Life in the Mountain West

Vicki & Shannon Conley

Vicki and Shannon Conley are a mother-daughter pair of art quilters from the mountains of southern New Mexico.  Their work has a strong sense of place; it is inspired by the outdoors and highlights the vast natural beauty of the mountain west

Vicki Conley lives in the mountains of southern New Mexico and owns a gallery in Ruidoso Downs where she sells her work.  She has been a creative person all her life and has recently retired from 40 years as a studio potter. She has been a fiber artist for about 20 years and is now also exploring surface pattern design. Her work is influenced by the natural world, especially public lands – national and state parks. She and her husband now travel extensively in their RV with their three dogs, always looking for the next inspiration.

Shannon Conley is an art quilter who grew up in Ruidoso Downs, NM, and retains a strong connection to the dry mountains and high desert, areas that frequently appear in her ecology and nature-inspired pieces.  Art quilts have been her primary medium since 2009, and her work is informed by her experience as a biologist and biochemist.  She now lives in Moore, OK, where she teaches and directs a biomedical research lab at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.