Canyon Road

I recorded neither the sculptors' names, nor the names of their creations.

Comments and captions are mine.

Anorexia

You're probably tired of looking at pictures of sculptures and paintings.
This will be the last bunch of art pix for awhile.  I promise.   

Kaw-Liga upgraded.

I do admire a smooth, shapely butt!

Although sorely tempted to fondle this one at length, I resisted.  

Barely.

Ursus horribilis

'Griz'

All pix in this post were taken on Canyon Road, between the 400 and 800-numbered street blocks.  This is a just a small sample of the picture-worthy pieces, plus I culled several pix that fell short of the incredibly high standards you've come to expect in this blog.  Oh yeah!

Individual bricks fitted together.  It's about 5' high.

Barb the Buffalo is totally wired and has a prickly personality.

We're talking barbed wire here - and plenty of it.

The sculptor did several of these in different sizes.

This one is largest, about 12' high.

My Idol

We visited a few of the Canyon Road galleries yesterday.  I bet there's more fine art along that 3/4 mile stretch of road than on any other road anywhere.  I  had 8 galleries on my hit list but only did 4, all contemporary.  There's so much sculpture on display outside, you can't help but stop to admire it and take pix.  I'll put the random pix in a separate post.  This post is dedicated to my new idol.

 Barbara Meikle is my new idol. 

She has her own gallery, and it was # 1 on my hit list.

She makes no attempt whatsoever to duplicate standard-issue critter colors.  You'd think painting critters in rainbow colors would look weird but not so: I love 'em!

Awesome!

She does the occasional still life and sculpts small bronze pieces, but her forte is large critters, done in heavily textured oils in bright, bold colors on large canvases.

When next I pick up a paint brush, I will aspire to emulate Barbara's style but maybe not her favorite subjects, burros and horses.  I don't draw all that well.  I did a cow that people actually recognized as such, but cows come with visual aids (udders and teats) that make them easy to identify.  There's no single, sure-fire, identifying feature on burros and horses, and lacking that, the beholder of my painted burro/horse would likely be confused: 'Wow!  That is one long-legged gerbil!'

We topped off the morning with a tapas lunch at El Farol, Santa Fe's oldest restaurant (1835), conveniently located across the street from a parking lot, and right on Canyon Road.  We chatted at length with the woman at the next table.  She lives near San Diego, is driving to Colorado Springs to pick up her daughter, who was in a volleyball tournament in FL, then continuing on to where her folks live, in the CO high country.

Shidoni Pour

The 3-man pour crew is donning protective gear.

The molds will be removed from the kiln (upper right) when molten bronze is ready.  The molds are sitting in a round tray on the removable floor (dark part) of the kiln.  The shiny pipe on kiln's bottom left is a hydraulic lift that raises and lowers the kiln floor and its tray full of moldings.  

Is it soup yet?

Digital thermometer is inserted into cauldron of molten bronze; soup must reach 2200 degrees F before serving.

It's soup!

So it's time to hook up the pour bucket to the overhead lift apparatus.

The cauldron of molten metal will be emptied into this bucket.

There are 10 steps to the lost-wax method.  First step is the actual creation of the figure by the artist, sculpting in wax, which could take anywhere from a few days to several years.  The next 9 steps take several weeks to complete.  A mold is made from the wax, the wax is melted off, and the mold is baked in the kiln.  The pour, aka casting, is step 7.

The kiln floor is being lowered and swiveled outward so the tray of molds can be hoisted off and placed in the center of the work area for pouring.

Kiln floor is fully lowered and swiveled outward.  Crew is attaching the apparatus to lift the tray of molds off of the kiln floor and place it in the center of the work area.  The crew's movements are slow-paced and methodical - and they need to be.  It's extremely dangerous work, the heat is incredible and they're covered with 2 layers of fire resistant clothing that has all the breathability of sheet metal.

I'm amazed that people have been making bronze statues for nearly 5,000 years.  How did they discover the process of making bronze and molds?  How did they figure out that bronze was even worth making or that it would last for centuries?

There are 9 unique molds in the 5' circular tray.  They're heavily coated with ceramic so you can't identify them as arms or legs or whatever.  Most, if not all, are small pieces that will be welded to other pieces to form one large bronze statue.  The crew works their way around the tray, tweaking the pour bucket up, down, forward and back so it's precisely aligned with the hole at the top of the mold.  They know their stuff, barely spilled a drop.

Excess is returned to cauldron, to be used in the next pour, which occurred 90 minutes later.

Several bronze bricks were added to the cauldron to top it up.  The kiln and cauldron are natural gas fueled and they roar like a pair of female dragons with severe PMS!  I think both are kept at pour temperature 24/7.  'What's your monthly gas bill?' I asked an employee.  He didn't know.  Anyway, glad I'm not paying it.

In the early 80s, I toured Italy and spent time in Florence, which has an abundance of art, especially sculpture.  I was delighted by the Baptistery doors, which were cast in bronze in 1402-04.  They are so exquisitely detailed!  It's incredible that they are 600 years old but look brand new and that there was such a high level of expertise way back then.  Google 'baptistery doors images' and see for yourself.

Shidoni Foundry

RIBBIT!

The giraffes and lion are life size but the frog is not.

He (she?) is 4' tall.

Located 5 miles north of Santa Fe, the Shidoni Foundry represents 140 artists, whose works are displayed on 8 acres of lawn and in 2 indoor galleries.  The Foundry itself works in bronze, using the lost-wax method.  On Saturdays, visitors can watch the 'the pour': molten bronze heated to 2200 degrees F and poured into similarly-heated molds that are components of bronze sculptures.

Mobiles appeal to me.  

This one has several branches, each with several whirligigs lazily moving in the breeze.

The tripod on the left supports a huge plumb bob.

Today, we toured the gardens and galleries, then watched a pour.  The whole thing was fantastic!  Santa Fe has lots of major attractions but Shidoni merits the # 1 slot in my opinion.  I'm prejudiced however, sculpture being my favorite art form.  I have the utmost respect for the skill, creativity, patience and dedication it takes to produce these works, some of which took several years to complete.

$94,000

This larger-than-life bronze piece is the most expensive item in the garden.

Other large bronze pieces average $25,000.

Welded pieces are considerably less, start around $2,500.

Now, the fun stuff: welded, funky, whimsical stuff that makes you smile.

Bacon and Eggs.

Moo!

Junk Pig.

I'll cover the pour in the next blog post.

Learning

Teachers and professors know, or should know, that people learn things in different ways, probably studied it in Education 101.  Not being in education myself, I never really thought about it, never asked myself, 'How do I learn?'  Now, I'm wishing that I had asked, or that some teacher or prof had addressed the subject, made me and other students aware that understanding how we learn is advantageous.  And, that the sooner we have that understanding the better.

Everybody knows that we learn via our senses.  Hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, tasting all play their part in the process, a process that starts when we're born and continues, ideally, until we croak.  We also know, at a subconscious level, which method of learning works best for us.  But, I'm thinking that not knowing at the conscious level is a hindrance.  It slows us down and keeps us from capitalizing on our strengths.

So, why is it that I, at the not-so-tender age of (darn near) 69, am writing about learning?  Two reasons.  First, I'm not done learning.  Not even close.  I'm still a very curious fellow, constantly seeking definitions and answers: what, why, when, where, how, how much?  Much of that is done because of this blog, to know what I'm writing about and to give readers reason to believe that maybe I'm not the village idiot after all.

Second: communication and relationship.  Recently, Trish pointed out that she is an aural learner and I'm a visual learner.  That difference sometimes causes ships-that-pass-in-the-night syndrome.  I read the instruction manual; she asks me how the thing works.  She says something to me and I hear it - but it doesn't stick.  She writes a note or puts it in an email - I got it.  Mostly.  Good commo is critical in any relationship.  As you get older and CRS* becomes more advanced, it becomes even more critical.

Trish's comment was one of those Duh! moments for me.  This is something I should have tumbled to long since.  We grow too soon old and too late smart.  Dutch proverb.

*Can't Remember Shit!

Folk Art Museum

Santa Fe has 30+ museums, 4 of which are on Museum Hill, 3 miles from downtown.  The Museum of International Folk Art which we visited yesterday is 1 of the 4.  Our guide book says it's 'arguably the best' of the bunch.  Trish and I would be on the opposing side in that argument.  She would argue less loudly than I, due to the display of Amish quilts.

Sculptures in front of the Native Ats Museum, above and below.

I had to shoot the huge native dancer in the butt since a frontal shot would have been directly into the sun.  I hope he wasn't offended.

Bronze on left, stone on right, both life-sized and lovely.

Above and below pix are part of a large Japanese kites display.

Amish quilts.  

The Amish believe that plain, simple things are best.  

The quilts are beautiful regardless.  One hopes that the quilters weren't banned from the community because the quilts are colored instead of black and white.

'Over 100,000 pieces from over 100 countries' says the guide book.

True enough.  But 99,000 of those pieces are miniatures 1"- 8" high.

The pix above and the 3 below are miniatures, countries of origin unknown; no labels.

In the upper left hand corner is a creche.

Pix taken through 1 of 3 small windows.  Folks in the stands are 1" tall.

Spain?

I really liked this one.  Appears to be some type of school, headmaster on raised platform on right.

Turkey?

There were catalogs and perhaps audio guides to the miniatures but we didn't bother with them.

Santa Fe 2

Santa Fe was an excellent choice for us and we lucked out with the location - 15 minutes to downtown, 10 minutes to stores and services we use regularly, 5 minutes to the large community center where they play pickleball.  There's no lack of things to see and do, the weather's great, no complaints.  Santa Fe may see more of us - but only in the summer.  January historical average hi/lo temps are 43/15, no way in hell I'm gonna expose myself to that.

We rented the condo to avoid the annual case of cabin fever we got each summer spending 3+ months in the EDGE.  Traveling in the Cougar, with its enhanced space, layout and amenities, we're considerably less prone to cabin fever syndrome.  We would not have rented the condo, had we known we were getting the Cougar.  We're not crying big crocodile tears about the rental though, because RV campgrounds anywhere close to downtown in most cities are privately owned, bare bones, expensive, and the rigs are packed in cheek to jowl.

In 1957 the city of Santa Fe adopted the Historic Zoning Ordinance. It states that all new construction must be Pueblo Revival or Territorial style.  These 2 styles, which vary only slightly from each other, are the parents of the Santa Fe style, with its own minor variations.  In my earlier post, Condo, there are pix of Santa Fe style dwellings.

Here's another example of Santa Fe style.  It's not adobe anymore, but rather stucco over concrete block or wood framing.  Typical design components include varying wall heights, flat roofs and rough hewn lintels over doors and windows.  I like it a lot.  The warm colors, soft corners and solid feel appeal to me in a way I find difficult to put into words.  Visceral?

Farmer's Market

On Saturday mornings, the Santa Fe Farmer's Market is in full swing.  It's one of the best I've seen and it's the real deal, unlike many so-called farmer's markets that are dominated by vendors of homemade jewelry, clothing, knickknacks, you name it, with very little actual produce.  The SF Market has dozens of fresh produce vendors plus baked goods, homemade jams and jellies, seasonings, cheese, etc.  It draws a large crowd, many of whom come for breakfast, selecting their favorite goodies from one vendor, their beverages from another.

Fine looking mushrooms.

We purchased salad makings, French bread, Christmas feta cheese and cooking greens.  Also got some beets, one of Trish's favorites.  Last night's dinner, mostly Market stuff, was excellent.  Trish prepared a fine pot of cooked greens, nicely spiced with hot sausage.

Totally rad, man.

NM may be the only state with an official state question, 'Red or green?'  It refers to chili, a standard offering at most restaurants, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner.  There's a third option, Christmas, which is some of both.  The cheese we got had both colors, nice and spicy, the way we like it.

The source of our Christmas cheese.

One of the few non-food stalls in the open air portion of the market.

The market extends into a large building, where there's a 50/50 mix of prepared food

 and non-food vendors.

NM Capitol

Our Southwest USA guide book (lonely planet) indicated that the state capitol building here in Santa Fe was worth a stop, that it had lots of pretty decent art.  We went there yesterday and loved it.

The capitol building is round, with 4 covered entries, mimicking the shape of the Zia (Native American) sun symbol, the same symbol that's centered on NM license plates and on the state seal above.  This picture was taken from the 2nd floor rotunda balcony, looking down at the main floor.

This pix, and the 2 below are fabric art.

Several different techniques were used in creating these scenes.

This one blew me away!  

Can you believe this is fabric, all the color and detail done with thread?

Trish, an avid and accomplished seamstress/quilter herself, explained the technique used here: it's called thread painting.  How long did it take to do this, I wonder?

The House meets here, Senate meets in a similar room.

You'll notice a group of people in the upper right corner.  

Trish is in that group, taking a 45 minute tour; I opted out, short span of attention.

Several dead-end hallways have benches and chairs that are themselves works of art. 

The picture is all mucked up by reflections.

It's a curved 3-panel painting of man's best friend and a native woman.

Typical area native art.

My favorite piece.

All sorts of junk cobbled together to make a larger-than-life buffalo head.

The horns are buffalo-flavored newspaper clippings.  Other stuff: paint brushes, film strips, plastic spoons, a horseshoe, a lantern. 

Another great bench: wagon wheels, leather and wood.

Large and lovely, done by a self-taught cowboy artist.

Mongolian Cat.

Similar technique to the buffalo, different artist, encased in Plexiglas 

so there's reflective distortion.

What would you guess this is?

First hint: it's not hanging on the wall.

Second hint: the figure is life-sized.

It's a fountain, viewed from one story above.

I guess the guy is taking a break, soaking his feet, staying cool.