Hey there Beer Farmers,
Hope you are doing well out in that world of ours! We have some changes at Nob Hill. As the weather changes, we prepare to keep you warm; we now have our patio covered, and our heaters on. Feel free to come stay warm while you sip on some cold ones. Aside from that obvious, practical change -we have an artist change as well! We have NEW art up on our Nob Hill walls. Thanks to our Manager and Nob Hill Art Curator, Mari, we have the work of Travis Bruce Black, hanging on our walls. Travis’s images are vibrant, elegant and beautiful. In asking him about his series, he said:
“These works are a window into my art practice. I create nature and figure paintings that are run through a personal filter of decisions and values. They end up looking like little abstracted bits that come together as a recognizable form. I try to make them as lively but peaceful as I can resulting in a contained but explosive look. I muse that these polarities create the feeling of being with something living. Ultimately, everything we experience registers within each of us. For whatever reason, I feel my paintings are capturing that space where the internal meets the external.”
Beautifully said, right? Travis’s work is “elegantly explosive,” and a real experience to have! We invite you up to our Nob Hill tap room, to not only take a look at this incredible artist’s display of amazing talent, but we also invite you to inquire about purchasing some of the work. All artists that hang with us at either of our Tractor Brewing locations, take home 100 percent of their sales. As you move into the holiday season, consider original art, local art, and supporting local businesses and artists, as you buy gifts for yourself and your loved ones.
Before we let you go, we just wanted to give you some background on our artist in Nob Hill as well. When we agreed to display Travis’s work, we asked him to tell us a bit about himself, so that you, the community, can recognize this artist for his work not only hanging in our tap room, but the work it took to get there – and where he is headed with his talents.
Travis Bruce Black grew up and studied Art in Michigan and in 05 moved to Albuquerque to continue his education at University of New Mexico. Afterward, he and his wife Molly started a unique gallery in Old Town, Albuquerque. During this 4 year project, Travis came to the realization that his craft wasn’t reaching his daily clientele. Consequently he started creating his more universal nature paintings to act as open door for people while still allowing him to experiment with abstraction, emotional color and design. For him, living in the desert increased his appreciation for how precious and curious livings things are. His chirp series and later the deer and fox paintings became symbols of celebration: each creature a super concentrated force of life, color and fullness.
Black makes his living as a full time artist showing in galleries across the country.
His work has been purchased for the sets of television and film, most notably Showtime’s Homeland, it’s permanently installed in public spaces like the Los Alamos Nature Center in New Mexico, and has recently been commissioned for print on a 2015 wedding gown line from India’s couture fashion company Gauri and Nainika.