Harold Joe Waldrum

Vocation

American artist whose abstract works depict colour studies especially of the old adobe churches of Northern New Mexico. He also used a Polaroid SX-70 camera to photograph many of the churches, initially as part of the process in creating his paintings. However, this collection of thousands of photographs became a body of work in and of itself and was exhibited at several galleries and museums. Before pursuing an artistic career, Waldrum graduated from Western State College and became a public school teacher in Kansas, where he taught music and art for a decade-and-a-half. After receiving a graduate degree from Fort Hays State College in 1970, he became a full-time painter. In 1975, Waldrum briefly established a home studio in the Penitente village of Gusano, near Pecos in New Mexico. However, the following year, he had to flee to Texas and then even to Mexico, fearing for his life. On 27 May 1976, he had become involved in a dispute with several young men in the village, one of whom he had shot and killed. According to Waldrum, he had killed the man in self-defence. The next night, Waldrum’s home and studio were burned down; he lost much of his artwork and all of his belongings. In 1994, he published an autobiography entitled Ando en Cueros (I Walk Stark Naked), perhaps a reference to his propensity for working in the nude. Waldrum died on 13 December 2003 in New Mexico, aged 69. Link to Wikipedia biography