Welcome to Collectors Corner!  Ed Sandoval Gallery's Newsletter 102-B Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM 87571   www.edsandovalgallery.com edsandovalart@gmail.com (575) 770-6360

Looking Back at Labor: That's the Sound of the Twins Working on the Chain Gang :-)

I’ve talked about my construction and art careers, and about the many other jobs I’ve had over the years. One of my favorite stories was “ How My Dad (and a Can of Tuna) Helped Advance My Life ” ( read here ). This pandemic has put so many people out of work, and although I’m getting the new gallery in order and still painting, I admit that I’m not working as hard as I used to. It’s an odd feeling…not toiling away every moment of the day.

I learned how to be a laborer as soon as I could walk. To say that my dad was a stern taskmaster would be an understatement. That man worked the absolute tar out of me and my fraternal twin brother, Danny. Once we moved to Los Alamos as young boys, we rarely had any “free time” to goof off and enjoy ourselves – dad made us go back to Nambe with him every single weekend to work on the family farm/ranch. Dad never ever gave us any money. He expected us to contribute to the family, which meant getting up early and working (without any complaints) all day long. We dug ditches, cleared fields, butchered pigs, cut wood, ground up corn, made (and built with) adobe and countless other chores.  One time Danny got tired of this weekend servitude and decided to play a joke on dad. He put pillows under his blankets, as if he were still sleeping and hid in the closet. Dad was miffed that Danny hadn’t come to breakfast. He stormed in there, took of his belt and started beating the mound in the bed. Danny jumped out of the closet and laughed his head off. Dad wasn't amused. We got double duty for that little prank. Dad was the warden, and we were his little chain gang of two. LOL.

Mom, Dad, Me & Danny (I'm on the Left)

Dad could be downright harsh. Once Danny was goofing off (again) and Dad got mad, grit his teeth and threw a hammer at him. It went “zing” right by his head as he was running away, but it didn’t hit him. Today, that would raise eyebrows, but back then it was normal. Kids were expected to help the family make ends meet, and there were consequences if they didn’t buckle down and do as they were told. We often found that out the hard way....

Danny's problem was that he never learned how to "look busy." The watchful eye was always on us, so I would pretend to work or move around. It was easy to fake it and fool dad once you got the hang of it. :-) Danny on the other hand got tired and would sit down somewhere. You could count: three...two...one...and dad raged across the field, his teeth clenched and his face red as he yelled at Danny to get back to work. Danny was ALWAYS getting into trouble. Once he drove dad's truck near a post, turned too sharply and ripped the handle off the passenger side door. We had to use a glove from then on to open the door! And once, dad finally bought a brand new car...a Ford Falcon...the first new car he ever owned in his entire life. I don't know how Danny got the keys (dad NEVER gave us keys), but he took it for a joy ride down North Road, hit some gravel and wrecked the car! Dad's frustration with Danny was so bad that when he graduated from high school, dad gave him two suitcases as a gift. Ha ha!

Dad (Herminio Sandoval)

I Think This Photo Is My Wedding Reception

After I graduated and moved to / worked in Los Angeles ( can of tuna story ), I decided to return to New Mexico. It was the late 60's and the Vietnam draft was going on. A good buddy came back from the war (he was a wreck...in terrible shape) and told me to avoid the draft at all costs and stay out of that meat grinder. As a result, at 22 years old, I thought it was good time to get married, start a family and go to college. That was a big deal…but of course I had to pay for all of it, which meant more jobs. By that time I was on my own, so I needed a way to make enough money to live on with my new wife (Vickie), as well as pay for all the coursework and books. Dad never said anything about me enrolling, but I think he was secretly pleased.

At first, I went to the College of Santa Fe and worked (of all places) in a woman’s clothing store as a bookkeeper. One day, they summoned me (because I was the only male there) to help Greer Garson carry her purchases to her car! I also worked for a time at the Motor Vehicle Administration on the night shift overseeing insurance investigators. To this day, it's a mystery how my friends had tickets disappear from their driving records... Ha ha.

I had always wanted to be an artist, but Santa Fe didn’t have a good art program. Isn’t that funny? Today we think of Santa Fe as THE mecca of artistic creativity, but back then their courses were mediocre at best. I transferred to Eastern New Mexico University in Portales - they had a fabulous art program with art history, commercial art, painting, great professors... I really loved it. But I knew I needed to find another night job to attend classes during the day.

Me Wearing My College of Santa Fe Shirt

Me and My Baby Girl Tammy: Roadway Inn Pool

I finally found a job about 20 miles away as the front desk night clerk at the Roadway Inn, a motel in Clovis. The commute each day was hard - Portales to Clovis and back again. School, work, school, work. And somehow, in the middle of the school-work blur, Tammy (my daughter) was born. The motel did have perks. I could study all night because guests didn’t check in much after dark. I painted, worked on illustrations and read. It also had a swimming pool, so I could take Tammy into the water and teach her how to swim. From time to time, lonely businessmen would stop by the front desk to chat, and I’d play a game of billiards with them. All in all it was a pretty sweet gig.

After what seemed to be years and years (and years) of classes and jobs, I finally did it! I graduated with my Bachelor's in Fine Arts. A recruiter from the Salt Lake school system offered me a job teaching art, so away we went to Utah. When I look back over many decades and all this work work work that consumed my life, I start thinking that I shouldn't feel bad taking a bit of a break right now. I'm still working, but for once in my life I'm also taking time to get out in nature, do a little fishing, call old friends and watch a movie on TV once in a while. And don't worry about Danny - when we get together and have some drinks, we just laugh and laugh about our chain gang time.

Me and Tammy on Graduation Day!

Family Fishing Trip In Cuchara, CO

After sheltering in place for three months, we started to go absolutely stir crazy. We wanted to be safe (of course) but also needed to leave the house, have a change of scenery and talk to some people! My immediate family members had been taking this virus seriously too, so we decided to get together and Quaran-TEAM. We went to Gwen's family cabin in Cuchara with my daughter and her husband, my son and my twin brother (who survived Dad's wrath in the story above - LOL). We took all of our own food (and drinks), and a highlight was the simple act of sitting down with family to eat a home-cooked meal. The simple pleasures of life are the best. During normal years, you can eat out, play mini golf and enjoy bingo at the community center, but we didn't do any of that this year. All we did is pack a lunch and go to the lakes to fish. The lakes are spectacularly beautiful. We went to three to try our luck: Monument Lake (biggest), Blue Lake and Bear Lake. We did catch some fish at all three, but it was Bear Lake where we really reeled them in! The six of us caught 28 trout at Bear Lake! It was a lovely, sunny day when we got there, but slowly the clouds started rolling in over the mountain. The temperature dropped, and those clouds just kept creeping down toward the lake. Suddenly, we realized we were having a hard time seeing the lake - and then we just COULD NOT see our floats... It was one big cold mist, like a Stephen King scene! We drove down the winding mountain road at five miles per hour - white knuckle driving... But we got back to the cabin eventually. It was quite remarkable! Loved those low, cold clouds!

Fishing at Bear Lake Danny, Tammy and Me with the 28 Trout

Bear Lake near Cuchara in Rocky Mountain National Park (Elevation of 9,450 Feet)

Featured Paintings To inquire or request a high-resolution photo, contact  575-770-6360 or  edsandovalart@gmail.com. For all available paintings, click   HERE

"Distant Campfire" (36" x 48")

"Don Fernando Morada" (33" x 53")

"Ristras" (24" x 36")

"Evening Taos Inn" (24" x 36")

Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Red Line)

Sangre de Cristo Mountains ( Source ) "Taos Mountains" (48" x 72") Available

Since we can't travel very much, I'm doing a series about some of my favorite places. This month: The Sangre de Cristo ("Blood of Christ") Mountains. I'm not going to bore you with technical information, other than they make up the southernmost  p art of the  Rocky Mountains and run through northern New Mexico. I'm more interested in their unique beauty. Rumor is the Spanish named the mountain range due to their reddish glow that appears at sunrise and sunset, especially along the mountaintops. This is the reason I paint every canvas red before I start a painting - because I want to capture that "spirit line" of red that defines our beautiful mountains. Also, the red helps to push the horizon further away and bring the landscape closer, giving the painting more depth. As far as I know, I'm the only artist who does that. Our spectacular Taos Mountains are a great example (including Wheeler Peak). Look at the mountains at dusk and you can see a red glow upon the peaks, especially if there is snow. I love painting the Taos Mountains, which are so sacred to the Taos Pueblo and are iconic symbols of the spirit of the area. Do you have one of my paintings or a print? Does it have a mountain in it? Look at the mountaintops... The red line will be there. Sometimes it is very thin and sometimes quite pronounced depending on the background color, but that's actually the canvas color (red) peeking through. Below is a closeup photo of the mountaintops so you can see the red line better. Be on the lookout! It's in most of my paintings.

New Mexico Hot Dogs Are you bored making the same old dishes at home? We sure are, so we've been scouring Facebook and cookbooks to switch things up. We found this little gem of a recipe just in time for the 4th of July! It's simple, quick and quite delicious! Buy the largest jalapenos you can find. Cut off ends and scrape out veins and seeds. (Don't slit down the middle - need a ring) Parboil (if you don't, they will WAY too crunchy after you grill them... Put them in a microwave safe dish, fill with water, cover with plastic wrap and zap for about 4-5 minutes. Leave the jalapenos in the hot water for another five minutes or so - the heat and steam will soften them. While the jalapenos are softening, turn your attention to your hot doggies! Slit them down the middle and put in a ribbon of some kind of cheese (Cheddar, Monterey Jack, etc.). Shove the cheese-filled doggies into your softened jalapeno. You may need more than one "jalapeno ring" depending on their size. Grill! It's that simple. They really are yummy, and not too hot at all if you take out the veins and seeds.

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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