Margot Richardson

Margot Richardson spent her childhood and early adult life in the Seattle area, loving the green forests and beautiful Puget Sound, but grumpy from the gray skies. She attending the University of Washington, earning degrees in Art and Education. Together with her husband Mark, she spent a year living in Barcelona, Spain, where the beauty and warmth of the mediterranean light changed her paintings forever. They returned to Spain with their teenage son Linus for a self-made sabbatical, and another chance to produce a body of artwork. 3 years ago, they heard the siren song of Paonia Colorado and decided to follow.

Margot’s art reflects a love of nature, vibrant color, and the subtle realms of imagination. She is always wondering about how our imaginings change the very stuff of our lives: reality follows thought, don’t you think?

“Stories tell themselves as I paint, fusing fairy tales with the creatures around me, such as our cats Boris and Bella, and the birds that fly overhead and through my daydreams. Just before I turned 40, I became fascinated with Archetypes and traditional fairy tales featuring magical creatures. I think that all living animals have a consciousness and an intelligence that tells us about ourselves, and it’s great fun to play with that idea. Rather than anthropomorphizing the animals, I let them show me how we are like them.

And rather than retell the traditional tales, I’m letting them get all mixed up with each other, adding in details and creatures that come to mind when I’m sketching the ideas. For example, I like the beanstalk because it is germinating something new into being, becoming a ladder to and from an undiscovered dimension; then our iconic P-hill  asserted itself into the background!

Our favorite hen Gray Girl sits on Boris’s head and lays the Golden Egg, creating bewilderment for both of them; and Boris wears Peter Rabbit’s blue coat, maybe because they are both mischievous.

You can invent your own stories from these pictures. I made them to bring more amusement into this world of ours.”