Holiday Cheer: 2026

‍Kari Bell: “Kari Bell is a contemporary abstract painter, working and drawing inspiration from personal experience, the natural landscape, events taking place around her as well as the rich history and culture of New Mexico and the Southwest. Utilizing oils or oils and cold wax medium, Kari’s abstract aesthetic evolves through numerous layers and colors to evoke light, depth and texture of her ideas. She pushes beyond the known and acceptable to create the unexpected. Educated in the US, Spain and France, Kari has traveled extensively, especially in South and Central America. This framework is the basis of her artistic aesthetic. Over time, Kari has assembled a mental portfolio, filing away vivid imagery, documenting experiences and preserving memory while slowly integrating her own unique painterly framework and artist identity. She traveled widely when women did not, while consuming the arts, history, culture and music freely. Flourishing was demanding and stimulating. Teaching, mentoring, advising, writing and publishing as well as chairing the Department of Modern Language Studies was always a challenging and satisfying 30 year career in higher education. Kari sparked creative and academic dialogues to take shape in the classroom laboratory, always advancing the quality of education and advocating for both students and colleagues. These dialogues now enjoy a second life as Kari pours her rich lived experiences into vibrant contemporary compositions. Following retirement Kari and her wife migrated west to Denver and then New Mexico. Moving to Taos, Kari was inspired by this historic community to create a group through which to promote abstract art as well as lesser known artists. Her ideas and energy were the creative vision for the founding of the Taos Abstract Artist Collective. Kari was co-curator of the 2022 inaugural TAAC exhibition, the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 exhibitions held in Taos. Since relocating to Albuquerque she founded the Cerulean Art Salon, an art caucus/salon based in the greater Albuquerque, NM area. Kari’s artwork is in collections across the country and has been juried into shows from coast to coast. For Kari, painting encourages an ongoing dialogue with everything that’s important: family, community, the environment. It is a source of both challenge and peace, control vs. spontaneity. Life at its best.