2012 Eldorado Studio Tour

The Eldorado Studio Tour begins with a gala opening night party on Friday, May 18 from 5-7pm at the Preview Gallery in the Exhibit Space at La Tienda at Eldorado. This is an opportunity to view the work of the 106 artists who are participating this year in the Tour. Refreshments and live music will contribute to the festivities.

Studios are open Saturday and Sunday, May 19-20, from 10am-5pm and the Preview Gallery opens one hour earlier both days so that you can stop in and pick up a brochure and map to plan your art-filled days.

It's a wonderful event and a great way to spend the weekend. I'll be in Studio #47 with jewelry artist Robin Hilliard who makes exquisite necklaces and earrings out of quartz crystals and semi-precious stones. These are statement pieces that look and feel amazing on your body.

Directions to La Tienda and the 2012 Studio Tour Preview Gallery: Eldorado is located 12 miles southeast of Santa Fe on US 285 off I-25 at exit 290. Go south on 285 to the second traffic light and turn right onto Avenida Vista Grande. Take the first left onto Caliente Road and then turn left at the first driveway into La Tienda at Eldorado, 7 Caliente Road. Follow the signs to the Preview Gallery in the Exhibit Space, suite A-6 where you can pick up a tour brochure and a map to all the open studios. Download a Tour map.

New Mixed Media

When I finally stumbled back into the studio after months of working on the website and brochure for the Eldorado Studio Tour, I was lost. I wasn't sure I still knew how to hold a paint brush! 

The only solution was to try something way outside my comfort zone. This piece called EXIT is the result of that foray into the unknown. 

I don't yet know if it's a one-off or the beginnings of a new body of work. Only time and the unpredictability of my creative process will tell.

Road Trip Update

Miyabi made her final choice for her yearbook picture and here is the winning image. 

This photograph was taken late in the afternoon on an overcast fall day in Minneapolis. The original stark white wall was a harsh background so I added some color and texture. 

Miyabi's happy with it and I think she looks beautiful. We both agree it beats a cell phone picture any day. The best part of the whole experience for me was the opportunity to spend time with Miyabi.

Road Trip

Tulip and I recently returned from our annual road trip to the Midwest to visit family and friends. While I was there, my cousin's daughter asked me to take some photos for her year book. I said I didn't have the knowledge or the expertise, but she said it was me or her cellphone. As that didn't seem a high wall to scale, I said yes.

We drove to Uptown in Minneapolis where we stumbled on some great walls filled with graffiti and murals that made great backgrounds. Miyabi is a painter and an accomplished musician, so this wall on the right seemed appropriate.

Miyabi's younger sister, Skye is also an artist and a musician and has a personal style that is all her own. We shot her in front of a Day of the Dead mural.

Meditations in Silk and Wax

One of my favorite artists, Rosemary Barile, is having an opening of her new encaustic mixed media paintings on Friday, September 16, 2011 at Vivo Contemporary Gallery in Santa Fe. The show is entitled Meditations in Silk and Wax. This piece on the right is called Sediment and is encaustic and copper patina on silk and paper.

Beauty in the Midst of Destruction

The fires continue to rage in northern New Mexico. This image of the Los Alamos fire burning on the other side of the mountains was taken by Joyce Arsenault from a vantage point about a mile from my studio. I'm amazed how even in destruction there can be great beauty.


Much praise and gratitude to the 2000 men and women fighting what has become the largest fire in New Mexico history.

Lawnmowers of the Southwest

The Southwest is in flames. I can see plumes of smoke just on the other side of the mountains from the Pacheco fire and whenever the winds change, the smoke from the Wallow fire in Arizona floats into Santa Fe. It has led all of us in the neighborhood to be very aware of the dry grasses in our yards that present a fire hazard. Many of us have called in the "horned locusts," a herd of 200 goats led by Dave of Sunstar Herbs and his daughter Amanita. It took the goats only about 4 hours to clear my acre and a half.

The goats travel with three Maremma sheepdogs. This is the one that tried to herd Tulip and me on the road the other day. I kept yelling, "I'm not a goat! I'm not a goat!" until Amanita appeared to rescue us.

For a Chicago girl, this has all been quite an education.