Day 8 - Last Day - Harry's Roadhouse

At Harry's Roadhouse

We have had such a wonderful time on all our travels in and around Santa Fe - we'll be inspired artistically for quite some time after this trip! Today was spent at "famous local landmarks" such as the Artisan Santa Fe Art Store which could get me into serious trouble...and best of all, we celebrated a wonderful and productive painting trip at Harry's Roadhouse with great food and lots of fun. Thanks to Eva Carter and Susan Mayfield for the tip about Harry's!

On the way home, another beautiful sunset as the lights of Santa Fe sparkle in the distance. We fly out tomorrow morning, but we'll be back!

Good Night, Santa Fe

Day 7 - Whatever We Wanted To Do

Blue Sky over Santa Fe

Today was our free day - we each painted some more studies, then we used the extra time to go different places each of us had planned to visit while here, then met up again to go to dinner with Carol's prior next door neighbor in Charleston who now lives in Santa Fe, Emily Belliveau. Good food, good company - it's been a good time in Santa Fe.

Mimi painted a watercolor study of another favorite place of Georgia O'Keefe's to sketch and paint. We went by "The White Place" on Wednesday when we were in Abiqui.

"The White Place" by Amelia Whaley

Carol worked on some smaller watercolors of the St. Francis of Asissi Church that we visited yesterday.

St. Francis of Assisi Church #2 by J.Carol Gardner

Day 6 - San Francisco de Asis, Ranchos de Taos and Taos

We started out early on the way to Taos, and about 10:30 a.m., right before Taos is a community called Ranchos de Taos. Carol and I had the church, St. Francisco de Asis, as one of our "have to do" destinations and we'd planned to visit it on our way back to Santa Fe. Suddenly, we passed a little cafe on the right, and the church jumped out at us. Compelled, we turned into the little community complex, and spent most of the day here, embracing the peace on this sacred ground, quietly meditating in the sanctuary, taking photographs, finding treasures in the Two Graces Antiques Shop, and eating a wonderful lunch at the little cafe there. Then we spent some time painting the back of the church, the part of the church seen in many paintings and photographs. I'm not sure an artist can visit the church and not paint it!

TSan Francisco de Asis, Ranchos de Taos, NM

Below are our watercolor sketches of the church today:

St. Francis of Assisi Church by J. Carol Gardner

St. Francis of Assisi Church by Amelia Whaley

After we finally left the church and its little village and went into Taos - spent a little time there and just missed the time deadline to visit Taos Pueblo - we'll see that the next time.

On the way back to Santa Fe we wanted to see the Rio Grande Gorge - another breathtaking view!

Rio Grande Gorge

Driving a little farther, we came to the turn off to Pilar where we threw off the flipflops and put our feet in the great river:

Rio Grande

By the time we returned to Santa Fe, it was getting close to sunset, so we spent about 30 minutes crossing busy intersections, trying to avoid getting run over, all so we could take pictures of a fabulous sky at sunset.

Santa Fe at Sunset Clouds Study

Day 5 - Georgia O'Keefe's House at Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch

Today we had to be at the Abiquiu Inn by 9:15 a.m. for a tour of Georgia O'Keefe's home at Abiquiu. Up early and on the road again, we arrived at the Abiquiu Inn by 8:45 a.m., which gave Carol time for a quick watercolor sketch she wanted to leave as a thank-you for Leonard, the weekend security guard who lives in Abiquiu and who had been so kind and helpful to us on Day 2. Carol painted the quick watercolor sketch below from memory of an old chapel we passed by at Abiquiu on Sunday afternoon, the day we met Leonard.

Le Morada, Abiquiu - from memory by J. Carol Gardner

To see Georgia O'Keefe's home at Abiquiu was a special treat for both of us. The tours fill up quickly and only 12 people are allowed to go at a time, 3 tours a day. When we made our reservations on Monday, the earliest we could go was Thursday. Fortunately, we were called yesterday and got bumped in to the 9:30 tour this morning.

We were not allowed to take journals, purses, cameras - the privacy of Ms. O'Keefe's home and the town of Abiquiu is respected, and when you get to her home you understand why - this is a place of solitude.

The oldest part of the adobe house is from the 18th century, and parts have been updated, repaired and restored - the house has remained 5000 square feet but most of the rooms originally would have been smaller. Several interior walls were removed, making rooms such as the living room more spacious and large windows were installed which seemed to merge the building, the land and the light. She kept the mud floors and always wore soft soled shoes while living there. And certainly - what a thrill to see the artist's studio!

After the tour, Carol and I ate at Bode's General Store (and it really is just that - a general store) in Abiquiu, then on to "The White Place" or "Plaza Blanco" which is a site about 10 minutes from Bode's where Georgia O'Keefe sketched and painted. Another breathtaking moment - a place where we would have loved to spend some time sketching but there was no shade and the sun was hot and brilliant:

The White Place

Then we returned to Ghost Ranch to paint a bit. Below are some of our watercolor sketches from today:

The Pedernal from Ghost Ranch by J. Carol Gardner

Adobe Welcome - Ghost Ranch by Amelia Whaley

Finally return to Santa Fe for an early dinner and to get rested up for Taos tomorrow!

Day 4 - CHIMAYO

Chimayo

Carol and I had planned to drive to Taos today and then come by Chimayo on the way back. However, we missed an exit and ended up on the back road to Taos, very close to the turn to Chimayo, so we decided to visit there first, not knowing that we were on a pilgrimage.

We never got to Taos.

We knew Chimayo was holy ground. We had read it was a place of healing.
None of which prepared either of us for our individual and profound encounters with God today.

Day 3 - Echo Amphitheatre and Ghost Ranch

Ready Early and On the Road

Our wake-up call came at 4:45 a.m., we were on the road to try out some of Leonard's suggestions on where to paint, and our plan had been to be at Echo Amphitheatre to watch the sunrise. Well, we were about an hour late for sunrise, but the light and the colors of the rocks and the sky were breathtaking as the sun lit the tops of the rocks and we were immersed in the colors of the Southwest - the reds, purples, yellows of the rocks, the variety of lush greens in the trees, shrubs and grasses and the clear blue of the sky - was the early morning drive worth it - you bet! I feel as though I have shapes, textures, line, color and value of the landscape burned into my being.

As we drove past Abiquiu toward Ghost Ranch and Echo, suddenly the landscape was immediate and "upon us" - we pulled over to the shoulder, jumped out of the car, ran to the top of the ridge - and there below, clear and winding, was the Chama River, another familiar face from Georgia O'Keefe's artwork.

Chama River

Carol reminded me to watch out for rattlesnakes, bears, coyotes, etc...(what do you mean, RATTLESNAKES, BEARS, COYOTES, ETC.????) Really encouraging for a Southern girl in capri pants and flowered flipflops... The good news is - we didn't see any and we were not bitten or eaten for breakfast.

The other good news is that we did not get lost today. We did, however, lose the rental car keys at lunch but eventually found them. And Mimi drove back, only having to do 3 U-turns to stay on track road-wise!

We continued driving and suddenly, this vast landscape gets upclose and more personal..., well we're out of the car again, awestruck with the landscape before us.

It just keeps getting better as we get closer to Echo Amphitheatre:

Approaching Echo

On the other side of the "Mushroom Top" Rock at Echo
with The Pedernal (flat top) in the far distance

Sunflowers at Echo with The Pedernal in the Distance

Georgia O'Keefe said "God told me if I painted Pedernal enough, I could have it."

Echo Amphitheatre - Leonard was Right - Wow!

Ready to paint, Carol and I took off in different directions to do watercolor studies. Below you see Carol's watercolor study of the massive upright jutting rock at Echo.

Carol Gardner's Watercolor Study at Echo Amphitheatre

Mimi painted the small watercolor study below of The Pedernal.

Amelia Whaley's Watercolor Study of The Pedernal from Echo Amphitheatre

Then, at 9:00 a.m., we left Echo and traveled to Ghost Ranch, where Georgia O'Keefe stayed for several months each year in one of the guest houses before she finally bought the house at Abiquiu. Ghost Ranch is now owned by the Presbyterian Church, and serves as a wonderful retreat. For $10.00 a professional artist can hike, walk the grounds and paint.

Entrance to Ghost Ranch

We visited Ghost House, the first house on the property. We were amazed as we walked through the small adobe house how cool it was on a hot summer day.

Ghost House at Ghost Ranch

We arrived back at the Sage Inn, freshened up, and ate dinner at The Shed in downtown Santa Fe. A great dinner to top off a great day!

Day 2 - International Folk Art Festival and Abiquiu

Mario and the Santa Fe Sage Inn Stage Coach Shuttle

Mario shuttled us up to Museum Hill where the International Folk Art Festival is held - the Festival was awesome! We spent most of the day there - so much to see, incredible artwork in many dimensions, native costumes - Kudos to the artists and to all those sponsors, staff and volunteers who make this Festival possible! Colors, textures, sounds of different cultures, different languages coming together in unity to make the world a better place. What a privilege to have experienced this today!

Sharing the Shuttle with Hamzeh Natsheh from Hebron

Hamzeh from the Palestinian Territories, one of the artists at the Festival rode with Carol & me this morning. Yesterday he had great success and sold everything he brought so he was going to help another artist sell her art today.

Pedernal

Carol and I drove off about 4pm today to search out Abiquiu - we did not get lost...
Carol drove, I took photos through the windshield - the road rounded, the peak appeared and commanded attention! My first thought - "this is Pederal!" Later it was confirmed that this mountain top is indeed Pedernal, the mountain that wooed Georgia O'Keefe to paint it numerous times.

Church at Abiquiu

We found Abiquiu! Tiny but what a special place - Georgia O'Keefe bought a house and lived here. We stumbled on to this exquisite mission church, and Georgia's house is closeby but was closed as we drove by to figure out which it was.

Leonard, our new best friend

We're trying to get into a tour this week of Georgia's house and studio and were truly fortunate to be able to talk with Leonard, who maintains the security of the property on weekends. We had the most delightful conversation with him - what a wealth of information he is! Several generations prior, his family had owned the very land where Georgia O'Keefe's house is, and he told us that Abiquiu is now a land trust. His love and respect for the land was evident as he spoke about it, and he was gracious enough to give us some tips on where we might be interested in painting plein air - Ghost Ranch and some of the surrounding area - also good places to visit and eat close by. Carol and I left Abiquiu feeling that we'd been presented with a special gift in our conversation with Leonard - an afternoon indelibly marked within each of us.

And then to top it off, riding back down Highway 84 to the freeway, the scenery changed into the colors of the sun laying down to sleep, just like I'm getting ready to do...

good night and good rest