"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