High Road

I took so many pics on the road that by the time I got to Chimayo my camera battery was dead. This was the last pic before recharge. I stopped for dinner at a favorite place, Rancho de Chimayo. I chose a light dish: chicken salad served in an avocado, very nice. Then on to Santa Fe before dark.

High Road

My plan for my drive on the High Road to Taos was to stop at as many galleries/studios and to talk to as many artists as possible; what could be better. The town of Truchas was a definite destination and the mural shown above is at the corner of the turn off. "The" landmark of Truchas is the one gas station which displayed a sign announcing "no gas". Open studios line both sides of the road (75) and the sign at Judith Hert's place drew me in.

Judith was reclining in her living room when I made my entrance, but she graciously invited me to take it all in. Judith paints with both acrylic and watercolor, but it was her large abstract acrylics that got my attention. She led me to her gallery behind her house and we sat and talked about the art business. Judith is finishing a series to send off to a show in Boston. As we chatted she surveyed her work and spotted changes she would make. A painting is never done until the artist says it's done. If you can't make it to Truchas or Boston, you can see Judith's work at her web site http://www.judithhert.com/.

Porcelain

http://www.ojosarco.com/

Down the road to Ojo Sarco pottery where Kathy Riggs & Jake Wilson create beautiful pieces of porcelain with an electric kiln. Then they invite a few friends to show paintings, etc as well.

Then I drove into Robert Bennett's studio/gallery as he was working on a big sign that could be spotted easily. Robert had lots of fun big paintings with the bright colors and bold patterns that I love. But his most interesting work (my opinion, my blog) are his mixed media collage pieces on the covers of books. Lots of glitz and shine. See it all on his web site: www.robertsbennettjr.vpweb.com

Sacred Sunday

Just another adobe church? This one at Las Trampas. Surrounded by graves: some look long abandoned and some fully decorated. This church looked a lot more lively when I was last here in 1997.

Sign Saturday

The High Road is just one art show after another!

First stop

My first stop on the High Road was Penasco. A colorful row of buildings caught my eye (actually a school, a restaurant and a theatre) so I stopped in front of the Sugar Nymphs Bistro. Since it was lunch time I decided to hang around enjoy the view and grab a bite. I love murals. It's the idea of painting on an entire wall; I think big is better.

And lunch was a sweet corn quesadilla on a blue corn tortilla. Yum, yum!

High Road

I remember the words going something like this:

You take the High Road,

and I'll take the low road,

and I'll get there before you...

Well the low road may be shorter but you won't see landscape like this. What a view; distracting to drive. I rate it the best landscape I've ever driven through. I understand why people would want to move here. This pic, while good, can't begin to capture the layers of the landscape; I counted six. Then I had to keep my eyes pealed for studio/gallery signs.

Art Adventure

As I started my day to drive the High Road to Taos, I back tracked a couple miles to visit the studio compound of artist Thom Wheeler. The compound is full of art and interesting things. My friend Beth & I stopped in 2008 and enjoyed the fountain/pool, & sculpture and treasures in niches. It's hard to describe Thom's art. It looks like metal with semi-precious stones. But I didn't dare touch it and Thom was in the zone on the computer, and didn't act like he was interested in talking art. Maybe I just didn't look like a buyer. If you're interested yourself try http://www.thomwheeler.com/.

Bythe way: the road is called "the High Road to Taos" whether you're going to Taos or from Taos to Santa Fe. Got it?!