Concordia Eco Tents, St. John

This spring some friends of ours asked us if we were interested in going on vacation with them to St. John's in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  They had researched the trip and found a great place to stay called Concordia Eco-Resort on the southeast end of the island.  So this July we met them and rented two "tabins" as we liked to call them and had a great trip.  I've never stayed in a place that had such an incredible view!

The tabins were "eco" because all of the electricity was from solar power, the water was from rainwater, and the toilets were composting.  I was a little worried about the toilets, but they worked great and were totally fine.  Our main problem was our tent's location didn't get much wind and there was not any air conditioning so it got hot a night.  Our friends stayed in P11 and had an incredible breeze the entire time.  Our tent also had more mosquitoes because of this lack of breeze.  If we went again I would want to stay in any tent from P17-P11, although the edge tents might get a little too much breeze (see property map here). 

As you can see in the photo above the walk to the beach was short: maybe about 10-15 minutes.  The snorkeling was awesome at this beach and on the whole island.  I got to see a hawksbill turtle, a nurse shark, rays, tons of colorful fish, starfish, and really incredible corals.  I wish we had purchased an underwater camera for the trip because it was truly amazing down there. 

The photo above is of tent P10 and the photo below is the inside of P11.  We (I should say Ken) did a lot of cooking in the tent.  The stove was powered by propane and there is also a small solar-powered refrigerator.  The water in the tent is not potable, but the potable water was close by...you just had to fill up some water jugs and bring it back. One of the best features of the tents were the balconies.  At night you could see the Milky Way and lots of shooting stars.  

We had a wonderful trip. Thank you Ken, Susan, Ellie, & Ian for including us on your vacation!

Garden of the Gods

I wasn't going to post any more pictures from the Taos trip, but when I went back through I just had to post these Garden of the Gods photos.  The last day of the trip we drove up through Colorado to catch our flight in Denver and Christina (my travel partner) suggested we stop here.  It was a super hot and sunny day but it was worth it to see these amazing rock formations.   I love the color of the rocks and how their surfaces have been worn smooth. The second photo below was one of my favorites and reminded me of Jabba the Hutt. Oh, and if you look really closely you can see a climber in the photo above.

Taos Sketchbook

Now that you've seen all my photos from my Taos trip I thought I'd finally scan some of my sketches from my homemade sketchbook.   I'd say about half of these were done on the trip and the other half I did back at home.  I think if I had to do the trip over again I would force myself to do more sketching on site.  It was just hard not to take photos because I love taking photos and there was so much awesomeness to photograph. 

My goal is to keep this sketching habit up and to force myself to draw more.  It is amazing how much it informs my other work and how freeing it is to just draw...with real pencil and paper and no computer!  A bit scary at times...no "undo" button, but it forces me to be present in the moment and that is always a good thing.

Cowboy Country

These are the last of my Taos photos.  The photo above was taken of a driveway entry portal across from the Earthships near Taos.  I love when people take the time and initiative to do something interesting when they could have chosen otherwise.

The branch below and the Sacred Heart Church (third photo down) were both taken on the road to Taos from Santa Fe.  There is a highway between the two, but if you ever get the chance to drive the back way it is a wonderful scenic drive.

The two sunset photos were taken south of Taos at a rest stop.  One night our group went up there to take photos of the sunset and it did not disappoint.  I decided to spare you and not post all 100 photos I took that evening.  It was hard to narrow it down to just two because the whole sky changed so dramatically every minute. The following quote is from Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather and is one of my favorite descriptions of New Mexico:

"The sky was as full of motion and change as the desert beneath it was monotonous and still,—and there was so much sky, more than at sea, more than anywhere else in the world. The plain was there, under one's feet, but what one saw when one looked about was that brilliant blue world of stinging air and moving cloud. Even the mountains were mere ant-hills under it. Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth was the floor of the sky. The landscape one longed for when one was away, the thing all about one, the world one actually lived in, was the sky, the sky!"

New Mexico Flora

"One morning I started out along the curving path behind our garden and it was one of the most lovely days I had ever seen, so still and mellow and fragrant, and every leaf and every flower petal seemed new and as though they had opened within the hour and were breathing quietly and deeply in the silent gold and blue day." -Mabel Dodge Luhan

I just finished reading Edge of Taos Desert today and this lovely quote inspired me to post my favorite plant photos from the Taos trip.  The desert never ceases to amaze.  I don't understand how plants survive out there in the hot sun with hardly any water, let alone produce their incredible flowers.  I'm not sure what the plant is in the photo above, but just look at it...those wild, frilly-headed flowers just can't get enough sun! And I wasn't laying on the ground to get this photo; the plant was probably six feet tall!  If one had the assignment to create a plant that was joy incarnate this would be it.  Which reminds me of another Mabel quote that is the perfect ending to this post:

"I had a sudden intuition right then that here in this country life could come to one more concretely than in other places, and that meanings that were shut up in words and phrases out in the world could incorporate themselves in living forms and move before one.  Ideas here might clothe themselves in form and flesh, and word-symbols change into pictured, living realities."

Mabel Dodge Luhan house

Another highlight of the Cincinnati Art Academy Sketchbook trip was staying at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House.  If you love historic adobe architecture and you are visiting Taos then Mabel's is the place to stay.  The house is gorgeous with lots of quirky, wonderful details and the food is out of this world.  I love when food is both healthy and tasty, not to mention lots of local flair.

There is also quite a bit of interesting history regarding Mabel.  I am just now starting to read Edge of Taos Desert which is her autobiographical account of her move from New York to the Southwest in 1917.  She grew up as part of New York's avante-garde so it was quite a transition moving to Taos and falling in love with a native American of the Taos pueblo named Antonio Luhan (Tony). From what I know so far, she and Tony built the house and had quite a roller coaster relationship.  When I finish the book I will post more.

Below are a few photos of the rooms and the grounds.  The friend I traveled with was lucky enough to stay in Tony's room which has a wonderful balcony and a crazy bathroom painted by D.H. Lawrence.

Tony's room balcony

D. H. Lawrence bathroom

Gatehouse Entrance

Entry doors to Mabel's

Sitting Area off Lobby

Lobby

Mabel's room

Solarium

Earthships -Taos, NM

One of the more memorable places we visited in Taos was The Earthships. These structures are described on their website as "radically sustainable buildings made with recycled materials."  They use solar panels to generate electricity and rainwater for drinking water, sewage, and food production.  They are essentially designed to be self-containing units with the rare use of propane.

As you can see in the photos below the walls of The Earthships often incorporate either glass bottles or aluminum cans.  I loved the color in the glass and the repetition of all of them.  Oh, and FYI, I added a little lens flare to the photo above for dramatic effect.  I usually don't like to alter my photos like that, but I thought it added a little "alien flare."

When we were there you couldn't help but feel you were on a different planet.  And I don't know which came first, the earthships or Tatooine, but they certainly resemble each other.  I thought I might see C-3PO and R2-D2 around the corner at any minute.

The building below was a particularly fancy Earthship under construction.  I wonder how many crushed cans go into a building like this.  If you are ever in Taos, it is certainly worth the time to stop at the visitor center and watch the movie and to walk around the buildings.  But don't forget your hat and sunscreen (or your lightsaber!). 

San Francisco de Asis Church

I am finally getting around to posting some photos from my Cincinnati Art Academy sketchbook trip to Taos, NM.  One of my favorite places we went was San Francisco de Asis mission church in Rancho de Taos historic district.  The church was built between 1772 and 1816 and made famous by several Georgia O'Keefe paintings.  She made the back of this church as famous as the front.

We woke up at 5:30 so we could arrive at the church before sunrise.  I was excited to capture the sunrise on the beautiful odd-shaped adobe walls on the back of the church.  My favorite drawing in my sketchbook is of the back of this church.  I'll do a post later with some sketches from the trip.

I love this quote from George O'Keefe about this church:

"The Ranchos de Taos Church is one of the most beautiful buildings left in the United States by the early Spaniards. Most artists who spend any time in Taos have to paint it, I suppose, just as they have to paint a self-portrait. I had to paint it—the back several times, the front once. I finally painted a part of the back thinking with that piece of the back I said all I needed to say about the church. I often painted fragments of things because it seemed to make my statement as well as or better than the whole could. And I long ago came to the conclusion that even if I could put down accurately the thing that I saw and enjoyed, it would not give the observer the kind of feeling it gave me. I had to create an equivalent for what I felt about what I was looking at—not copy it."

Scandinavian Napkins and Tablecloth

I bet you thought I was done with the whole red, white and blue theme, eh?  Well I couldn't resist posting these beauties.  I found both the napkins and the tablecloth at Punzel's in Michigan last year.  I already posted the beautiful red, white, and blue linen table runner I bought there last September and I have been itching to put these up ever since.  

According to Wikipedia, the horse you see here is called a "Dala" horse.  The Swedish started carving wooden horses long ago as toys that then became a popular item for trade. Different locations had differing styles, but the red horse with the detailed harness in white, green, yellow and blue became the most widespread and is now a popular symbol of Sweden.  

Originally the horses were just carved from wood and not painted.  According to legend a wandering painter came across a plain horse and painted it in the kurbits style.  What is kurbits you ask?  It is "an invented, fantastical symbol of vegetal fertility based on a gourd or pumpkin of biblical legend, principally used for ornamentation in Swedish folk art and on painted furniture and domestic objects."  I had to google it and it is totally awesome!  I am totally crazy over kurbits and I didn't even know it!  You must google image it!  When I bought these I knew none of this...I just thought they were super cute and beautiful.  Now I like them even more!