Bette Ridgeway

For the past two decades I’ve maintained an art practice in Santa Fe, NM, where the high desert light fuels my spirit. My career began in the sweatshop of Reuben Donnelley Advertising as a young graphic artist and over many decades taken me to the outdoor marketplaces in Tananarive, Madagascar, the urban dynamism of Santiago, Chile and the modern youthful capital of Australia in New South Wales…Canberra. And many places in between.
Stimulated by the variety of the colors and customs on 5 continents, along with growing up in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, I have come to know this: I love making things.
A recent “dance” with cancer has given me some perspective on the creative part of my life, to notice what I notice. I look deeply into my creative impulses and see clearly now that my joy is color. I am in love with the movement in my work, sometimes kinetic and full of emotion, sometimes bold and masterful, sometimes languid and tentative.
My work is how I process life and find my balance. It is no surprise that I am drawn to the computer and the artistic avenue it affords me. I explore digital design and study film making. I love designing an innovative online presence. The computer and the studio bring me balance and deep satisfaction.
My journey has not been an easy one. But there are moments in the studio, when everything is working so incredibly well - the music is playing and the creative wheels are jamming. Time does not exist. Only the piece of art unfolds under my strong hands. I am only the channel. It is not mine. Like a child, it comes through me but it is not mine. It goes out into the world – it has a life of its own.




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