1 comments about New Mexico Artists At Work.

1. As an artist I love books on artists studios, seeing what "artist plunder" they have or do not have, clues as to how they make their way with their work.
   
   New Mexico Artists At Work is a work of love. From the beautiful color photographs to the commentaries to the wide varity of lifestyles. There is a long history of artists who have chosen Northern New Mexico as a place to live and work and This book shows why artists continue to settle here.
   
   Artists studios come in so many sizes and shapes, and artists working styles range from the perfectionists to the life in progress. There is often an element of play, elements spread
   out over the floor. A studio is as intimate as one's bedroom or library, where the artist is bringing the internal to the outside.
   
   Agnes Martin, New Mexico's most famous artist after Georgia O'Keefe, lived a monastic life in her studio. Susan Rothenburg's studio reflects her complex personality, as does Paul Sarkisian, who now works on monumental paintings that become wall sculptures.Many of these artists became established in New York and then chose the open spaces of Northern New Mexico to make their homes and do their work.
   
   This book is about modern color, the people who live and work with it, all the taste and style of New Mexico, it is about real lives of real people.

No comments about Georgia O'Keeffe in New Mexico:A Guide (Famous Footsteps).

No comments about Traveling New Mexico: A Guide to the Historical and State Park Markers.

No comments about Where the Old Roads Go: Southwest : Driving the First Federal Highways of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.

3 comments about New Mexico's Sanctuaries, Retreats, and Sacred Places.

1. We all experience those dark nights of the soul. A sure cure is to follow author and photographer Christina Nealson on her pilgrimages to out of the way places in the state Georgia O'Keeffe called "the near faraway." As I accompanied Nealson on her spiritual journeys, I felt the strong, luminous presence of artists and writers like O'Keeffe and D.H. Lawrence. Nealson makes New Mexico seem "near" enough, but she never treats a sacred site in a way that robs it of its "faraway" feeling. She also shows a sure touch in her moving and respectful renderings of Hispanic religious and cultural practices. Well worth the trip!



2. This book made me want to get in my car and drive straight to New Mexico! Every page inspired me to visit yet another awesome, beautiful site. Not just the petroglyphs, but White Sands, and the Miraculous Tortilla Shrine! The descriptions of the sites and the fascinating historical tidbits kindled my desire to go New Mexico and see it all for myself. Not only am I motivated to travel to all these locations, I feel I'll approach them and even my home, with a renewed sense of reverence for the beauty all around me, after reading Nealson's inspired prose.



3. I think New Mexico was the greatest experience from the outside world that I have ever had. It certainly changed me forever...something stood still in my soul, and I started to attend. ~D.H. Lawrence
   
   Of all the places I've visited in America, New Mexico is where I felt closest to the earth. The heat radiating from the earth as you walk free and barefoot contrasts with a sudden hailstorm where you have to find shelter.
   
   Christina Nealson delves into this land of mystery and intrigues with her stories of places with great cultural significance. If you are a fan of D.H. Lawrence's writing, then you may want to visit the D.H. Lawrence Memorial in San Cristobal. Apparently Lawrence's ashes are in the walls of the shrine because his wife Frieda threw them into the concrete mix.
   
   Each listing has detailed information:
   
   Location
   Description
   Spiritual Significance
   Solitude Rating
   How to get there
   Accessibility from highway
   Facilities
   Fee Area
   
   There are 111 full-color photographs, 6 maps of New Mexico regions and color-coded tabs on the pages for easy reference. There is a list of Native American Feast Days and a Historical Time Line of New Mexico.
   
   Picturesque churches, mineral spring resorts, tree shrines, white deserts, petroglyph sites, snowy mountains and Navajo hogans make this land a choice location for spiritual renewal. If you are planning a trip to New Mexico, then this guide will give you ideas for day trips and places to stay. The solitude ratings are helpful if you are looking for quiet locations.
   
   Places I thought looked fascinating and a few quotes from this book:
   
   Monastery of Christ in the Desert: "How long has it been since you've heard live Gregorian Chant?
   
   White Sands National Monument, Alkali Flat Trail: "My brain said snow, snow, until I stepped from my air-conditioned car into the piercing heat and the immensity of a million great dunes."
   
   Casitas de Gila: "A short walk down the bluff puts you next to the stream, where a hammock invites you to dawdle."
   
   Of all the books I've read about traveling, this one makes me wish I was a travel writer, wandering through untamed lands. Christina Nealson's writing style is comforting and her knowledge of this area shows her love of travel and her deep appreciation for the need to find a sacred sanctuary where you can relax and heal.
   
   ~The Rebecca Review

No comments about New Mexico Off the Beaten Path, 7th (Off the Beaten Path Series).

No comments about Desert Sanctuary.

No comments about Off the Beaten Path - New Mexico (Insiders Guide: Off the Beaten Path).

No comments about New Mexico Birds: An Introduction to Familiar Species.

1 comments about Montana: Hometown Rodeo.

1. This is a fine collection of 86 black-and-white photographs taken by photographer Joanne Berghold at small town rodeos around Montana in the 1990s and early 2000s. Unlike the commercialized rodeo to be seen in today's PRCA circuit, these local rodeos capture the spirit of the sport as it emerged in the early 20th century -- a family-oriented affair that brought the whole rural community together for a once-a-year celebration. Look at these pictures, and what you often see instead of covered bleachers and flashy corporate sponsor billboards is a wire arena fence with trucks and cars pulled up to it and open prairie or hills beyond. The parking lot is grass-covered, and horse trailers are parked under the trees.

   The opening images set the tone of the book -- gravel roads with grass and weeds right to the edges, leading to a low horizon, where clouds drift in a big sky, a veil of rain falling into a distant mountain ridge. Then in the photographs that follow there's the contrasting activity of small town life, strung out along a treeless main street, and the gathering of people at the rodeo grounds.

   A cowboy in black hat, wranglers and spurs checks out the draw for the events posted on the side of a trailer, a young girl practices roping a hay bale, hats are placed over hearts in the grandstands and in the crow's nest for the Pledge of Allegiance, horses in the dusty light move into a holding pen, a cowboy bows his head in prayer on the top rail of a chute over a saddled bronc, riders one after another take spills off bucking rough stock. The arena itself may be dusty dirt or waterlogged mud. A roper waits, eyes set in concentration, a piggin string clamped in his mouth under a full mustache; a young bulldogger skids boots first in the dirt, his arms locked around the horns of a calf. There are team ropers, barrel racers, young bull riders taping up, and bullfighters in clown makeup. In the end, buckles are awarded to the winners, cowboys head out with war bags over their shoulders, and horses move up loading chutes into a trailer.

   The book is a tribute to a western tradition and way of life, still close to its roots in the workaday world of ranchers and cowboys. It includes an essay by Kim Zupan, a gifted writer and former rough-stock rider. All photos were taken in Montana in rural small towns like Boulder, Belt, Wilsall, and Roundup.