Today we’d like to introduce you to Blair Vaughn-gruler

Blair, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

I started out painting and drawing as a young child. It came naturally and I was fortunate to have art supplies and then positive encouragement from teachers and peers. My grade school had art class every day of the week. And my parents were happy to let me take painting classes on Saturday. By age 8 or so I had a studio in the basement.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

After high school I went to art school (Kendall School of Art in Grand Rapids, Michigan). After I graduated I moved to Albuquerque New Mexico to paint (ala Georgia O’Keefe). I was only 20. I painted in the day and waitressed in the evening. It was difficult, but exciting. Eventually I made my way back to Michigan and got my BFA in painting from Northern Michigan University..

Shortly thereafter I got married and 2 sons soon followed. I cared for the children in the day and painted in the evenings. I had various other part time jobs during this time, and often wondered if I should go to law school instead.

But the urge and thrill of facing a blank page or canvas and discovering what it could be kept pulling me in. The exciting of creating has never left me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

A big turning point for me was finally going to graduate school to earn my MFA. I was in my 50s by this time, and both of my sons were in college too, one in undergrad and one a graduate student.

I did a low residency research based visual art program at Vermont College of Fine Art. This is where I finally peeled back the layers to more fully understand my motivation and obsession with painting, and why it was (and still is) so compelling to me.

The confidence of having an MFA, along with the clarity about the “why” of my work propelled me into a new paradigm in both my artistic and profession lives. My husband (also an artist) and I opened a gallery in Santa Fe, NM where we exhibited our own work and several other artists, and things really came together.

My work is very process based, and falls into the category of non-objective painting. It circles around repetition, spatial organization, erasure, and organizing chaos.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?

Santa Fe is the ultimate art town. It’s a showcase for the visual arts (over 200 galleries in a city of around 70,000), and also a cultural hub for indigenous artists, with music from opera to country to contemporary performances, digital and new media of all kinds and multiple performance venues. There are research institutions dedicated to the arts and at least a dozen world class museums dedicated to art and culture.

It’s also a very diverse and welcoming city for all kinds of people. And a destination for art collectors and foodies!

The downside is it’s gotten very expensive to live here and real estate continues to increase in value – good for homeowners but not for those who would like to buy.

And winters can be a bit too long. At over 7000 ft in elevation, it can be snowy and cold!

Contact Info:

• Website: materialityfineart.com gvgcontemporary.com
• Instagram: #jblairvg

Image Credits
photos credits Blair Vaughn-Gruler