Collectors Corner! Ed Sandoval's Newsletter (Taos, NM)

Welcome to

Collectors Corner!

Ed Sandoval Gallery's Newsletter

119 Quesnel Street, Taos, NM 87571

www.edsandovalgallery.com

edsandovalart@gmail.com

(575) 770-6360

Road Trip!

Recently, I took a road trip through southern NM, and all I can say is WOW! I revisited some favorite places and explored new ones. I was going to devote only one newsletter to my travels, but I saw so many treasures… so many unique places… that I’ll stretch them out over time. I don’t want to gloss over these gems of nature, history and culture.

First up, the Gila National Forest (3.3 million acres!) and Gila Cliff Dwellings. Staying near Silver City, it was only 40 miles to the Cliff Dwellings but took about two hours to get there. Such a stunningly beautiful drive, but it's also the most mountainous, winding, hairpin curving, round and rounding, snaking road in the history of asphalt! And by the way, the road dead ends, so to get OUT, you have to turn around and drive it again.

But it’s worth it! After a beautiful walk/hike of about a mile, meandering up the cliffs and by crystal clear streams, you get your fist peek. Built by the Mogollon Culture in the late 1200’s, thousands and thousands of years ago, the Cliff Dwellings feel sacred, as if you should approach them quietly so the guardian spirits inside won’t be disturbed.

The cave is massive, absolutely massive, with soot on the rock ceiling from fires built all those centuries ago. The rooms are crafted from layers of rock, and I was amazed to see Pueblo Style architecture: lentils over the windows, vigas, kiva-esque fireplaces, etc. The ruins felt oddly familiar... as if I could imagine myself in the past... a part of their nomadic community making pottery, roasting meats, and living securely high above the Gila river.

I was so taken with the Gila Forest and Cliff Dwellings, so inspired by their unique beauty, that I immediately started painting once I got home.

NEW: "Hiking the Gila Wilderness" (30x30)

NEW: "Visiting Our Ancestral Home" (24x30)

After winding our way back through the forest, we needed cocktails (desperately!) and headed directly to my favorite bar EVER: The Buckhorn Saloon & Opera House. We’d been here before and were itching to return. On a deserted road in Pinos Altos (an 1860s gold-boom town), you’d swear this place is abandoned. It looks like a frontier ghost town in a Western movie, with hitching posts for horses, a wide-planked wooden boardwalk and fading, white-washed adobe. It is so aged that you literally stop in your tracks and wonder if you should go in – oh and trust me, you ABSOLUTELY must go in.

Opened in the 1860’s, you step back in time when you cross the rustic threshold. The Old West saloon has a carved oak bar, massive brick fireplace on the far wall, velvet curtains hanging from wooden boxes over the windows, and murals of ladies of the evening. In the low light with the sound of glasses clinking, the only hint of modernity is a microphone in the corner where a musician plays. If you gather the will to leave your cozy spot, wander through the dining rooms to see old paintings, newspaper clippings, historic photographs, stuffed animals and other surprises.

But the REAL showstopper is the connected opera house! Jaw-dropping! A legacy of the gold boom over 150 years ago, the unexpected opulence and lushness were hard to comprehend. We were dumbfounded – transfixed in the dim stillness of this time capsule. Still a performance venue today, there are elevated wooden box seats with olive-colored velvet curtains, gold patterned wallpaper, wrought iron chandeliers, a wood-fired stove... Oh it's glorious! Transported back to the 1860’s, we could have been gold miners who struck it rich and traded in our nuggets for booze and music.

More road trip treasures next month! For now, I'll leave you with a sublime sunset we saw driving into Las Cruces – the sky was on FIRE!

Couse-Sharp Historic Site Gala 2022

Live Auction Painting: "To The Pueblo" (30x40)

I'm excited to participate in this year's gala! Last year, the gala had to be cancelled, so it's going to be big, bold and beautiful this year. Hope to see you at "La Luz de Taos," which will be held May 20-22.

If you want to bid on my painting or any of the other artwork, I "think" you can do so remotely. Click HERE for gala details.

Save the Date! Santa Fe Show on July 22

Painting Demonstration at My 2021 Show

Many of you have asked when I'll have my next show at Canyon Road Contemporary Art in Santa Fe (622 Canyon Road). Now we know – July 22!

Last year, it rained cats and dogs, the lights went out and we all had the best time. This year, I'm focusing on vistas I'm seeing and painting from road trips throughout NM.