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Why do you go to Santa Fe during winter?

One of the principal reasons for going in the winter is the seasonal Christmas celebrations. These include outdoor festivals with "ferolitos," (candles placed in small paper bags containing sand) that line the rooftops and edges of the street, spontaneous song and music, street performers, and much good food drink and comradeship. Santa Fe's winters although sometimes cold and snowy are dry and the sky is always clear which makes winter both more beautiful and more bearable than other places.

What is the best thing about it?

In the early 20th century, Santa Fe became an artist's colony and place of healing and renewal. This heritage gives the city an exciting creative and intellectual "buzz" that many people find energizing. Today, people of great accomplishment in many fields make it their home. It is also a place of tremendous enchantment and creativity and it is no accident that this small city boasts several hundred world-class art galleries.

What are your favourite art museums, galleries and places of cultural interest?

The entire city vibrates with creative energy, and one can enjoy public art everywhere. Some of my favorite galleries are the respected Ernesto Mayans Gallery, Deloney Newkirk for contemporary art, and the new Lawrence Matthews Gallery, all within walking distance of each other in Canyon Road. Aside from the fabled Canyon Road, there is the downtown art district and the emerging Railyard area featuring artists’ studios, art galleries and Site Santa Fe.

How would you pass a perfect day in Santa Fe?

The day would begin with a scrumptious New Mexico style breakfast at Pasqual's, and a morning of gallery-hopping to see new work. After lunch with artist or gallery owner friends at one of the scores of excellent restaurants, I'd head home full of inspiration and energy to make art for the rest of the day in my studio overlooking the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Finally Nancy and I would enjoy a glass of wine while watching the sun setting in the big sky to the West, and a quiet night at home.

Which are your favourite restaurants?

On Canyon Road we love going to the ever-popular El Farol with its 150 year old wall murals, great music and authentic New Mexico food, for lunch we love Harry's Roadhouse (where I shot the original image for "In the Beginning,) or the Coyote Cafe downtown. For dinner, we have great respect for the idiosyncratic, finely crafted food the Galisteo Bistro and Wine Bar , but then there's Ristra, Fuego, Geronimo... it's hard to go wrong at any level in Santa Fe.

What is the one thing you’d like to do in Santa Fe that you haven’t done?

Attend the opening of my own art gallery! Seriously, it's an impossible question to answer since Santa Fe is a constantly evolving mosaic of art openings, cultural events, traditional activities and that's just the "civilized" part. Surrounding the city are gorgeous mountains overlooking a huge expanse of high desert plains, with many ways to enjoy the outdoors under the big, expansive New Mexico sky. It is impossible to be bored in Santa Fe.

What is your favourite view in Santa Fe?

Within the city, the east side which contains the original old town - the unpaved ancient streets and centuries-old adobe dwellings (now some of the most valuable real estate in the world) lining the old Acacia Madre irrigation canal. Outside, it would be the majestic Sangre di Cristo Mountains to the east or the sun setting to the west.

What are you currently working on?

I'm excited about my new large-scale "Transformations" images designed for public spaces and art for healing. A great example is "Flows of Thought," an eight-foot wide image now seen in the Dayton International Airport. Technically the method utilizes commercial signage technology to create brilliant high-chroma backlit images that explode off the surface. This new style enables me to delve deep into the archetypal subconscious to blend image elements with abstracted colors, shapes and movement to create emotionally-charged works of increasing power and depth. The Transformations can be seen at ericolsongallery.com