Leigh Gusterson

Originally from New Jersey, Leigh Gusterson was formally trained to oil paint outdoors in the tradition of the Hudson River School: a more "realistic" interpretation of the landscape, with only muted light. She moved to Taos, New Mexico in 1990. The light, colors and landscape of the Southwest were a dramatic change from the gray, humid atmosphere of the East Coast, and Gusterson discovered a new love for color.

Her paintings of Northern New Mexico are bold and zesty. The images depict the bucolic life still found today in the small mountain villages: old adobe homes heated by wood stoves, laundry lines, old trucks, fields, horses, sheep, and dirt roads.

Gusterson has received recognition and numerous awards in her hometown and across the Southwest. Her work has been purchased by collectors nationwide and abroad. She resides in Taos with her two daughters, and continues to find joy in exploring the corners and back roads of old New Mexico, painting scenes from a slower paced, by-gone lifestyle.