Beauty Way Path: Paintings by Anita Valencia and Norma Jean Moore

The title of the show comes from a Navajo word, “hozho naasha,” which means to walk in beauty but literally translates “beauty way path.” The words express the interconnectedness of a balanced life in which you and your environment are one.

It has been over a year since a mutual friend introduced us, and we started our weekly walks around Woodlawn Lake. Our conversations usually drift toward observations about the lake environment and our gardens. This connection to the outdoors and our community is important to our wellbeing and is reflected in our art.

Our search for shapes and forms to find the expressive potential in our materials, as well as our penchant for color, is common to both our practices. Despite the similarity, our path of inquiry produces different results. Anita’s art explores the reflective properties of a surface, while Norma’s explores the spaces within the surface.

Anita Valencia:

Most of my inspiration comes from nature. It is this concern to protect our environment and the need for conservation that led me to use discarded materials such as coffee filters, CDs, bottle caps, candy wrappers, and various sundries to create my art. The materials inspire me and offer endless possibilities.

Norma Jean Moore:

Landscapes painted traditionally are created from the perspective of the viewer standing and looking toward the horizon. I have chosen instead to portray the microbial ground that supports the dynamic life cycle. A walk out the door provides me with endless opportunities to encounter biological forms that I don’t know how to explain. Inspired by these experiences, I paint to discover. The results are paintings based on my sentient memories of nature.