October: Art Adventure in New Mexico

Here it is November, and I haven't posted yet about my art adventure the second week of October.  As I knew it would be, the week was full of fun, learning about Southwestern Modernist painters, practicing new art techniques, and experiencing a new and amazing environment.   The "New Mexico Art Adventures" are led by Amy Flowers, a mixed media painter from Columbus, Ohio.  Information about her art and the classes she teaches can be found at her web site, ShrewdArts.   

Upon arriving in Albuquerque, our group was taken to a hotel in Santa Fe for the first night, so that we could spend all of the next day visiting the New Mexico Museum of Art, galleries and shops there before heading up into the mountains for the rest of the week.   Of course, we spent some time admiring the jewelry made by the Native American vendors in the Governor's Palace plaza. A big surprise was finding that a West Virginia artist, Lynn Boggess, was opening an exhibition at a Santa Fe gallery that week.

Our ultimate destination was the Casa del Gavilan, a bed and breakfast lodge near the town of Cimarron, in Northeast New Mexico.  This is cowboy country, lots of wide, open spaces, where the deer and the antelope play.  It's also at a high altitude, which brought me some lightheadedness in the first few days, but also made the air crisp and invigorating.

 This location was so picturesque that I wanted to get up early to catch the morning light on the "Tooth of Time" -- the white mountaintop behind the casa that is a landmark for miles around.  

Our art group had full access to the lodge and its surrounding property for the rest of the week.  Amy gave us art projects and instruction each day, and we also took short trips and hikes to break up the days. 

 

 

In mid-week, we got up early and drove over the mountains to Taos, the artists' mecca.

The scenery was awesome in the mountains where the cottonwood trees were showing their fall colors.

In Taos, we went to the Harwood Museum and saw art by the Taos Modernists, including Dasburg, Marin and O'Keefe. 

Back at the Casa, we experimented with new paint - Golden Open Acrylics, and new techniques, including using digital ground to print on fabric. 

What a wonderful, artful, week it was!  I can totally understand why Georgia O'Keefe and other artists were drawn to that environment with its fresh air, big sky and wonderful light.  And I am already planning my trip back there next year.

P.S.  Yes, that's masking tape headgear I'm wearing - a new kind of flypaper.