DAY TRIP AND OTHER THINGS

Did you ever just need to get away for the day?

Well, I needed it. Badly. So.....

I signed up for a luncheon and two-studio tour last Saturday in Santa Fe 

with a wonderful group of women from the New Mexico chapter of 

the National Museum of Women in the Arts, which is housed in Washington, DC.

It is the only museum in the world solely dedicated to women in the arts.

Before I show you photos of my trip, though, 

I wanted to show you this painting I just finished.

This is "DEFINITION" a 24x30" framed piece that is my donation to this year's 

Legacy Art Event, which is happening in a couple of weeks.

It is a painting of one of my favorite places, the Rio Chama

near Abiquiu and it's also my fav time of year, autumn.

Hopefully someone will fall in love with it at the live auction, and make 

some money for scholarship students. 

So I haven't gone ON a day trip in a while, especially alone, 

 mostly because of car troubles that have been resolved.

I'm happy because I was about to go crazy! The mechanic finally figured out what was wrong, 

after we paid A LOT of money, so he didn't charge us for what was actually wrong with it - a

sensor of some sort.

But to get back to my story, the photos you are going to see below 

are of two artists and their studios.

And boy, were they different. And fascinating!  

 This is the studio of Ligia Bouton. 

So large, bright, and open. I loved it!

The crate you see on the far left is a large installation piece titled 

"Six Photographs of People I Don't Know: Photograph 5, The Bouquet."  

I will show you the piece displayed in an exhibition tomorrow.

The pigs on the wall are handmade and being readied for an

exhibition - they are called "Understudy for the Animal Farm."

Each pig is comprised of two pillowcases handcut and sewn by the artist.

These heads are also masks and may be worn.

She is making a series of thirty.

 This is a view of a large pinon tree out of the studio window.
I got distracted.

 Closer view of the pigs.

 Two large garage doors - I want these!

 Ligia demonstrating how the pig heads work.

 They are actually soft and cuddly.

 My favorite pig

 A view of a passing cloud out the studio window.

Man, those clouds keep calling me.....

From there, we moved to the studio of NM artist Carol Anthony.

Carol paints with oil sticks in a cross-hatch technique 

and then uses her fingers to manipulate her medium.

Her house was so unique and beautiful.

Every door was old and beautiful and had a story attached to it.

}There was art everywhere - Carol's, pieces her friends had given her, 

and the art of her twin sister, who passed away several years ago.

 This is the living room.

It was so warm and cozy,

I wanted to snuggle down and take a nap or read a book....

 The house is straw bale construction and it has a very solid adobe-like feel.

This is her dining room and through the archway is her studio.

 Another view of the dining room - don't you just love the kiva fireplace?

I kind of felt like I had stepped back in time.

 This is a view outside the front yard of another house nicknamed "The Cloister."

 A snapshot of a lone cloud passing by....
I think I am a cloud freak.

 A view of one of the houses on the property.

 A small thatch-roofed meditation room.

 Straw bales are surprisingly soft to sit on.

 A massage room.....

 An old outhouse.

This is so unique - notice the handle made of old wood.

 An adobe wall with chamisa that is still in the dormant stage, no green blooms yet.

I had a wonderful time and wish my studio was as unique as this one. Lovely.