Mission Church at Rancho de Taos

Mission Church of Taos

9x12

oil on board

The adobe mission church made famous by Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keeffe, among others, is an iconic symbol of New Mexico and Spanish-influenced architecture throughout the region.  Regardless of how many times I've seen this church in photos and paintings, I just dig it.   The simple, abstract forms just appeal to me, and adobe/hacienda style architecture is my favorite.

So, of course, I had to do my version.  I debated about going with a colorful palette (orange and purple, perhaps), but opted to go with local colors and a limited palette of burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre and white.  

Originally, I'd hoped to do an on-location painting of the church in pastel.  However, we discovered the dirt parking area was full and there were ladders, wheelbarrows, and a large scaffold in front of the church, indicating some construction work was happening.

It turns out that each year at this time (first two weeks of June), the San Francisco de Asis church (its formal name) gets repaired, restored and otherwise fixed up.  We spoke with one of the gentlemen helping with the construction, and he told us it is an all volunteer operation, with people coming in from around the country.  

The church facade is constructed with the simplest and oldest building material in the region:  adobe - formed from local dirt strained of rocks, water and dry straw as a binding agent.  That's it.  Unfortunately, it isn't particularly durable, and parts wash away each year from the winter and summer rains, necessitating the annual repair work.  

If neglected, this is what happens in pretty short order:  

old adobe building in the Rancho de Taos plaza, right next to the church

Here's the entrance to the front of the church, showing freshly applied adobe and the wheelbarrow full of the adobe mortar:

According to one of the shop owners in the plaza, the Rancho de Taos plaza, which is about 6 miles south of the main downtown area of Taos, is older than the historic district buildings in Taos proper.  

Some colorful peonies blooming in front of the plaza shops:

If you are visiting Taos, definitely make a trip to see the San Francisco de Asis mission church.  And if you don't come during peak tourist season or the first two weeks of June, there will probably be plenty of parking and ample opportunity to paint it on location, or at least take some better photographs.

Spruce Shadows - plein air pastel, 12x9

Spruce Shadows

pastel on black Strathmore

We are back from our 3-day trip to Taos, NM and vicinity.  And, as always seems to be the case, my expectations and plans seldom materialize into reality:  in this case, to do several plein air pieces on the trip.  In fact, this was the only one, and it's certainly not unique to Taos, or New Mexico for that matter.  But, that's okay - at least I got one painting in.

The trip was great, and we saw and did a lot in a relatively short period of time.  Since it was the first time I'd been to this region of New Mexico, it served as a valuable exploratory trip for future painting expeditions:  finding the most scenic and feasible locations for painting, and getting a general idea of the area itself.  

Contrary to most trips, I didn't get a lot of photo-worthy landscape photos, although I scored big in some great photos of other subjects.  Part of this was due to the issues with smoke from the huge forest fire in northern AZ:  on Wed late morning, the smoke was so thick that it made being outside at all unpleasant at best and unhealthy at worst.  We were exceptionally lucky that the winds changed and there was absolutely no smoke or haze during our drive back yesterday.  

This painting was done on Wednesday at our campsite, after a full day visiting the famous Mission church in Rancho de Taos, the Taos Pueblo, driving along the Enchanted Circle loop, and taking a short hike in the mountains after the smoke had blown away.  Incidentally, it was also my birthday, and really was a perfect topper for the day.  

This tree, which I believe is an Englemann spruce, was right next to our campsite.  I was originally a bit dismayed by what appeared to be no good plein air views at the campground, but as I looked at this tree, I realized that its roots, bark texture and colors, and the afternoon light hitting it would be worth painting.  

set-up with my French easel 

As usual, I was aware of the shortcomings in my pastel palette, particularly the greens.  But, that's part of the challenge, I guess, of plein air painting with pastels.  I'm looking forward to adding more to my collection with both a gift certificate I received for my birthday as well as the check from the juried show.  

Anyway, despite the lack of on-location painting, I did get a ton of source material for studio paintings.  I'll probably work those in between local plein air work.

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Here are some select photos of other subjects taken around the campground:

Globe Flower (Trollius albiflorus)

Hoverfly (Syrphidae family) visiting a Wild Strawberry flower

These look like bees, but do not bite or sting

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

This individual was very beat-up - this is one of the earliest butterflies of the season - but they are quite striking when their wings are intact.  

Western blue-tailed butterfly - male (Cupido amyntula)

"Blues" - members of the Gossamer Wing family of butterflies, are abundant at this time of the year.  I have been lucky to photograph many species, and I'll share more photos in future blog posts.

Clematis (Atragene occidentailis)

These lovely flowers are low vine formers and usually found in deep shade along moist mountain hillsides - like our campground.

Summer comes to Durango

Some photos from our Purgatory Flats hike on Saturday:

A view of Engineer from the trailhead parking lot, still sporting lots of snow (and haze from the AZ forest fire making the afternoon light even worse)

Arnica sunflower - the leaves of this plant have medicinal use for bruises and skin irritations

The trail approaching a stand of bright green aspen

A Dusky Dreamwing skipper takes a quick stop 

Blue-eyed Grass 

Fairy Trumpet (I believe) preparing to bloom

"Summer Dreams" - black percheron in a field north of Durango along Hwy 550 

We stopped to take photos of some donkeys in the adjacent field, and this gentle fellow came over for some attention as well

A quartet of ACEO wildflowers

These were done back in early May, as a possible entry for the DAC Durango Blooms!  juried show.  I opted to enter the daisy pastel instead.  All are pastel on black Strathmore

Blue Flax
3.5 x 2.5 inches (ACEO)

Nodding Sunflower

Coulter's Daisy

Rosy Paintbrush

A Ride on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge RR

Yesterday, I spent the morning and afternoon on a memorable and special trip made possible by the Special Events Coordinator and the Durango Photography Club [of which I am a member] to take the Native American Heritage train ride on the D&SNG.   The DPC was given 35 tickets free of charge to members, and I was lucky enough to get one of them.

For those who have never visited Durango, the train ride from Durango to Silverton is a huge draw and a big deal for tourists and locals.  The train is an old-fashioned coal-burning steam engine train, and speed is not its forte; it takes over 3 hrs. to get to Silverton from Durango (vs. about an 85 min. drive).

This trip, however, also included members of the Southern and Mountain Ute tribes performing blessing ceremonies and dances, both on the lawn of the train depot before departure and at the Cascade Creek destination (about 1/2 way along the route to Silverton).

Since we are going to be heading to Taos early tomorrow morning for a 3-day, 2-night camping trip, I'll save the photos I took of the Ute members for another post when I have more time:  it is worthy of a separate post.

In the meantime, here are some photos taken from the train trip itself.  In an atypical circumstance, we were delayed about 1 1/2 hrs. not far outside of town.  Apparently, the engine on the train that left before ours broke down, so they pulled the engine from ours and sent it up ahead.  We waited while another engine came up from the depot in Durango.  As one of the brakemen told us:  "These are antique trains and sometimes the equipment breaks and needs to be repaired."  Indeed.

I hope you enjoy these photos taken of the ride, and I'll batch out a couple of other posts if I have time to go up during my time away.

The Southern Ute tribal elder blessing the ride immediately before boarding.  You'll see more of this gentleman in a later post

A view of the Animas River in its wide, meandering slow oxbow section through the Animas River Valley.  The sky was incredibly hazy due to smoke from the huge fire in Alpine, AZ.

The train stopped for the engine exchange right in front of the glider airfield, and I managed to catch this one coming in for a landing from the train window

The train coming around the tracks next to the Animas river gorge.  We were seated in the gondola car, allowing for these "hang out the window and shoot" types of photos.  

For all my friends back east that are terrified of heights and exposure:  the train crossing the narrow bridge a couple hundred feet above the Animas river.  

Blowing off some steam at Tank Creek

Conductor of engine #478 taking a break at the Cascade Creek wye (rail junction) at our destination stop

Confluence of Cascade creek (l) and the Animas river from the footbridge about 1/4 of a mile from the train stop

A view looking down into the Animas River gorge on the way back.  The river is at peak flow now, and  rages through the narrow trough of the gorge.   A ponderosa pine casts a shadow on the distal cliff wall

Close to the rocks!

Another view down into the gorge

Back in the Animas Valley and looking north.  Some distal peaks of the Needles range still sport snow

One of the countless Animas river float trips with everyone waving to the train

Juror's Choice Award and the juror's statement

At last night's reception

After yesterday's blog post was sent, I hustled down to the DAC reception.   There were already many people there, including the show juror, Chad Colby.  I had a moment to chat with him before the show kicked into high gear.  He is a very down-to-earth man, friendly and completely unpretentious.  I am sure he is a hugely popular instructor with the students at FLC where he teaches art.

We chatted briefly about the show, and he explained he was looking for a well-rounded representation of work, which I told him he clearly accomplished.  He said the jurying process was a fun challenge, and I can imagine how difficult it might have been.

I also had a great time chatting with some artists I have recently met through my volunteer work at DAC, as well as some more of our area's pastelists.  I found out more about the Four Corners Plein Air group, and am excited to get together with them for some upcoming paint-outs.

For this show, only 5 awards (not counting the People's Choice award) were handed out:  HM, Merit Award, Juror's Choice 2D and 3D, and BoS.   So, you can imagine my utter surprise when my name was announced for the Juror's Choice 2D award!  Talk about gobsmacked!  In addition to the personal accomplishment for me, this also came with a $250 check.  Now, I can finally add some more pastels to my collection.

As he promised to do, Chad gave a brief talk about the show and his responsibilities as the juror.  Since my experience with shows and even interacting with other professional artists is quite limited, I was very keen to listen to what he had to say.  I wanted to share it with readers here, as I think it is valuable advice for all artists, and certainly any who enter juried shows.  

-First, he thanked all the artists who entered, regardless of whether their work was accepted.  He said their participation was valuable and important to the success of the show, and of course, to DAC.

-He then went on to say that the process of jurying is "human and flawed", just as art is...in other words, he is not perfect, and is doing the best he can.  He said at one point he worried that he hadn't selected enough pieces and that the show would look too sparse.  In fact, however, it was perfect - just enough breathing room and space for each piece.  The show has a very contemporary feel to it as a result.

-He reminded everyone that the juror's opinions are just that:  a single subjective opinion, of a moment in time.  Nothing more.   He apologized for the "ruffled feathers", of which there were [I learned that there are some artists in the community who are very vocal about not getting into these shows...].

He then went on to explain the criteria he used to select the pieces, which I found very enlightening.  He said they are essentially the same he uses when evaluating his student's work.

-Originality:  for common subjects, like landscapes, how did the artist handle it to make it unique and less ordinary?

-Technical skill and rendering:  how well did the artist handle the media?

-A quality he describes as the "play" within a piece.  This transcends technical skills and he described it as the playful element in a work.  He used the term "serious playfulness", seemingly contradictory, but as he explained further, I realized I knew exactly what he is talking about.   It's somewhat intangible, but yet, looking at the pieces in the show, they all have that element as a common thread.

I can think of several artists whose blogs I follow where their work is consistently engaging, compelling, and popular with both peers and collectors, and I realize it is this exact quality that makes it so.   Media, painting style, and subject are immaterial.

Anyway, I came away with more than the gift of a $250 check from this show.   Chad gave me some valuable things to think about for my work.  In addition, he puts the whole jurying process into perspective, and now I will have much more confidence to enter more juried shows in the future, and won't take any rejection as a discouragement (which, let's face it:  is easy to have happen if you aren't a seasoned artist).

I really respect the job he did on this show.  He said he had no agenda, and I'd have to agree.  The process was truly blind:  names were taped over and no other identifying information was available to him.  As an instructor at the college, he's a bit removed from the non-academic art scene of Durango, and thus, any politics or favoritism.  I hope DAC will continue to select jurors like Chad for their shows; not only does it lend more credibility to the show itself, but those who are selected and receive any type of award can feel good that it was honest and well-earned.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.  We are heading up to hike the Purgatory Flats trail, and I'm hoping to come back with a load of photos of green aspen, wildflowers and perhaps some butterflies and dragonflies.

Comb Ridge, moving forward....

Comb Ridge - nearing maturity

"...Downhill, maybe a mile, in one great switchback, the roadway descended through a gap to to the built-up fill across the floor of Comb Wash." -Edward Abbey in The Monkey Wrench Gang

So, after almost a week of silence, here we are.  Plans to work on this and finish it went astray as other projects and distractions came up.  This is where it is as of yesterday, and two painting sessions [the first of which was not worth posting about] from the last post on it.  

Paint finally covers the entire board, but there are areas that remain unresolved to my satisfaction - namely, the sandstone cliff regions (too light in value and there is this new Escher-esque thing happening with a section of them that needs to be addressed....do you see it?  How exactly does that happen, I wonder?).  My attempts to cool down the red slope to the right resulted in a tad over-correction of color.  It's not quite as garish as it looks in the photo here, but still no es bueno. 

I will have to cogitate a bit and decide how best to bring this painting to full adulthood.

And, what you may ask, is the relevance of the quote from Mr. Abbey above?  I happen to be reading this modern fiction classic involving the mischief and mayhem of a quartet of colorful characters bound and determined to stop interlopers with bulldozers, coal trains and such from defacing the land.  

I read this passage the other night, and realized that it describes my painting.  This is the great switchback that descends through the gap in Comb Ridge.  Comb Wash is where the bright green cottonwoods are in the painting.  Anyway, I thought it was neat and apropos.  Ed might not love the road, but he'd be glad to know that the area remains relatively untrammeled.  

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In an unrelated but exciting event, I found out yesterday that this painting

Serenity

12x18

pastel on black Strathmore

was accepted into the Durango Art Center's annual juried member show!   I helped hang the show yesterday, and while two other pieces I entered did not get in, I can not complain:  93 artists entered 190 pieces of art.  Only 60 were chosen.  Several established gallery artists, including a previous BOS winner, did not have work accepted.  Many artists had no works accepted, and I think of the list I had, only 2-3 artists had all 3 entries accepted.  One was a sculptor.  

The reception is happening shortly, and the juror (an art instructor at the local college) said he will give a talk about the works.  I'm very interested to hear what he has to say.

I decided to enter Serenity on a lark the day before the entry date; I gutted another framed and matted pastel I had in my personal collection.  This happens to be one of my personal favorites, so I'm delighted that it was accepted.

-off to the show reception now!