"Sons of Turner" Day Five

Today I climbed a Mesa, explored an un-excavated Tsankawi Indian ruin in Bandelier State Park, and visited El Santuario Chimayo Church in Chimayo, NM where it is purported the sick are healed miraculously.

Not bad for a day's activities.

We ventured out to the Bandelier State Park and began our journey up to the top of the mesa where the Tsankawi Indian ruins lay. There were bits of broken pottery strewn along the work rocky path lying next to sun bleached rocks and fallen scorched trees. The walk to the top was long and extremely difficult to traverse due to altitude and rough terrain. It was a fascinating hike through desert territory. Eventually, we came to the Tsankawi cave dwellings. The caves were carved into the rock face and flowed very organically from one to another seamlessly. The insides were acoustic dreams! The bass notes of your voice reverberated through the rock itself. The porous stone had etchings and storytelling narratives carved into them that were hundreds of years old. It was truly awe inspiring.

After climbing on, in and through them for the better part of two hours, we ran out of water and got severely dehydrated. The main problem with that was not the obvious lack of water in a desert, high altitude climate but the fact that it was another 30 minute hike back to the nearest water source. 

Ugh. . .

We did make it (obviously) and recovered from heat exhaustion and dehydration there. Afterwards, we packed up and went off to eat at a place called "El Parasol." It was nothing special. Jay Jones ordered a burrito that was made up of deep fried pork fat. Apparently Jay was not familiar with the growing cholesterol problem in America. . .

After eating, we sailed on up to a place called the "House of Old Things" antique store. This place was incredilbe. We just saw it on the road and pulled over and went inside. It was a house owned by a group of sibling and packed full of really cool stuff. Katie bought some ornate buttons, Jerry bought some antique keys and sewing machine parts he found fascinating, and I found a cool but non functioning antique metronome (I would have bought it had it worked.) 

New items in hand, we set off for Chimayo, NM where we visited the El Santuario Chimayo Church. The grounds were very beautiful and full of little shrines adorned with photos, crosses, rosaries and other religious objects of significance. The church itself was the quintessential portrait of southwestern architecture and spirit. The inside didn't allow photos but was breathtaking. Aged wooden pews, an elaborately carved and decorated altar-piece, a carving of Jesus that was something out of a Lord of the Rings movie, and the discarded crutches of healed believers. It even had a courtyard with graves of former people of importance to the church. It was a truly amazing place and I am glad we went there. Mat even painted a beautiful sketch of the place. He said he plans on turning it into a full on MBK painting.

I hope he makes prints. . .

Afterwards, we drove a scenic drive through the mountains of New Mexico and back to the familiar confines of Suitable Digs where I write this as Bob Giova prepares the evening meal of sloppy joes and fries. 

Ciao!

Caleb

"Sons of Turner" Day Three and Four

Wednesday was hot. The funny thing about being down here in the Southwest is that though I have been in the sun and heat of the day, I have not yet sweat a drop. It must just evaporate off of me unlike Chicago where it could be 65 out and you'd still sweat.

Painting wise, Patrick and I found a really cool area to sit for a while and capture the Santa Fe atmosphere. Patrick painted the facade of a very old church while I was focused on the top outdoor patio of a restaurant called "La Fonda." After we finished our paintings, we went off in search of iced coffee and our next painting. 

Our journey lead us to the Santa Fe Train Station. this is an active station where commuters still ride the "Rail Runner" trains which are slick, bullet train looking cars. Really nice. There were also lots of old train cars that were sitting and a few were rusting. These became the objects of our next paintings. Patrick took a yellow one and I took a green one. The paintings came out pretty sweet. 

We eventually met up with the rest of the group and wend back to Suitable Digs. Gabriella made pork ribs that night and we stuffed ourselves silly.

Thursday was our fourth day in Santa Fe and a few of us decided to stay around the complex and paint rather than venture into the town again. The Suitable Digs compound is way cool and offers many unique scenes to paint. The others went into town and painted.

I wanted to capture as many photos of our temporary home as possible, so I took my Nikon D90 and wandered the grounds. There is this really cool abandoned and rusted out mobile home from like the 60's or so that's on the edge of a rocky crevice that was really awesome. I took a few photos of that with the hopes of returning to paint it soon. 

After wandering for about 15 minutes, I came across a Bull Snake on the outside staircase. It was surprising because our host told us that there were no snakes around to worry about, but lo and behold, here one was. I followed it for a while and tried to take some pictures of it. I called over some of the group who had stayed behind to witness the snake. Eventually, it slithered away and left us alone.

A few of us tried to paint, but the heat was so bad we ended up staying inside. We did, however, manage to go out for lunch at a Thai place and then went off for some grocery shopping and laundry. Patrick was going to make fish tacos for dinner and I was going to make the salsa. When we got back from the errands, we put the groceries away and relaxed for an hour or so playing a game called "Blokus," a tetris like game involving multiple players trying to prevent other players from using all of their pieces. It was fun and challenging. I got my butt kicked.

We cooked and ate with the group around 7:30 pm or so. Afterwards, we stayed at the table telling our most embarrassing moments. Some of the stories were terribly surprising.It was so much fun. 

Today is Friday. We're going out to some ancient ruins that are un-excavated  that are about an hour or so drive from here. I am excited as they are on top of a mesa, something I've never been on top of. this is going to be fun, but it's totally exposed to the sun. No shade other than the buildings. We're not going to be there all day because we're going to a gallery opening tonight. 

Woot! Free wine and cheese!

"Sons of Turner" - Santa Fe, NM

I'm writing from Santa Fe, New Mexico on this lovely Thursday evening. I'm here with eight of my good friends from my life at the Academy on an artistic journey here in the American Southwest. We came here in order to understand ourselves as artists better and to be inspired by this new environment to create some new works or to simply capture the spirit of the Southwest. My former painting instructor, Mat Barber-Kennedy R.I.,  is with us as the voice of experience as he has done this for years. The trip is called "Sons of Turner" after the famous painter JMW Turner who not only worked in oil paints, but was an accomplished watercolorist as well. it is in his spirit that we're venturing outside our comfort zones and finding our voices in this new land.

We have been having the time of our lives here.

Monday, I arrived at O'Hare airport in Chicago and met up with the rest of the group. After checking bags and the body cavity search that is airport security, we boarded the plane and flew out to Albuquerque, NM. From there we rented a car and began the hour or so drive north to Santa Fe. We were hungry, so we decided to stop and get some food. We pulled into this place called "Pop & Taco."

 The sign alone is really enough to keep you from eating there, but for some reason we chose to brave it. The food was terrible but the best part was the old sign from a long time ago that read "Pup & Taco" in th

eir window around the back of the eatery. I guess having a name that implies that you serve dog meat is a bad idea. . . .

We continued our adventure to Santa Fe and eventually made our way up through the town and into the desert where out lodging was waiting for us. The name of the place we are staying at is called "Suitable Digs." It is a really cool environmentally friendly facility that grows its own veggies, has a grey water system to capture rain water and re-distribute it to the plants on the grounds, a "bio dome" for growing non-native plants, and tons of other really cool and eco-conscious ways of operating. We went grocery shopping, ate some frozen pizzas at dinner time and settled into our new home for the week. All in all, it was a good first day.

Tuesday brought the first real adventure into the Santa Fe sun. We went off in search of an art supply store to grab some pencils, paints and papers and then headed off to the center of town. It was awesome to see the classic Santa Fe architecture consisting of bricks, beams and slatted tiles. We set off in groups and found places, people and other objects of interest.

Some of us were looking for food, so we followed our noses and wound up at a street vendor selling carnitas. These things are to die for! Bellies filled, we went of in search of today's drawings and paintings. It really took a while to find something to paint. Not due to lack of inspiration, but we were always thinking that there was something better just around the corner. Eventually I settled on a building facade that was laid out in an interesting manner. As I was painting, a group of kids were playing in the church courtyard I was sitting in. They came up to myself and to Patrick and wanted to talk with us. They were having a good time being around us and running around like maniacs.

After finishing my painting, I met up with some of the others in our group in the town square. We hung out there and painted and drew some people and buildings before the break dancers came out.

Yup. Break dancers.

They were pretty good and really drew a crowd of people. We packed up our stuff and headed out to check out some galleries and get some drinks before heading back to Suitable Digs for the night where Katie was waiting to make us a fabulous Lasagna. 

There is much more to tell, but the hour is late and my room mates are playing drinking games. I am ready for some sleep, so I've pulled out my silicone earplugs and am turning in for the night. I'll write some more tomorrow!

Ta Ta for now,

Caleb