Jack D. Woods 1930 to 2011

Born and raised in Tucumcari, Jack spent a number of years working as an aeronautical design engineer in the Midwest before bringing his wife Donna and their family to Taos to begin a life dedicated to art.  That dream because reality.  In time, Jack’s works in both bronze and oils won awards and were widely collected.  He and Donna maintained the Western Art Gallery in the heart of Taos for almost 30 years showing his work.

Jack’s subjects were the essence of western life.  His childhood was steeped in New Mexico history and the lore of the old West. His surroundings were those of traditional ranching and by his mid-teens he was well versed in the cattle business. His return to New Mexico was also a return to this life. His art reflected his deep knowledge of regional history and his artist’s eye of the hard work of ranching and the beauty of the west. Some of his work reflected the fundamental labor of ranching, while other pieces showed humorous moments of real life, still others, the timeless beauty of a sunrise. His work told stories of the west, past and present.

Deceptively simple in some ways, Jack’s work was the product of intense focus on content, composition, and meaning. Whether whimsical or poignant, he sought to capture the movement and emotions of an individual moment. Where some artists may employ a high degree of realism, Jack preferred to engage his viewer by adding their imaginative experience to the work. He did this by depicting scenes that felt credible and familiar but keeping some details softer. A viewer of his work finds themselves drawn in for a personal experience, a private showing of the west that Jack knew.