A garden can be defined as a small plot of cultivated land, acres of trees and flowers, or a simple line of potted plants. Regardless of the size, any caretaker will attest to the satisfaction and peace found in tending to its plants, the sense of accomplishment felt when they grow, the joy of bringing forth life, and the appealing visuals of a garden in bloom. Nkollectiv Gallery presents “What Does Your Garden Grow?” an art exhibition featuring member Rita Bhasin and guest artist Kathy Friesz running August 18–September 10, 2023. The title refers to how one perceives and enjoys a garden. Where some may see only weeds and chaos in a naturally occurring landscape, some can more easily admire the beauty and awe in more purposefully landscaped grounds. The public is invited to view the exhibit at 960 Santa Fe Drive during regular gallery hours Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays Noon–5 pm; Fridays Noon–8 pm; Sundays 11 am–4 pm and during the following special events.

Opening Reception: August 18, 2023, 6-9 pm

First Friday Art Walk: September 1, 5-9

Sundays on Santa Fe Art Walk: August 27, 11 am-3 pm

While they both are deeply inspired by the beauty all around them, Bhasin is drawn to the chaos of a wild garden scape. Her painting style, however, is more exacting as she takes in each sensory element and transcribes it onto the canvas using multiple layers of texture, shapes and colors. She continues layering and subtracting until the painting takes on her desired essence of the scene. Friesz paints with an unexpected exuberance given her appreciation of a more tamed and cultivated garden. She captures the velvety curves of delicate flowers and expresses their movements as they react to a light breeze. Both styles invoke the joy of admiring a garden.

Kathy Friesz is an intuitive abstract painter that “believes paintings emerge from themselves, finding their own visual order. Each new painting takes cues from the previous, prompting the next idea, approach and pallet. Every painting reveals its own subtleties and sensitivities, keeping some, hiding some…” She is a Colorado native, who obtained her formal education from the Colorado Institute of Art in 1994. She studied interior design and graphic design which led to a 20-plus year career as the owner and primary designer at En Suite, Ltd. She’s been painting her entire life, and full-time for the past six years.

Rita Bhasin’s paintings reflect her love and appreciation of nature and her spiritual beliefs that are layered in her mind as textures—in old buildings, trees, mountains, traditions and scents—forming an emotional response that is expressed in her work. She works in an intuitive and energetic way, through exploring and responding, changing and accepting of each bold shape, line, color and texture that informs her work. Simplification of each scene allows her to bring forward the shapes that attracted her to the subject. Bhasin was born in Kenya and grew up in England but her feet are now firmly planted in beautiful Colorado!