Meet Meghan Reker
We had the good fortune of connecting with Meghan Reker and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Meghan, why did you pursue a creative career?
I’ve always been visually inclined and creative, spending much time making things with my hands. Pursuing an art career felt like a natural choice. I attended art school in San Francisco, where I immersed myself in a wide range of studio arts while focusing on painting. I also studied art history, critical theory, and contemporary conceptual art, which helped me develop technical skills, expand my creative thinking, and explore diverse approaches to art from international perspectives.
After college, I worked in various hands-on roles, including as a home goods manufacturer, where I made light fixtures and furniture, and later as a fine art frame fitter and stage carpenter. However, these physically demanding jobs eventually led to burnout, and I found myself yearning to return to my artistic practice. Like many artists, I faced the dilemma of whether to work to support my art or to make my art my work. I realized that the physically intensive jobs I held were taking too much energy away from my creative ambitions. In response, I decided to prioritize my art, seeking less physically demanding work to support this transition.
This past year has been particularly fulfilling, with success in the market and gallery scene, and I’ve also begun teaching art to children. Although focusing on selling my work has influenced my studio practice—what’s lucrative isn’t always what inspires me—I’ve found that when I truly love what I do, it never feels like work.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In 2019, I moved to Grand Junction to explore the vast beauty of Colorado, and I brought with me a deep curiosity and a fascination with the natural world. My art is a continuous experiment, where I blend elements of science and nature, drawing inspiration from flora, minerals, and the landscapes around me. I am a creator at heart—like a mad scientist mixing chemistry and technology, imagery and abstraction—always seeking to understand and translate the subtle patterns and phenomena I observe. My fascination with the unique desert landscape, my background in many fine art mediums, and pursuing studies in technology mediums have all come together in my more recent work.
What sets me apart is my process, which combines multiple mediums: oil painting, alternative photographic techniques, collage, digital editing, and more recently making paint from local minerals. The materials I work with are just as much a part of the narrative as the finished pieces themselves. I often use my photography and fieldwork as starting points, yet I am less concerned with realism and more focused on capturing a “sixth sense” of perception—those fleeting moments of insight and beauty that go unnoticed in the everyday. My paintings are landscapes and abstract forms, but they are also explorations of the unseen, the quiet, and the complex rhythms of the natural world.
In many ways, my art is a marriage of adventure and study—part exploration of nature and part translation of what I’ve discovered back into the studio. There is a constant dialogue between fieldwork and studio practice, between chaos and structure. This dynamic is what excites me most about my work: the possibility to constantly evolve, to experiment, and to let the materials dictate the journey.
Getting to where I am today has been far from easy. As many artists can relate, there’s always a tug-of-war between the passion for creating and the realities of life. I’ve faced the challenge of balancing the physical demands of supporting myself financially with the need to immerse myself in my practice. But I’ve learned that overcoming these challenges is part of the creative process. For me, resilience and adaptability have been key. I’ve learned to work within constraints, embrace failure as part of learning, and trust the process rather than focusing solely on the outcome.
One lesson I’ve learned is the importance of patience—patience with my work, my evolution as an artist, and the recognition that the best creations often arise from experimentation and serendipity. When I feel stuck or depleted, being around my invaluable and talented art community here in Western Colorado cures me. Along the way, I’ve embraced my role as a creator who is constantly learning, shifting, and refining.
What I want the world to know about me is that my art is more than just about the visual—it’s an invitation to slow down and engage with the world in a deeper, more attentive way. My work is about paying attention to the small details, the ephemeral moments, and the unseen forces that shape our world. I want my art to evoke curiosity, spark a sense of wonder, and connect others to the vastness and complexity of the natural world.
Ultimately, I see myself not just as a painter, but as an explorer—always seeking, always discovering, and always sharing that sense of awe with others through my work.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My favorite thing to ask friends and family that visit here is “Hey, do you see that one rock?” while pointing at no specific rock, for a good laugh, followed by an explanation of what a ‘butte’ and a ‘hoodoo’ are, and some fun geological facts like the Grand Valley was once the bottom of a sea, and the Grand Mesa is the tallest flat-topped mountain in the world caused by a volcanic eruption where a puddle of lava turned into rock and kept everything underneath from eroding. I would take them to McInnis Canyon, some of my favorite trails to hike with my dog, and point out all the flora and cacti, lichen, and desert critters. Of course, we can’t go without a drive through the Colorado National Monument, and a scenic tour of the Grand Mesa, the landscapes are so different and so close together that it still blows my mind.
A trip to some hot springs, either in Glenwood Springs or Ridgway is my favorite way to relax, and to hit up the Fruita or Palisade Farmers Markets and the abundant farm stands all over the valley for a farm to table home cooked meal. For a meal out my personal favorites are TacoParty, Bin 707, Clark’s Distillery with an awesome patio view, El Rey’s Mexican food truck, and Pronto Bronto’s food truck with in my opinion the best burgers in the valley. And you can’t leave without the Colorado wine country experience, many vineyards have live music and events, incredible views, and delicious wines, I can’t pick a favorite. Boating or paddle boarding the river is a fun time, and I’ll stick my feet in any chance I get no matter the weather. The perfect way to end a visit is to drive a ways into the desert, any direction a few miles outside the city will do and lay out a comfy spread for stargazing. How could I not fall in love with this place?
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Carlee and Terry Burnett who own Canvas 35 Gallery at FARM Fruita have been incredibly supportive people to me and my ambitions. Carlee is also chairman of the Fruita Arts and Culture Board, and Terry’s incredible sculptures can be found around the cities of Fruita and Grand Junction.
Website: www.meghanreker.art
Instagram: @meghanreker.art
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