We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sally Delap-John. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sally below.

Sally, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

My first dollar was actually a penny. I had made small pencil drawings and hatched the idea that I could sell them to neighbors. I asked my mom and she distractedly said ok. We lived out in the country, so I got on my tricycle and got up the road to a woman who had a great, big jar of pennies. I was about to hit the mother load when my mom caught up with me. I was 5 years old.

Sally, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I began painting with watercolors more than 30 years ago. Art has always been a passion and watercolors conveyed the down-to-earth as well as ethereal response to a subject I wanted to express. For 20 years I learned the techniques and beauty watercolor painting had to offer.

Ten years ago I moved from California, where I was born and lived, to northern New Mexico. My life changed in many ways and my art has reflected that. I continued to paint en plein air, even more so and now found that oils were the best medium to work with outdoors. My subject matter changed from the agricultural themes of central California to the sage and cedar covered hills and mountains of northern New Mexico. Adobe villages, buildings and churches have been my subjects since then.

When painting I look first for the darkest darks, then paint the lightest lights. It is an approach that is always a place to start. I add as many glowing, harmonious colors of each hue as I possibly can to make an interesting painting for myself and the viewer.

I’ve been in galleries, both in California and now in New Mexico. I have my own gallery in Truchas and have been in La Posada de Santa Fe since 2013. I have had several one-person shows, both in California and New Mexico. I participate in nationally recognized shows in Arizona, and California as well as New Mexico. I have been in articles in the following: Southwest Art, Western Art Collector, the LA Times and local newspapers in California.

www.SallyDelap-John

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In my younger life, I had to overcome the loss of my father at a young age, the remarriage of my mother and gained the determination to be out of the house when I got to college. Two very fortunate experiences shaped the next ten years. I lived in Italy for a year in Florence during my college junior year. I saw all the art I could fit in from Renaissance to Modern in Europe, Israel, Russia, Austria, and more during that year.

Upon earning my masters degree in Geography and a bachelors in Art, I was hired to teach in Australia. During those three years, I saw the most of the continent and New Zealand, soaking up native arts, and contemporary artists work as well.

When I returned to the States, the world was not my oyster and I took various jobs, culminating with teaching at a community college. It was there I took painting and began to forge a future in art. I joined and climbed the ranks of art organizations, painted and entered shows. I had a successful one-person show, joined a gallery and founded a co-op gallery.

When the idea of moving to New Mexico came to me, I was ready to move, establish a gallery of my own and continue my painting career. I got in to one gallery, then another, and finally into the one that has sustained me for the past ten years, along with a gallery of my own.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Besides painting for myself, an initial goal, I have had other “carrots’ before me. I would like to achieve being in the big shows and perhaps a museum or two. The steps to getting there are not so clear, but I am painting bigger and I think better on my way to achieving success.

Contact Info:

• Website: SallyDelap-John.com
• Instagram: Sally Delap-John
• Facebook: Sally Delap-John
• Linkedin: Sally Delap-John

Image Credits
All works have been photographed by me, Sally Delap-John