News from Chris

Chris Morel Artist/painter

Joseph Christopher Morel was born in 1958 in rural Maryland. Encouraged by his parents with paper, pencil, paints and brushes, Chris pursued his artistic interests at a very early age. His father was an X Ray tech and would bring home sheets of yellow paper that were used to separate X-ray film. These were his first sketch books.

The verdant rolling farmland and rustic structures nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains offered powerful inspiration and the subject matter for his earliest work.

As a young man working outside on farms he was fascinated with the forms and shapes of the landscape. The atmospheric moods of his Mid-Atlantic homeland were embedded into his psyche inspiring him to pursue an artist’s life.

Chris graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Towson University in the Baltimore area and immediately began working in the printing industry as a graphic artist. He was impressed with the complexity and structure of creating publications from concept to a final printed product. He became art director at a Washington DC based printing firm. He was also pursuing his musical interests in bands as a guitarist playing in and around the Baltimore area.

In 1985 Morel moved to Austin Texas taking a position with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as a staff illustrator all the while painting in his studio at home. The illustrator position allowed Chris to illustrate in many different mediums ranging from watercolor, airbrush, oil, acrylic, pencil etc.

In 1988 Morel decided to leave the TPWD and pursue a full-time career as a painter. In Austin Morel began his fine art career primarily as a watercolorist, transitioning eventually to oils as his primary medium.

1994 he moved with his family to Taos and opened the Morel Gallery next to the Historic St. Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos, NM. Upon arriving in Taos, Morel began to paint primarily outside, on location in the spectacular Northern NM high desert region. The massive scale of the Taos landscape, the rich artistic tradition of the Taos Society painters and the legendary Taos light provided the best environment for his continued development as an artist.

The tall peaks of the Rockies in New Mexico, Colorado and north through Montana, the canyons and mesas of Utah and Arizona to the west, and the Oak covered hills of California have been a source of much of Chris’s work. Morel has also painted extensively throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the Northeast, into Mexico and abroad capturing the landscapes of the regions and celebrating the incredible experience of the “artist” life.

Morel is represented by:

Chimayo Trading Company, Ranchos de Taos NM, www.chimayotrading.com

Nedra Matteucci Gallery, Santa Fe NM, www.matteucci.com

Wild Horse Gallery Steamboat Springs CO www.wildhorsegallery.com

Chris Morel Studio, Vadito NM, www.morelart.com, 575 737 1042

Recent Shows/Awards

2022 “Booth Museum, GA “Plein Air Painters of America” Exhibit and workshop instruction. October 2022.
2022 “Couse/Sharp Foundation “La Luz de Taos” Exhibition and Fundraiser
2022 “Nedra Matteucci Gallery” All artist show July 15 2022
2022 ”Plein Air Magazine Salon Award for Morel’s painting “Couse House Poppies”
2022 Front Cover “Plein Air Magazine” and Feature article Dec/Jan 2022
2021 “Plein Air Painters of NM” National Show “Best of Artist Members”
2021 “Small Works Great Wonders” Exhibit…National Cowboy Museum OKC 11/2021
2021 “Oil Painters of America” Western Regional Show Wichita KS
2021 “Oil Painters of America” Salon Show, Quinlan Visual Arts Center, Gaine sville GA,
2021 “Oil Painters of America” Spring Showcase Award Winner
2021 Accepted Signature Membership in PAPA “Plein Air Painters of America” group.
2021 “Oil Painters of America” National Exhibit California Center of the Arts, Escondido CA.
2021 “Live with Eric Rhoads” 1/4/2021 Facebook Youtube live interview and painting demo
2021 “Plein Air Today-Outdoor Painter article about painting New England, January 2021
2020 Awarded First Place, New Mexico Plein Air Painters 2020 “Fall Color Passages Contest”
2020 National Cowboy Museum OKC, OK “Small Works Great Wonders Show”
2019 “Small Works Great Wonders Show” National Cowboy Museum OKC, OK
2019 “Nedra Matteucci Gallery” One Man Show June 2019
2018 Oil Painters of America National Exhibit
2017 Oil Painters of America Regional Exhibit
2008-2019 “Small Works Great Wonders Show” National Cowboy Museum OKC, OK
2016 “Nedra Matteucci Gallery” Two Person Show with sculptor Dan Ostermiller June 2016
2016 “New Mexico Magazine annual Artist Calendar, NM Dept of Tourism
2014 “Nedra Matteucci Gallery” One Man Show June 2014
2011 “Founders Award” “Maynard Dixon Country Show
2007 “Best of Show, Golden Thunderbird Award” Maynard Dixon Country Show
2006 “Taos Fall Arts Festival” Featured artist

Publications and articles:

 Plein Air Magazine Jan 2022 cover and article, Southwest Art, Western Art and Architecture, Western Art Collector,
Art and Antiques. International Artist, Taos Magazine, North Light Publications Art Instruction Books, Art Journey New Mexico coffee table book. “Fine Art Connoisseur “Santa Fean, New Mexico Magazine” and Taos News Tempo.

Additional awards: 2006 Taos invite Taos Feature Artist and award winner. “Art for the Parks” 2001 Region II Award Winner, Jackson WY and “Plein Air Tucson” 1998

Museum shows:

National Cowboy Museum, Albuquerque Museum of Art, Millicent Rogers Museum, Maynard Dixon Country Invitational, Gilcrease Museum’s American Art in Miniature”.