Welcome to
Collectors Corner!
Ed Sandoval Gallery's Newsletter
102-B Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM 87571
edsandovalart@gmail.com
(575) 770-6360
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Memories of Elementary School
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It’s fun going through old photos! When I found this picture of my 1st grade class, I started remembering my elementary school days.
That’s me in the cast, in the first row all the way to the right. My twin brother Danny is the third from the right in the back row. We are wearing matching shirts...
This is the only class photo ever where Danny and I appear together. In case you missed that story
(click to read),
at the age of six I was run over by a car, stayed at home in bed recuperating for a year (hence the cast) and had to repeat the 1st grade. In fact, I think I was only in this photo because they brought me in for it. I was still at home. Danny moved on to the 2nd grade, but since I missed most of the 1st grade and had to repeat it, Danny was always in the class ahead of me from that point on.
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I knew I wanted to be an artist, and one memory that sticks out was when we had to do book reports. I barely remember any book I read, let alone what I said about them, but how I worked and worked on the book report covers! I would draw a scene from the story, being very careful to color within the lines. Sometimes, I would spend days drawing and coloring the cover, and I probably threw together the actual report in an hour. I wish I still had some of those covers – I was very proud of them.
Around Los Alamos, there were also all these canyons where Danny and I would play. Our home was near the Tech Area, the most top-secret facility at the site, and some of its waste water would come down through the canyons. I would lie on my stomach on a rock and gaze at that water for hours. It had the most fascinating iridescent colors floating on top of it, like swirling ribbons of rainbows that would flow (or ooze) down the soft current. Sometimes I would take a stick and draw figures through the shining kaleidoscope.
Thinking back, I shouldn't have gotten so close to those brilliant, metallic colors that reminded me of candy. I’m fairly sure they were toxic and perhaps radioactive, but as a kid...how I admired those colorful currents.
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On a serious note, I’m going to pause here and say the dangers around Los Alamos were very real. After all, it was a military research and test facility. The atomic bomb was developed there, and other weapons were most certainly being designed while I was in school.
One day – a very tragic day that I will never, ever forget – I was playing with a group of buddies at a friend’s house. My friend’s father had gone on a hike in the canyons and found what he THOUGHT to be a non-functioning grenade, or bomb, or some other type of explosive device. But whatever it was, he believed it was a dud. Thinking it was perfectly safe, he brought it home. It was in my friend’s house.
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It was nearing 6:00 pm, and I needed to stop playing and go home. My father was VERY strict. Every night we had to be sitting at the dinner table by 6:00 – no excuses and no exceptions. It was his rule, an unbreakable law, so even though I didn’t want to leave, I trudged home for dinner. I’m still in shock about what happened.
My friends found that device and decided to play with it, to drop it from the second story balcony.
The explosion killed one of my friends, and another little girl lost her leg but survived. If I hadn’t left to go home, I might not be here… The thought still gives me chills, and I still get quite upset when I think about that day. I’m sure the father who brought it home just thought it was a casing, not a working weapon. I'm sure he was beside himself with guilt and grief. So very tragic.
Thankfully, nothing like that happened again. We did have bomb drills in the classroom – the “duck and cover” exercises many of you probably did back then too. Thank goodness they were just drills and never the real thing. In hindsight, I realize that I went to school in a dangerous area during a rather uncertain period in our history, but I felt safe and happy for the most part. I suppose that’s the magic of childhood – seeing the beauty and joy in things (even toxic waste water).
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Stocking Stuffers: Colorful Cards, Coasters and 2019 Calendar
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Set of Christmas/Holiday Cards (10 Images - 5" x 7")
$46.00 in store; $50 shipped
To see images, click
HERE
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Set of Coasters (4 Images)
$40 in store; $44 shipped
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To order, please contact Ed at
(575) 770-6360
or email
edsandovalart@gmail.com
.
Credit cards by phone or send check to:
Ed Sandoval Gallery
102-B Paseo Del Pueblo Norte
Taos, NM 87571
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2019 Calendar (9" x 12")
High-quality, archival paper
$40 in store; $47 shipped
To see images, click
HERE
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John Nichols' Lifetime Influence on my Art
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John Nichols and Ed in Taos
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Amarante (right) with Coyote Angel (left)
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Amarante with His Pet Pig
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I want to take a moment to highlight John Nichols, Taos resident and author of
The Milagro Beanfield War
. As many of you know, John's novel has inspired my artwork for decades and continues to do so today.
I first got to know John because Juanita, his ex-wife, worked for me in my gallery. John would come by from time to time, and we would chat. Ironically, years earlier, I had witnessed John’s novel coming to life as a movie before I had even met him.
I was living up in Truchas when Robert Redford came to that small village to film on the property next door to my home. I was invited on set and began spending a good deal of time with the actors and crew.
The character of Amarante Cordova (played by Carlos Riquelme) captivated me. Amarante was an old, deeply spiritual man who talked to the saints, had a pet pig and was connected to the land and his people. Everyone thought he was crazy because they saw him talking to himself. But he wasn’t crazy – he was having conversations with Coyote Angel, his good buddy.
Amarante reminds me of the New Mexico of my boyhood. He’s a simple, rural man who is humble and devout, saying upon rising out of his bed, "Thank you, God. For letting me have another day." I began painting him and never seemed to stop. To me, he is “El Viejito” (the old man) representing the journey of life.
On his website, John says,
“
In 1969 I moved with my family from New York to northern New Mexico, and have lived there ever since. This area has been the setting for almost all of my books. Some of my work has dealt with struggles for human justice, land and water rights in northern New Mexico.
” Thank you John for your love of NM and your authentic characters, who continue to inspire us.
For more information on John Nichols and his books,
click here
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New, Smaller Paintings
To inquire or to request a high-resolution photograph, please contact Ed at
575-770-6360
or
edsandovalart@gmail.com
.
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NEW: "End of Irrigation" (16 x 20
)
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NEW: "
Toward the Village" (12 x 16)
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NEW: "New Mexico" (8 x 10)
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NEW: "Autumn Fire" (8 x 10)
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Consider a Holiday Getaway to Taos
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Halloween is always great fun in Taos! In the photo, that's me with Tim Rivera, who presented at the Taos Inn's "
Dia De Los Muertos." It was such a festive evening. But alas, time to put up the costumes and start thinking about the holiday season.
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San Geronimo de Taos at the Taos Pueblo
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For a unique and memorable getaway, consider Taos! We host dozens of festivities, all of which are celebrated with an enchanting, Southwest spirit. Luminarias provide a soft glow upon the adobe rooftops, cheerful farolitos line the streets, tree lightings and torchlight parades are plentiful, and don't forget the magnificent dances at the Taos Pueblo. Last year, U.S. News & World Report listed Taos as #3 in their “
10 Best Christmas Vacations
.
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Beautiful Historic Taos Plaza Decked in Lights
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Here are just a few of the celebrations and fun activities taking place:
CAV Yuletide Arts and Crafts Fair
Nov. 23 – 25, 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sagebrush Inn and Suites
TAOSFOLK
Nov. 25 - Dec. 24, 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Stables Gallery
31st Yuletide Caroling/Tree Lighting
Nov 30th, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Taos Plaza
Lighting of Ledoux
Dec. 1, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Ledoux Street
21st Annual Holiday Fiesta
Dec. 1, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Millicent Rogers Museum
Santa Paws
Dec. 8, 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
John Dunn and Bent Street Shops
Bonfires on Bent Street
Dec. 8, 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
John Dunn Shops and Bent Street
Christmas Eve Procession
Dec. 24, Sunset
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo Deer or Matachinas Dance
Dec. 25, Around 2:00 PM
Taos Pueblo Plaza
Taos New Year’s Eve Celebration
Dec. 31, 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Historic Taos Plaza
For more information about these and other events, visit
taos.org
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Would you like to be a featured collector?
If so, please send your personal story and photo(s) to edsandovalart@gmail.com.
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Contact
Ed Sandoval Gallery
102-B Paseo Del Pueblo, Taos, NM 87571
www.edsandovalgallery.com | (575) 770-6360 | edsandovalart@gmail.com
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