What can people expect to see from you that isn’t here now?  (or that they haven’t seen from you before?)

I am working on a series of 13 x19” fine art prints that tell a story and allow the viewer to experience the moment. This year I decided to print my own work and experiment with fine art paper. I got tired of sending my images out to be printed by a print house. I missed the flow and connection of printing my own work and wanted more control and a more affordable selection of paper for my images. I am very happy and proud of the results. All of my prints are printed on hi-resolution fine art paper using archival inkjet inks. The results are worth the effort. I am also using a new frameless hanging method suggested by an artist friend, that gives my work a 2D effect and reduces my cost and the final cost of the print.  I can sell my images at a more affordable price. This year I am planning on including a series of fine art cards. Lots of experimenting with materials, presentation and light. I can’t go into too much detail without a long boring explanation…come see the show.

Most artists have more than one outlet for their creativity, what other outlets do you explore/have you explored? I was a professional musician in NYC before I moved to LA. My instruments are silver flute, Native American flute and sometimes Djembe. My genre is jazz, classical, Latin, and creating environmental sounds.  The frequency of sound has always been a healing experience for me. Transferring that frequency into color was a natural next step into the world of imaging.