The New Mexico Journals - the Beginning

On May 11th through 20th, I took a trip. The beginning of this trip actually has its roots in 2015. My birthday last year was filled with a heartbreak so profound that I wasn't sure I would recover. But one thing I DID do is to declare that I could go anywhere and do anything I wished for my next birthday.

I chose Ghost Ranch, New Mexico - the heart-home of my very first art love, Georgia O'Keefe.

Or shall I saw, Ghost Ranch chose me. A mere two days after I had made my decision to go, an artist retreat was announced with 3 out of the 4 teachers being ones I had worked with during my early days in Seattle. Flora Bowley, Katie Kendrick and Misty Mawn. The 4th teacher, Orly Avineri was new to me. I signed up immediately.

I have tried now for over a week to somehow summarize my experience and I keep coming up short. Not because I have nothing say, but more because I'm now sitting on the opposite side of another profound experience with my heart wide open. Pull up a seat and a cuppa for there is no summary for this. My gift to you is the raw, along some curated images of my many photographs I took to document the journey.

TSA found this suitcase to be very suspicious.

The Beginning - May 11th:

The reward for a startling 3am alarm was a sunrise soaked Mt Rainier. Sunrise struck just before take off and unfolded into jeweled sherbet creamsicle kissed.

Tesuque Village Market just past Santa Fe as pit stop after recognizing my headache wasn't cured by coffee. The smell of the old wood floors. A patio fireplace lit up for roasting chiles. At my first bite of their green chile enchiladas I realized why my friend Miguel tops everything with hot sauce - Seattle tex-mex comes nowhere near the level of flavor intensity. Not hot-spicy exactly, but robust. Delicious. 

Mural outside of Tesuque Village Market

Recommended stop by Shidoni Galleries