El Santuario de Chimayo

Before leaving Chimayo I had to visit the Santuario.  Over the last few years I have been photographing cemeteries and adobe structure in the southwest and have plans to incorporate that into my art.  The Santuario fit perfectly into that journey.

When I arrived on a Sunday morning, there was actually mass in process in the church so I did not go inside but found information and a number of great shots around the property.

Working on a painting from this shot.

A Night in Chimayo

After leaving Truchas I stopped in Chimayo for dinner and spent the night at the Rancho de Chimayo Hacienda.  The inn sits on the hill across the street from the restaurant - same owners.  Compared to the Inn in Taos that I had stayed at - this place was a gem.  The room was large and open, uncluttered with high ceilings.  All of the rooms open to a beautiful garden area where you can enjoy your breakfast.  With no internet or tv, it is a relaxing and quiet place to stay. When I went to bed I discovered that I had left my favorite pillow at the inn in Taos - I debated all night about driving back up or just buying a new pillow.  Since I wanted to go back up to photograph the church at Las Trampas, I figured I could make it back to Taos and still get to Santa Fe before dark.

Garden Courtyard at the Hacienda de Chimayo

Room Cuatro at the Hacienda

Rancho de Chimayo Hacienda

Rancho de Chimayo Restaurant

At the hacienda, Connie welcomed me and had a sweet and gentle spirit.  She called me after I checked out in the morning and had left to let me know I had left my luggage - yikes - good thing I was just down the road at the Santuario.  Hmm, time to pay more attention to where I am leaving things on the road.

Earthships

During my time in Taos my new friend Loretta and I took a little road trip out to the Greater World Earthship  Community.  I have wanted to see this place for years.  Michael Reynolds, the architect/builder and founder is brilliant.  I saw his dvd "Garbage Warrior" years ago and found it so moving it brought me to tears.  Again, as I told Loretta about the dvd, I was brought to tears.  Of course, I have to share with you as well.  If you ever have a chance to see this place, you will be inspired.

When we arrived we saw Michael walking away from the visitors center and we thought it was closed.  We wandered for a few minutes and then discovered it was in fact open.  The architecture is amazing but the sustainability in design and life inside the structures is genius!

I also discovered that you can rent one of the properties for a night or few - definitely on my list for my next visit to the Taos area.

How cool would it be to live in one of these!

 

Time in Taos

Mitch Lyons

My first destination spot was Taos.  I had been through Taos before but never spent much time there.  This time I had arranged to participate in a workshop, learn some new stuff and meet some artists.

I have had a love for printmaking for many years and have been interested in alternative or experimental printmaking techniques.  About 5+ years ago I learned about Mitch Lyons and his "Clay Monotypes"  I wanted to take his workshop ever since.  Mitch resides in Pennsylvania so it wasn't very convenient for me to take his workshop until he brought it to Taos this summer.  He reserved all the rooms at an Inn/B&B where they had a workshop space.  The workshop was great, the Inn, not so much.  Although the property was beautiful, a miscommunication between the innkeepers and Mitch left us all feeling unwelcome.  There's a big long story about this that I won't go into other than to NOT recommend this place to anyone I know or who reads this.

Mitch developed the clay monotype process after years of working with clay.  I was intrigued with the technique and enjoyed the process as well as meeting other artists in the workshop.  Mitch is truly a sweetheart and I am grateful to finally have met him.

We have arranged to have Mitch come teach the Clay Monotype workshop at the Tubac Center of the Arts where I work next spring.  I highly recommend this to anyone that works with clay or printmaking or even anyone interested in learning new art techniques.