GALLERIA LOCATED AT 112 RIO GRANDE BLVD. NW IN OLD TOWN (Corner of Rio Grande Blvd. and South Plaza St.) Just across the street from Walgreens. There is a Two Hour Parking spot in front of the store.
SPANISH COLONIAL ART 50 % OFF! IN STORE SPECIALS! Open 10:30AM-6PM Selected pieces by Roberto Gonzales. Original Art Work including Bultos, Retablos, Handpainted Crosses, and Tin Retablos. Also all Handpainted Imported Bultos are 50 % OFF! and all Natural Red Cedar Juniper Carvings by Ernesto Salazar are 50% OFF ! Come by for Pinon Coffee and Cookies. Sale continues through March. For more information call the Galleria at 505-246-9257 or contact Roberto at decoloresdesigns@aol.com
SPANISH COLONIAL ARTSHOW & DEMONSTRATIONS EVERY SATURDAY 10:30AM - 5:30PM in the Galleria Sculpture Garden (Weather Permitting) . Participating artists include Roberto Gonzales, Ricardo Hooper, Charlie Carrillo, Debbie Carrillo, Ernesto Salazar, William Cabrera, Gary Sanchez, Steve Lucero, Robert and Desmond Gonzales, Guitarist Gustavo Pimentel, and author Ray Michael Baca, also youth artists Adriana and Liberty Gonzales. For more information please call the Galleria at 505-246-9257 or contact Roberto at decoloresdesigns@aol.com.
SPANISH COLONIAL WORKSHOPS on Retablo Painting, Bulto Carving, and Tin Punching are held on weekends. Class size is limited; two to six students for each class so the focus is on individual attention. Classes are held outside in the Sculpture Garden weather permitting. Workshop instructors include Roberto Gonzales, Ricardo Hooper, Charlie Carrillo, and Ernesto Salazar. Reservations required.For more information please contact Roberto at decoloresdesigns@aol.com or call the Galleria for more information.
SPANISH COLONIAL TERMS:
SPANISH COLONIAL FURNITURE - Handmade furniture utilizing traditional methods of joinery from 18th Century New Mexico. Handcarved furnitue including wedding chests, storage chests, chairs, tables, wood frames, and much more. The traditional wood is Pine. Methods include Old World mortise and tenon joinery and handcarving techniques.
SANTOS - A word which encompasses the whole spectrum of Classic New Mexico Spanish Colonial Art and Folk Art. Including Retablos, Bultos, Tin Retablos, Reredos, Handcarved Pine Crucifixes, Unpainted Wood Carvings, Relief Carvingsand Straw Applique.
RETABLO - Spanish Colonial religious painting on pine wood plaque.( Folk Art version of Icons.) Usually hand adzed and handcarved with fans, rosettes. and rope carved edges. Painted with homemade gesso, waterbased natural pigments, and sealed with a pinon sap varnish and finished with beeswax.
BULTO - A Santo handcarved in the round using native woods like cottonwood roots or pine wood such as sugarpine or ponderosa pine. Painted with homemade gesso, waterbased natural pigments and finished with pinon sap varnish and handrubbed with beeswax.
UNPAINTED BULTOS - Santos carved in the round but not painted. Two examples are the Salazar Style from Taos NM using Red Cedar and the Cordova style from Cordova NM using Aspen wood.
NEW MEXICO TINWORK - Handpunched tin in a variety of forms including nichos, frames, furniture, sconces, crosses, chandielers, rosettes,and a variety of other accesories.
TIN RETABLOS - Retablo Painting on tin sheets sometimes with hand punched borders and fans.
REREDOS - An Altar Screen which is either freestanding or a large retablo with several saints painted on it. Freestanding Altar Screens include a Spanish Colonial Furniture Base with retablo paintings on top. The base is usually handcarved with Salamanaca Columns (rope carved columns) and is usually adorned with paintings. Many also include bultos and handpunched tin work accents.
STRAW APPLIQUE CROSSES - Crosses made of pine wood painted black and adorned with straw (to make them look like gold.) in geometrical patterns. Straw applique crosses have the straw glued to the surface without any finish.
