Red Door Gallery

We always like to bring friends and family who are visiting here to Tubac to see all the various copper and metal works, paintings, jewelry, and furnishings which are quite impressive. The Red Door Gallery in Tubac is nestled amongst the many other local artisans’ establishments and has some of the most prominent Southwestern, Native American and Hispanic artwork in the region. The gallery is owned by renowned painter CK Wearden.
She wasn’t there the day we stopped in with some out of town guests but Brent Nageli was there. We chatted with Brent for 30 minutes about his works and how he became a painter (just a few years ago). Brent liked the idea of painting but being colorblind never gave it a second thought until he met a painter who said he could teach him how. So he left the corporate world and the rest is history. Brent specializes in paintings of historic and collectible pottery and artifacts of the Southwest Native Americans. I asked him why pottery and he said you truly need to understand the significance of them. I said how so? He replied they represented a utility item with artistic essence. Meaning almost all pottery was used daily for carrying water and storing grain that were created and meticulous decorated by the hands of an ancient potter maker (many drawings/​symbols had certain meanings). Brent’s use of earth tones and dark and light gives his work a life like feel whereas you could reach into the frame and pick up the pottery. You need to stop by and see his works as seeing is believing!