Watercolor artist Secundino Sandoval looks through paintings at his Los Alamos home. Courtesy photo
By Karen Wray
Karen Wray Fine Art is delighted to announce that we have moved to a wonderful new location in Los Alamos, and would like to invite the community to our Grand Opening from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16.
Our new address is 1475 Central Ave., Suite 125, at the southwest corner, ground floor, of the Community Bank Building.
Photo: Karen Wray and Tinkerbell
This is also our gallery’s Holiday Art Show, so we’ll have ornaments, cards, prints, pottery, jewelry, sculpture and paintings to help you get a head start on your holiday gift shopping.
Four years ago, my husband Bill and I searched Los Alamos for studio space to rent since my art hobby was overgrowing our home.
Luckily, we found the old Executive Cleaners space on Trinity Drive vacated and in the process of being prepared for new occupants.
Photo: Pat Soran 
We were able to rent half of the space for my new studio. It became clear quickly that this space could also serve as gallery space for my work in addition to studio space, since we were located right on Trinity Drive and had parking spaces close to the door.
Little did we know that four years later, we would be representing such notable local artists as watercolor artist Secundino Sandoval; metal sculptors David A. Trujillo and Richard Swenson; pastel, oil, acrylic and stained glass artist Janice Parker Muir; oil painting artist and caricaturist David R. Delano; oil painting artist Sheridan Brown; watercolor artist Ruth Tatter; beaded jewelry artists Chris Ward and Kathy Hjeresen; clay artists Marc Hudson and Kyla Anderson; clay and oil painting artist Kathleen Veenstra; photographers TK Thompson and Ernesto Burciaga; digital artists Cindy Valdez and Kimber Wallwork-Heineman; woodworking artists Pat Soran and Bill Hamilton; our newest oil painting artist Kate O’Donnell and others.
Photo: Metal sculptor David A. Trujillo
In addition to the gallery and my studio, I began teaching oil painting to a friend, then more students over the years, and this last year added two more classes taught by professional, local artists Janice Parker Muir (pastels) and Allen Brown (watercolors) and Sheridan Brown (drawing.)
Last spring I taught a class on finishing, framing, pricing and exhibiting artwork to a group of current and previous students from all classes.
One of my oil painting students, Kate O’Donnell, who had experience painting before taking my classes, now exhibits and has sold her work in the gallery.
Our painting classes will resume this January and we will begin registration at the Nov. 16 Grand Opening event.
Upon moving into our new location, we have expanded our hours to better serve the local community and visitors.
We are now open noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.
We are closed Mondays. Now you can stop by after work, during your lunch break, weekends or during the day.
Please join us in celebrating this new chapter in our life. The festivities begin at 5 p.m., Nov. 16. We’ll have door prizes, wine, hors d’oeuvres, music and great local artwork.
Registration also begins for our January painting classes in oils, pastels and watercolors. Hope to see you at the Opening!
Call 660-6382 or check our website at www.karenwrayfineart.com for more details.
