Turid Pedersen

Turid Pedersen is one of the nation's most respected still life artists. Ms. Pedersen was born in Oslo, Norway and received both a BA and an MAT in the History of World Art and Architecture at the University of Oslo. In the1970's, she settled near the Mimbres Valley in New Mexico due to a life-long interest in Archaeology and the plethora of ancient Native American artifacts found in that area. This coupled with her study of early Flemish and French still life painters has led to an extraordinary combination of art forms.

She has this to say about her work: "I work from the original artifacts, either in the museums or in local private collections. I make numerous studies and notes, striving for accuracy in scale and appearance. However most important to me is to create a mood in my paintings that evokes the deeply mystical lives of the Mimbres people. It is tremendously moving to touch and handle their objects, to feel the ancient surfaces of the pots, molded, incised, chipped and worn--- to gaze in awe and wonder at the sophisticated designs created by fellow artists centuries ago."