Water and Sky

Another Calvert Bay iphone pic from my down county trip.

Waterman

Ink and gouache, about 5-12" x 6", on Stonehenge Kraft paper

Down County

My visit "down county" to St. Mary's County and vicinity included:
-- Historic St. Mary's City's "Mid-Summer Faire". (It was on Saturday. There appears to be a rule that all period-costumed staff have to go about their day barefoot. At least those depicting mid- to lower-caste folk. Very faithful!).
-- I hung about the dock where the Maryland Dove is berthed (so I could make a little painting of it), Trinity Church, and the Godiah Spray Plantation. I also listened to choir practice from St. Mary's Hall, on the campus of the college.

-- I studied the locals at supper at Courtney's and I very briefly visited Solomons Island (crossing - yikes!- the Governor Johnson Bridge over the Patuxent River).
-- But I REALLY especially enjoyed my crab cakes on grilled ciabatta washed down with two root beers at Blue Wind Gourmet, in California, MD, where I stopped on the way home. Excellent spot!

The view above is a little cove off Calvert Bay (upon which my inn was situated), snapped around about the 7am 'stillness' time.
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At left: historic colonial cow.

Anamnesis

Gouache sketch (with some ink lines) on Stonehenge paper, about 4-1/2" x 6-1/2"

Coming Going

Signature

I don't care how dorky this footwear will look on the streets of DC. Who isn't still tempted by their sheer lushness? Cowgirl! Yippee Eye Yo!

Busy days:
-- My day of Japanese papermaking with Jacqueline Mallegni was lovely. I was grateful to have visited her studio, her land (right on the Chama River in Abiquiú), her house, and sampled her hospitality and taken advantage of her experience and (especially) her patience. I made a dozen or so pieces of paper and now what? Hmmm!
-- Our visit to Puye Cliff Dwellings, near Los Alamos included a guided hike among the remnants of the structures. Every step along the path yielded more and more pottery shards of almost mind-boggling variety and color and finish. See pix here and here.
-- Other miscellaneous events: Sunday brunch with my friend Paula from Abq at the Range Cafe in Bernalillo; a zip through some of the gardens on the 16th Annual Santa Fe Botanical Garden June Home Garden Tour (what drought?); "Western-style" furniture shopping (stay tuned!) . . .

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See more:

El Santuario de Chimayo

Our visit to one of my favorite places, El Santuario de Chimayo, included a lovely impromptu visit with Father Roca, who was strolling in the Plaza. He asked where we were from and told us about his long-ago visit to a monastery in Maryland.

As during past visits, there were very few people in the Sanctuary and in the adjacent plaza. It's an extraordinary place. Made more so by the sunlit peace surrounding it.
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Harry's Roadhouse

There have been a number of busy days since the workshop ended. At left is John inhaling a dollop of guac at Harry's Roadhouse. Which establishment I recommend for their green chile salsa, OMG, which I on my side was busy inhaling. ("'Scuse me, miss. Do you sell this salsa by the quart?")

Other activities of note:
-- A number of visits to the Farmers' Market (not much yet except greens and radishes, but a very nice ambiance -- I bought a beautiful gourd yesterday)
-- Excursions with John and Marie (and with Tony the real estate agent) to look at condo properties. John and Marie are on a serious quest to decide whether they want to re-locate here from MD. I was initially just along for the fantasizing, but am getting beguiled. It's most tempting -- the local opinion is that the prices haven't bottomed YET, which is remarkable and a little nerve-wracking.)
-- Strolls around the Plaza and around Canyon Road (yesterday afternoon there was a six and a half foot tall guy in weird short striped pants, sporting an exquisite and utterly monumental Ace Ventura hairdo, tooling around the Plaza hand-in-hand with a little child. We and a number of the other vendors decided it was indeed Jim Carrey himself -- hey, why not?) In addition to "Ace", the Plaza is really hopping right now, what with all the holiday weekend visitors. Very nice buzz! Fun!
-- A visit to the Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival, running this weekend in the Convention Center downtown. "Museum-quality" merchandise = Wow. I was happy to meet John and Marie's new friend, Mark Winter, owner of Toadlena Trading Post, who had a booth there. He is devoted to the Navajo weavers around him and he (naturally!) had some beautiful rugs there at the Festival.

The weather lately has been exquisite. Very cool nights and mornings and sixties-low seventies days with blue skies. My casita is just great. (I even hosted a cook-out a few days ago. The grill works fine!)

Possible activities to come include a cooking class or two, a papermaking workshop, and a few out-into-the-surrounding-hinterlands excursions.

See the pic gallery for more iphone pix. Love that camera!
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Workshop Results

The most important thing to remember is that the process is the key element here, not the product. (sigh)
Lessons learned:
-- Rectangular is good. I am going to stick with the rectangle format for a while to see where it leads me. For some reason the rectangle is more soothing, more familiar, less pressurized, than the square.
-- Be strong and stick to your plan. Try like hell not to revert.
-- Drink more water in the high desert.

(More pieces from this workshop are here.)

Tia Sophia's

Gen-U-ine!

My four-day encaustic workshop has begun and it looks like it's going to be great. Weather, food, friends, views, vistas, coffee, and my adventures here have all been outstanding. I really feel comfortable here.

This is another pic from Taos Pueblo. (And yes, I did pay the surprisingly high camera fee, over an above the ten buck entry fee. No pic pirate, me! Too chicken.)

The best things in life aren't things

Taos Pueblo, May 2011
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Kansas Sky

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And the channel line-up in a state whose denizens take inspiration from their sports. This is a state, remember, where: "On August 11, 1999, by a 6–4 vote the Kansas State Board of Education changed their science education standards to remove any mention of "biological macroevolution, the age of the Earth, or the origin and early development of the Universe" . . ."
Yes, since repealed, but still.

Crossing Eye Street

Hebrew National

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Azaleas

Western Union

It May Rain

She's Gone Now

Desk by the Window

Subtitled: Don't Look Down

Butterfly

Yellow Brick Road

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Ice Berg Wedges

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Våren Eftermiddag

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Out My Winda Part Deux (Frosty)