News Story Archive

Volunteer Leaves Her Mark at Abiquiu Lake

Elizabeth Lockyear, public affairs
Published May 18, 2018
Janice Ducrepont stands in front of the visitor center’s wildlife display, May 8, 2018. She volunteered her painting skills to paint the scenic background in the display.

Janice Ducrepont stands in front of the visitor center’s wildlife display, May 8, 2018. She volunteered her painting skills to paint the scenic background in the display.

ABIQUIU LAKE, N.M. -- While camping at the lake’s Rianna Campground this spring, Janice Ducrepont volunteered her services, painting a beautiful scenic background in the visitor center’s wildlife display, May 2-3, 2018.

Ducrepont is a compulsive painter. When asked what made her want to paint the background in the wildlife display, she smiled and said, “It was a blank space.”

“She simply loves to paint,” said Austin Kuhlman, lead park ranger at Abiquiu Lake.

She primarily paints realism, portraits, and landscapes, but she will paint anything. “She will happily do face painting, and once painted a FEMA trailer to look like a log cabin,” Kuhlman said.

Ducrepont has painted since she was 20. The beautiful scenery at Abiquiu Lake and the legacy of Georgia O’Keeffe attract many painters to the area, “but what sets Janice apart, besides her remarkable talent and endearing personality, is the fact that she gives all of her paintings away,” said Kuhlman.

“Every painting I have is just waiting on a home,” Ducrepont said. She started giving all of her paintings away three years ago. She and her husband were traveling in a tent and had very limited storage. Now it’s just what she does.

“It is such a joy to do. I am going to paint no matter what. This way someone else gets to enjoy it,” she said. Visitors to the Abiquiu Lake visitor center will be able to enjoy her work for years to come.

In addition to Abiquiu Lake, she has also painted at Cochiti Lake and five other USACE parks.

Ducrepont and her husband have been traveling full time since 2009. Based out of Livingston, Texas, they are members of a RV group known as the Escapee’s, which has over 200,000 members.