Jan Wright has been an artist and painter for many years and shows her work at the Artisans of Mancos. Her work has been displayed at Far View Lodge at Mesa Verde for the last four years.
She recently was artist in residence at the Petrified Forest in Arizona, from Aug. 13 through 26. The national park is about 60 miles west of Gallup, N.M.
It was an intensive 2-week program that a lot of national parks are offering, said Wright.
There were 63 applicants for the residence and only 13 made it, she said.
She met a photographer at Petrified Forest that was also on the artist in residence program. The two were the only ones there at night, watching the sunsets and sunrises. The desert colors were unbelievable!, she said. There was petrified wood scattered all over and the light on them made various colors come out.
Wright did 14 paintings while she was in the park and then had a showing at the Painted Desert Inn. The Inn is not really an Inn - its more of a museum, she said.
It was neat to be in this desolate desert with all these colors ... and know it had all these trees of enormous proportions, Wright said. Her favorite place to capture the beauty of the park was the Crystal Forest, an area where the rocks seemed to be white.
Wright will have a showing of the paintings she did at Petrified Forest on Friday, Sept. 21 at Artisans of Mancos, 6 p.m. She will present her experiences during the time she was artist in residence.
She also has been accepted in the artist in residence program at Mesa Verde, where she will spend Sept. 30 through Oct. 13. There, she will live in a hogan, working on her painting and reveling in her surroundings. She was one of only five out 100 artists who applied at Mesa Verde. Her presentation of the paintings she does there will be on Oct. 13, 7 p.m., at the Far View Lodge.
She has also applied to the artist in residence programs at Zion National Park in Utah and Denali National Park and Reserve in Alaska.
Wright lives in a cement and adobe home in the country between Mancos and Dolores. She has a beautiful view of Lookout Point at Mesa Verde from her home, where she works on her art.