Art goes up in Andrews

ANDREWS In a town with a select number of two-story buildings, you might not expect one to include an artists' loft.

But just above CNS Carpets at 13 1/2 North Main Street, sits a hallway leading to studios for six different artists.

Here Alice Leese, 42, records the area landscape for posterity. She favors the sandhills and Caprock near her ranch between Andrews and Kermit.

"I think artists should paint what they see right now," she said. "Because years from now people will look and say, ‘That's what it looked like.' "

The land here is given a surreal quality in Leese's work, yet not skewered to the point of being unrecognizable.

She said it's not always easy to find the "good" parts of the West Texas landscape.

"It's a really subtle landscape," she said. "It doesn't jump out at you.

"It's kind of like the people. They're kind of subtle - it takes some time to get to know them."

Leese said she's been "seriously" painting for 23 years. In 2003, the children's book "Tumbleweeds" was released.

Fellow Andrews artist Mary Evelyn Jones wrote "Tumbleweeds," while Leese illustrated.

The pair is currently working on a follow-up called "The Windmill."

"It's a history of the great plains through a windmill's perspective," Leese said.

It's taking Leese a while to finish the book's 18 illustrations. Each takes her around 40 hours. So she takes breaks to work on a 4-by-5 foot painting of Blue Mountain, located 26 miles from Andrews.

Artists in Andrews also just put the wraps on their 35th annual Art Guild Art Show.

"When we have our show every year, we have wonderful support," Jones said. "We have a lot of people that buy our art."
Jones said Andrews has a number of artists beyond those in the loft.

"We just have a lot of artists," she said. "I don't know how they got here."

The artists in Andrews have a good attitude said Jones, who paints as well as writes.

"We encourage one another," she said. "Nobody is selfish that they want their painting to be prominent."