Doña Calles

  • The Santa Fe Society of Artists is saddened by the passing of Doña Calles in January of 2023. Our longtime members and a good number of collectors will surely remember her as a dear friend and a regular participant in our exhibitions.

My work and my life are about energy and meaning. I like to create things that evoke an experience of symbolic meaning and essence to the viewer, and bring a sense of connectedness to the world and self. I have been involved in healing arts, certified in Swedish massage, working with crystals, etc., but I must be an artist. So this is my way to send this healing energy out into the world.

I want to expand people’s awareness of what they look at every day. For example, a door is more than a door. It is a portal, an element of transition, stepping from one world into another. It represents how we show ourselves to the world, and how we have the courage to go through a door when we don’t know what is on the other side. The figures I make, copper Ancestors, represents energies in ourselves to encourage. They include Wave, who reminds us to flow with life. Flowers represent beauty, of course, and the purity of Just Being.

I enjoy combining image transfers of my photographs with wood, metal, other patterns, paints, dyes and more. Even my copper work is combined with fire and other elements, as well as must-have color.

I majored in painting at Kent State University, went to City and Guilds of London Art School in England, and also the Art Students League, New York City.

Dona Calles

Doña Calles

email

505.486.4203