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Collectors Corner!


 Ed Sandoval Gallery's Newsletter


119 Quesnel Street, Taos, NM 87571

 www.edsandovalgallery.com

edsandovalart@gmail.com

(575) 770-6360

Exploring Ojo Sarco, Abiquiu & Ghost Ranch

Most years, in August after my Santa Fe show, we take a trip to somewhere unfamiliar – just pick a place and go there: Maine last year and Wyoming the year before. This year, however, so much was going on that we couldn’t commit to a week away. But here’s the good news – there’s plenty of exploration fun to be had right here in northern NM.

In 2012, I painted a church scene in Ojo Sarco and titled it “Drum Girl” (20x26). I wanted to go back and paint that area again, but my memory was fuzzy because I hadn’t been there in over ten years. No problem – we jumped into the car for a day trip. On the high road, we first stopped at the Sugar Nymphs Bistro in Peñasco, and if you’ve never been there, you’ve got to go and order a homemade dessert! Oh the carrot cake was hands down the best I’ve ever tasted, and it was absolutely HUGE.

To get to the church, you turn off the high road once you get into Ojo Sarco and take a “U” shaped side road that winds through the outskirts of the village. The church has had some restoration work done since the last time I visited, but it still has that historic feel. Down the road, we also found the centuries-old, squatty, square adobe that I had put into my "Drum Girl" painting. Back then, I took some artistic liberty and "moved" that adobe hut nearer to the church when I painted them. It was so adorable I had to put it in there. When I returned home and started my new painting, I put them together again. It just felt right.

Church in Ojo Sarco

Ancient Square Adobe

New: "Historic Ojo Sarco" (24x48) - SOLD

Since our high road adventure was so much fun, a week later we decided to take another trip to Abiquiu. I’ve painted that area many times – in fact, I used to take my art students there to paint on location when I taught at Los Alamos. In all of those years, however, I had never been to Ghost Ranch and figured it was time to check it out. 

I didn’t realize what a huge place it is, with a welcome center, campgrounds, museums, horse stables, and all kinds of activities and tours. We signed up for a landscape tour, where the guide took us out to specific places that Georgia O’Keeffe painted. He told us a lot of history, held up images of her paintings and pointed out the rocks, cliffs, trees, etc. that were her inspiration. Gorgeous red, ivory and soft gray colors in those rocky cliffs and mesas, with junipers, grasses and wildflowers under our deep blue skies. Did I mention that way back in the day (eons ago), I used to date Georgia's hairdresser who lived in Española? Her name was Rosabella, and she told me some interesting O'Keeffe stories.

Later, we went to the Santo Tomas El Apostol (Saint Thomas the Apostle) church and the Penitente Morada. Taos Valley has a long history of Penitente activity, where membership has been restricted almost exclusively to Spanish-Americans who are also members of the Catholic church. When they gather at their meeting places (moradas), outsiders are rarely included, and their practices remain secretive to this day. I had the rare honor to be invited to a service once, a long, long time ago. Powerful experience, and since then I've been compelled to paint to the beauty, mystery and spiritual energy of moradas.

Penitente Morada

Saint Thomas the Apostle

Saint Thomas the Apostle

Abiquiu inspired two of my new paintings shown below. I can't wait to go there again this fall for more sightseeing and shopping at the Bosshard Galllery & Historic Mercantile.

New Paintings

To inquire or request a high-resolution photo, contact 575.770.6360 or email edsandovalart@gmail.com. All available original paintings are located HERE.

"Mystical Abiquiu Morada" (40x60))

"Moonrise" (16x20)

"Mesa Companions" (24x36)

"Snowfall" (18x24) - SOLD

"Radiance" (24x30)

More Churches, Chapels & Historic Places

I adore abandoned, dilapidated adobe structures. Each time I see one, I imagine its story, the people who lived or visited there so long ago. If you visit places like Abiquiu or any of our tucked away New Mexico villages, get off of the beaten path to walk or drive around, and you will most certainly find some. In/near the Abiquiu plaza, there is an overgrown, falling down adobe that at one time was the El Pinon Theater. Nearby are some other ruins, probably a home? I'm not sure, but they are treasures of history.

Returning from Abiquiu, we decided to take the scenic route through the San Juan Pueblo (now known as Ohkay Owingeh). There are two incredibly beautiful brick/rock churches: Mission San Juan Bautista and across from it the Shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes. They are strikingly unexpected because neither is built from adobe. I think the architectural style is said to be Gothic or neo-Gothic.

Mission San Juan Bautista

San Juan Bautista

Shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes

I often paint our northern New Mexico churches, chapels and moradas, and I know a lot of people are interested in them. In case you'd like to go see some, I recently found a great article titled "Historic Churches along the High Road" that has lots of photos and is a good place to start when mapping out a fun road trip. Read the article HERE.

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Contact
Ed Sandoval Gallery
 119 Quesnel Street, Taos, NM 87571
www.edsandovalgallery.com | (575) 770-6360 | edsandovalart@gmail.com