St. James Church, oil on canvas, 10x10
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| Here's my painting in the landscape |
After getting the oil changed and tires rotated on the big van, I had planned to leave Las Cruces Saturday in time to reach Tubac before dark. But I got on the wrong street, and when I turned the van around, I saw a church that called out to me. So I stopped and set up my easel and did the first painting of the trip.
It felt great to paint! It felt like the beginning of restoring my self to myself, after all those days of driving.
So I finished the painting and got back in the van and headed west. In an hour or so, the land opened in front of me in a cascade of blue mountains, under a blue sky with long thin clouds. I was mesmerized watching it, and thinking how beautiful it was. Then it occurred to me that - DUH! - I'm a painter, and I should stop and paint! And so I did.  |
| Blue New Mexico Mountains Oil on canvas, 10x20 |
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| Balloons in the sky over Las Cruces Saturday! |
I pulled off the highway, and turned right. The pavement ended in 20 yards, and the road turned to dirt, and went off into the distance, disappearing into the prairie. I set up near some sort of utility building surrounded by chainlink fence topped with barbed wire. I'd just started painting when a guy in a car came along, wanting to know what I was doing. He said he lived down the road, in a house I couldn't see.
It was fine that I was where I was, he said, but if I was there near dark, I should think about leaving.
"Strange stuff happens here," he said. "Bad stuff like drug deals and stuff."
I painted quickly.
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The sun, the sky, the rich colors of the landscape in New Mexico took my breath away.
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Good to know that I can get STUFF at the Continental Divide. It would hardly be
America if I couldn't!
Really? Mom and Pop's Pyro Shop? Think this is a good idea?
I saw this very close to the Continental Divide. If I go back the same way, I'm stopping in.
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The dust storms along the highway in New Mexico are pretty monumental. Last year, I had to get off the road, the visibility was so low. My father tells me that every year, there's usually at least one enormous multi-car pileup because of blowing dust.
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I think I was in Arizona when I took these last two photos. The grass in the high meadows is a marvelous shade of soft, buttery yellow. This photo comes close to showing it, but doesn't quite capture it. There's a lot of it in Sonoita, and I believe I am going there today to paint.
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Sunset in Arizona was especially beautiful, as I knew that the longest leg of driving
would be done by day's end.
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Dog of the Day (Night)
At a rest area in Arizona, I met Angie, who was a real sweetie. She and her human were from Fairfax, VA! Amazing! They were moving to California - well, they were moving for a month, to try it out, see if they liked it. It's a small world, indeed.
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