PRESCOTT GALLERY and SCULPTURE GARDEN

Fredrick Prescott’s larger-than-life, brightly colored, solid-steel sculptures are truly one of a kind. Engineered to move in the wind or activated by hand, they combine reality with fantasy in an ever-evolving variety of magical images. There are 30-foot-high giraffes alongside pink flamingos, elephants, seahorses, dinosaurs, dragons, and many other real and imaginary creatures.

Everything is created in a 30,000-square-feet studio in Santa Fe. The process is inevitably complex, starting with a drawing transferred to a computer and then on to a machine that cuts sections in steel. The pieces are then powder coated with a spray gun, sandblasted, and then fired in a massive oven that heats the environmentally friendly powder paint up to 500 degrees, melting it into a glossy finish. A final clear coat protects the work from the weather if it is to be displayed outdoors.

The enormous works are transported all over the country, strapped down on a huge trailer hooked onto a big truck, to be exhibited in museums, public parks, schools, galleries, and private homes. Prescott is also open to commissions and over the years has completed many, including some for celebrities such as Michael Jordan and Steven Spielberg.

The gallery on Agua Fria Street is currently showing a retrospective, with photographs and early works that demonstrate Prescott’s artistic evolution over the years. One may wonder: After a career that spans more than 50 years, has he ever run out of ideas? “Never,” he says. “The problem is too many ideas and not enough time.”

Alvaro Cardona-Hine, a self-taught painter, poet, and musician, was born in Costa Rica and came to the U.S. when he was 13 years old. Later in his life, he settled in Truchas, New Mexico, to devote himself to painting fulltime. He was one of the first artists to bypass the gallery system and represent his own work, opening the Cardona-Hine Gallery in 1988.

Many tourists and art enthusiasts travel through the village of Truchas on their way from Santa Fe to Taos. They come not only to enjoy the wonderful views but also to explore the workshops and studios of artists and artisans along the way. Cardona-Hine’s gallery flourished for almost 30 years until he finally passed in 2016.

A prolific artist, Cardona-Hine painted every day. His works differ widely in style and subject matter, ranging from birds and landscapes to brightly colored abstracts. His determination to remain free, with no recognizable format, is another reason why he opted out of galleries.

His remaining paintings are now in the possession of his daughter, Elena, who is finding homes for the last few hundred. “They really need to be seen, to be hung on walls, and enjoyed,” she says.

Consequently, she has put together an online gallery, cardona-hinegallery.com, so that people can see, enjoy, and purchase her father’s works of art. Sizes, prices, and subject matter vary enormously, so there should be something for everyone. And, as the artist said, “How sad a wall without a painting!”