November 2026
Gallery ABCDs: Art, Books,Cards & Decks
This newsletter is becoming a shared home for news about my own work and the House of Cards Studio & Gallery. I’m enjoying this new chapter: having my first studio outside my home, a permanent space to share my art, and—just as importantly—the opportunity to support and showcase the many wonderful artists I’ve come to know during my 30 years in Albuquerque.
At House of Cards, connection is at the heart of what we do. The gallery showcases original art, books, cards, and decks by New Mexico artists, creating a welcoming place for reflection, conversation, and play. Alongside the art, books, cards, decks, postcards, and other small artist-made objects, the gallery becomes an intimate stage where image, word, and symbol meet—inviting us to explore our own stories in dialogue with myth, history, and the natural world.
Please scroll down to see what’s coming up at the gallery. I hope you’ll join us!
HOUSE OF CARDS & GALLERY
Open Friday–Sunday, 2–6 p.m., and on First Saturdays until 8 p.m.
3812 Central Ave. SE #B1C, Albuquerque, NM 87110
Entrance is through the back parking lot at Solano and Silver.
Eden Alvernaz: Tarot Illustrations
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 7, 5–8 p.m.
Closing Reception: Sunday, November 29, 2–6 p.m.
House of Cards Studio & Gallery presents the richly imaginative Tarot artwork of featured artist Eden Alvernaz. Drawing inspiration from folklore, fantasy, mythology, nature, sci-fi, and the visual traditions of Tarot, Alvernaz creates intricate, theatrical worlds filled with symbolic imagery, fantastic creatures, and compelling narratives.
An Army brat who grew up overseas, Alvernaz later studied in California and New Mexico, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New Mexico State University. Her highly detailed work reflects a lifelong fascination with storytelling, mythology, and the wonderfully strange.
The Shape of Color: Paintings by Greta Stockebrand
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 5, 5–8 p.m.
Closing Reception: Sunday, December 27, 2–6 p.m.
House of Cards Studio & Gallery presents The Shape of Color, an exhibition of vibrant abstract paintings by New Mexico artist Greta Stockebrand. Working in acrylics, Stockebrand explores color as form, creating layered compositions that evoke movement, depth, and emotion.
Working in acrylics with her hands, palette knives, paper towels, and instinct, Stockebrand creates paintings in which color becomes form and emotion acquires dimension. Her work moves between abstract expressionism and suggestions of the surreal: water droplets seem to hang in midair, surfaces open into unexpected depths, and color pulses with an independent presence.
Each painting begins with a chosen palette, but its destination remains uncertain. Stockebrand builds and shifts layers, drawing background into foreground and allowing forms to emerge through the act of painting. What appears on the canvas is less a prescribed image than an invitation to look, feel, and discover.
“When color is given dimension, it becomes more than something that occupies a shape, it is the shape,” says Stockebrand.
In the Kitchen: Work by Christian Michael Gallegos
ONGOING EXHIBITION
Christian and I have been trading our skills in support of each other’s artistic lives for more than 20 years. He lends his talents in commercial painting, handyman work, and mural assistance—especially when tall ladders are involved—in exchange for my expertise in graphic and website design.
He was instrumental in getting the gallery ready to open, particularly when it came to dealing with the truly horrifying floors! At the same time, Christian is a talented and prolific artist in his own right, and his work is featured in an ongoing mini-exhibition in the gallery kitchen. He is scheduled for a featured artist exhibition in the main gallery, opening January 2—just in time to help us ring in the New Year!
Hearts & Cups Call for Art
SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY DECEMBER 15th!
House of Cards Studio & Gallery invites New Mexico artists to submit work for Hearts & Cups, a February 2027 group exhibition exploring the rich symbolic relationship between the heart suit of traditional playing cards and the suit of cups in the Tarot.
Across both traditions, these symbols speak of love, relationships and the many currents of the human heart. We welcome contemporary interpretations that move beyond literal card imagery as well as work that directly engages tarot, playing cards, divination, symbolism, ritual, romance, desire, grief, and emotional transformation.
Artists are encouraged to consider: What does the heart hold? What fills, overflows, breaks, heals, or is offered from the cup?