Chaz Kerger was born in the Southern Rocky Mountains and has lived in the desert Southwest nearly all of his adult life. “I’ve always been inspired by the outdoors and I feel like my painting is really just an extension of that”. A self taught artist, Chaz was first proficient in watercolor before deciding to switch to the more vibrant and textured colors of oil painting.
A short stint living at the base of the famous Cerro Pedernal, just outside of Georgia O’Keefe’s Ghost Ranch in Northern New Mexico, was a big inspiration for his future artwork though he didn’t know it at the time. “I would just walk in the desert every day I could, it was great. The landscape was so powerful and I was more than content just walking amongst the cliffs and the ruins all by myself. Everyone came there to paint and there were times of the year where you’d see dozens of plein air painters strewn about the desert roads. I remember being pretty intrigued by it all”. Now a full time resident of Taos, he doesn’t have to look far for daily inspiration. “The mountains are bountiful in that respect, always providing amazing scenery”. Chaz also draws on the history and the objects of New Mexico as themes in his work. Saddle blankets, pueblos, old churches and wagons, are all sources of inspiration. Bringing contemporary techniques together with original painting concepts, Chaz seeks to bring a unique vision to the modern West.
Statement
“I want my work to present the colors and patterns of the desert southwest in a spiritual way, as if you were seeing it through a dream. Vibrant, rich, and full of emotion. My work is a deep reverence for the land and it’s history, and the imagery thereof”
