Page Allen

Born in the black dirt farmland of the Midwest, I have lived in the mountain- rimmed world of Santa Fe, New Mexico since 1985. My studio is here, where I work every day.

Painting has been my first art, which became twinned with writing in 1996. Now I paint and write books, finding that a visual language alongside a spoken one only deepens the story.

The stories are all about the human journeys, of birth, of death, of longing and love. They ask and show- Who we are, what we may be, the mystery and the exact beauty of life. When I began this new art of visual literature, I invoked Beatrix Potter and William Blake as my work's god parents. Think of Potter's careful observation, insightful whimsy and Blake's transcendent spirit. The visible and the invisible are of equal shaping inspiration.

The first story of my ongoing Passage Way Books is Madison's Descent, which began, literally, at the moment when my niece Madison Page was born, and then was given insight by my first visit to Ireland. The majesty of birth, the wonder of a land that is ancient and ever-fresh called me to imagine my own myth story- of birth.

I still paint for my gallery, my exhibition place of many years, the extraordinary Owings Gallery, Santa Fe. I still go to Ireland to work and to be at home, as often as possible.