Wednesday, May 9, 2012

What would you do?

When you are in Santa Fe and you e-mail an artist you only know from her website that lives here and she invites you to her studio, what would you do? Of course you would!

I so enjoyed and appreciated the visit with Darlene Olivia McElroy. Her home and studio are just as warm, colorful and inviting as she is. There was a huge gold leafed canvas in progress on her easel, pieces in various stages along the walls, shelves to hold supplies and books and a huge work table in the center of the studio. After we talked about art, life, dogs, galleries and ephemera we toured the rest of her home which is a work of art on its own. There is an hand carved mantle from India, a double parasol with tassels over an easy chair (so cool), a sectional with a smorgasbord of colorful pillows. Looking out the French doors to the patio were her four- yes, 4, beautiful dogs. Behind them a vine covered outdoor eating area with a chandelier over a generous dining table. Has to be my favorite, though, is the tin roofed gypsy gazebo where an artist can escape to read, nap and dream.

Thank you Darlene for making my visit a memorial one. She is represented at La Posada gallery right here in Santa Fe. That is where I am off to this morning!



Sunday, May 6, 2012

Sunday in Santa Fe

We have arrived at our destination as the accommodations are great as expected. Love the ceilings in our little ranchero.

After setting up shop took a walk to the park in the center of the city. We watched the ballon man make animals for a little girl that giggled at his every move, saw bronze donkeys and cowboys, jewelry and art. That about did us in so we headed back and planned our get away for today. Heading up to Taos as we speak:


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Road Trip!

Packed and ready and sweet talking to our cats Mr. and Mattie so they will not be too angry with us for leaving them for awhile. Hitting the old Rte. 66 highway bright and early in the morning.

This is where we will land after 10 hours of driving through Kingman, Flagstaff and the Continental Divide:

Exterior view

Interior

No pool at this site so to get our exercise we will be walking the 10 minutes to The Plaza where I hear there are plenty of restaurants, art galleries and museums. No tours for us this time, thank you very much. Just aimless wandering and exploring  - my cup 'o tea. I was shocked to see photos of Santa Fe covered in snow but I do not think we will encounter the white stuff except maybe at the Divide. Taking my I-Pad so will be doing updates on the road. Now back to final packing and cooing to the kitties.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Time and Place

Ok I am still working on setting up my new computer. Files to be moved, saved or discarded. Programs installed and set up. All the while keeping up with the normal attention everyday requires. So last night while doing my usual muti-tasking of tending to e-mails, watching dancing stars, reading Danny Gregory's Peanut on the I-Pad and playing Word with Friends with my mother, I screamed "enough"! So I ran to the studio, grabbed a sketchbook and stuff, went back to my computer and did these in the dark while still watching DWTS.


We are headed to Santa Fe this Friday for a blissful week without computers (well, just the 'pad' - for GPS, you know) where my normal everyday activities will be art galleries, museums, exploring and sketching without so many distractions.