Walking around historic Taos, New Mexico, with a tourist map in my hand I was surprised to spot a Swedish flag, no two!, outside one of these lovely adobe houses that Taos is full of.

Being Swedish I felt a pang of nationalistic nostalgia (normally I’m neither nationalistic nor nostalgic). It was clear that it was an artist’s house, so I was curious not only to find out what the Swedish flags were doing there but also to see the art.

The artist herself, Inger Jirby, gave me a warm welcome and explained that she was born in the very north of Sweden, in Lapland, but that she had lived abroad for a great number of years.

Find out more about Inger and her colourful and inspiring art: https://ingerjirby.com 

Taos is full of art galleries, art tourists and of course artists. Even though it is a small town it can be a little tricky to get an overview of all there is to see and experience, but brochures and magazines are distributed here and there and give guidance. 

In one of these magazines there was a photo of a painting that caught my attention. It was to be found in a very centrally located gallery, The Sage Fine Art Gallery, http://www.sagefineart.com 

I headed there without further delay. 

Unsurprisingly the painting was even more attractive in the gallery than in the magazine and its modest size would actually make it possible to bring it back home.

It so happened that the painter herself, Carrie Schultz, was the artist on duty on that particular day. Inevitably, when we started talking, the question “Where are you from?” came up at an early stage. When I replied “Sweden“, Carrie started talking perfect Swedish with me! It appeared that she had lived and studied in Sweden and had kept up her Swedish since then. Hats off! 

We concluded that the painting I liked had been waiting for me to step into the gallery, so I bought it without any further ado. 

It travelled safely with me during the rest of my trip in the US and back to Europe, and it now waiting to be hung. This will happen shortly.

Find out more about Carrie and her art: https://carrieschultzfineart.com