Carole Crews

I was lucky to have had an idyllic Ranchos de Taos childhood with my parents, Mildred Tolbert, photographer, and the poet, Judson Crews, both involved with the Taos Modernist art scene. The creative energy was intense, the flowers bigger, the snows deeper, and the past has taken on a mythical quality. We left Taos in 1966 and later I earned an art degree from UT Austin, where my focus was geometric color-field painting. After starting a family and building with adobe in Tesuque, I became fascinated with plaster surfaces, clay colors, and mica. I made numerous murals and clay plaster pieces, and later, a series of paintings on my own handmade paper.

After returning to Taos in 1987, I had a richly creative period making art in a large rented studio before having to buckle down and earn a living. With the late Lori Lawyer, I began working with micaceous clay alis surfaces under the name Gourmet Adobe. After Lori was killed in an accident, I began to build an adobe dome retreat that I’ve experimented on and learned from over the years. I continued to work on walls with Peggy Mabry and Patty McKee until recently. I also teach earth plaster and alis finish work at workshops and Natural Building Colloquia, including Build Here Now at Lama Foundation.

Some people might say that my work looks like it was done by two or three different people. Several threads have run through it over the years and I move back and forth between them, using a variety of materials. When art comes from a deep place, it reflects not only the subconscious of the artist, but can encompass collective aspects of the culture as well.

My latest work reflects more inner peace, the resurgence of the Goddess, and my hope that people will open their hearts and minds to help attain a viable future for the whole planet.

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