76 WWW.SOUTHWESTART.COM • AUGUST 2019
Monumental Spirit, oil pastel, 48 x 48.
Solid, oil pastel, 36 x 36.
continues to explore and paint New
Mexico while also gathering and pre-
senting imagery from other parts of the
country, including massive barns in
her native Midwest. While her small-
er pieces tend to focus on clusters of
venerable adobe buildings in colorful,
stylized landscapes, her larger works
include what she calls “structure por-
traits.” One such piece, MONUMENTAL
SPIRIT, portrays San Miguel Chapel,
Santa Fe’s oldest mission church (circa
1610), against a star-fi lled night sky. The
image fi lls the canvas with the power of
its presence and scale.NONE OF THIS was really on the ho-
rizon for Cavan when she was growing
up in a Chicago suburb. A shy child who
loved coloring and drawing, as a teen she
had a well-used annual pass to the Art
Institute of Chicago. She enjoyed art in
junior high and high school—she even
switched guidance counselors when one
attempted to steer her away from art and
toward honors courses to boost her GPA.
At Brown University in Providence, RI,
she took a few drawing classes. But she
had never met a full-time professional
artist, and the concept of making a living
that way did not occur to her at the time.
Instead she earned a history degree, re-
inforcing an interest to which she would
return some years later through her art.
Following graduation, Cavan turned
to the corporate world in search of a fi -
nancially viable path. She worked briefl y
in marketing and management consult-
ing and then spent a dozen years in real
estate strategy with Sears, traveling the
country assessing retail sites. When
Sears moved its headquarters from
downtown Chicago to the suburbs, her
commute became too much to handle.
She and Lawrence considered looking
for a home midway between their work-
places. But for an energetic young couple,
living in the suburbs was not a thrilling
prospect. What did excite them were
memories of New Mexico, where they’d
gone to visit Lawrence’s parents, who
were living in Angel Fire.
With its clear light, time-honored cul-
tures, and strong sense of place, New
Mexico was a revelation, particularly
for someone with an artistic inclination.