UNIQUE STYLE
Santa Fe’s Todd Winters brings ‘expressive realism’ to Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival
Abright winter moon floods a forest snow scene accented by a single red ornament. Todd Winters’ watercolors knit realism with an expressiveness rooted in feelings of wonder and awe. The Santa Fe artist will be one of 185 from 23 states showing his work at the 20th Annual Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival Holiday Show kicking off on Black Friday at EXPO New Mexico. The sale features jewelry, fine art, pottery, woodwork, glass, ornaments, clothing, furniture and home items.
Winters grew up in south Texas, then moved to Taos after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in fine art from the University of Texas at Austin. The snow scene being used to advertise the festival emerged from a regularly decorated spruce tree that grew in his front yard.
“It’s a winter snow and aspens and spruce trees and a big full moon,” he said. “There’s a little ornament on the spruce tree to convey the blessings of Christmas.”
Winters has lived in Santa Fe the past four years. He moved to New Mexico inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe before developing his own unique style.
“It was representational, but it was different,” he said of O’Keeffe. “It was expressive and simpler. It was her work that showed me I didn’t have to be that realistic.”
He learned to work with the happy accidents of watercolor from a high school art teacher.
“I learned all the tricks and techniques,” he said. “It’s not so much talent; it’s a lot of practicing.
“Each painting experience is fresh and new.”
Winters calls his style an “expressive realism.” Primary colors serve as both light and shadow bringing his images to life.
“It’s expressive as in expressing colors,” he said. “It’s a realistic scene, but the colors are exciting. If the sky is dark blue, I might paint it violet.”
His image of Tent Rocks is a swirl of violets and magentas.
“There’s more emotion in the artwork that way,” he explained. I paint with more expression for the emotion I convey.”
Winters ran his own gallery in Taos. In Santa Fe, he opened a studio showroom to display his work. He takes photographs to remind himself of the composition of scenes, but never paints a literal reproduction.
“I don’t paint from the photographs,” he said. “If I do, the work will be too detailed and realistic. I’m painting not how I see things but how I feel about things.”