Last October, two weeks after giving a talk to a sold-out crowd at the Nicolai Fechin House at the Taos Art Museum, Jerry Jordan was flying high. He had given a presentation on his life and his work to a sold-out crowd. “The theme was ‘what does it look like to paint for 60 years and try to make a living at it?’” he says. “About 75 people attended; we had to turn people away,” he says, adding that it was the highlight of his career.

During his presentation, Jordan says, he showed his very first painting—a paint-by-numbers piece he did, when he was 13. “Grandma thought it was the prettiest thing she had ever seen, so I got bragged on,” he says. “I went home, bought some oil paints, and started painting.” It would take some time and perseverance—combined with some unusual sales techniques—however, for Jordan to make a living with his art.

Jerry Jordan (New Mexico)

Conversations With The Aspen
Oil
30″x30″

“When riding through the aspen with Jimmy Reyna, my adopted Native American father, he said, ‘We ask permission from the trees to cut it for our warmth during winter; we have conversation with the trees.’”

Jerry Jordan (New Mexico)

Sanctuary
Oil
30″x36″

“This is one of my all-time favorites. It’s a scene from archival photos from the Kit Carson collection. Our Lady of Guadalupe burned in 1962, after being sold to actor Raymond Burr, who wanted to use it as an art gallery. His kids were playing with matches in the steeple.”