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This moving thing’s a bitch and a busy one at that

Balloons are dropping in all over the city this week.
Balloons are dropping in all over the city this week.

First of all, let me apologize for the lack of hooking news and fun these past few weeks, but this moving thing is truly a pain in the patootie. There are still unpacked boxes not so stylishly decorating the house. We can’t find all our stuff…because it’s probably hiding in the aforementioned boxes. Lamps! I’d kill for more of my lamps. And don’t even start me on the need to get bookshelves. Then there’s the busy-work: finding doctors that we need asap; running to Lowes to buy a new dishwasher (the one that came with the house pools alarmingly when not in use); locating the local grocery stores; and our personal favorite, teaching the kid to drive. Today was my turn. She did okay, though we do apologize to the honking car next to us at that one light; she did swing r-e-a-l-ly wide to the right to make a left turn. She’ll do better next time; I promise. Not!

 

Damn little camera on my phone. You probably can't see the hundreds of balloons at different levels participating in mass ascension. (Better photos after we head to the Fiesta field.) In the meantime, see the Rio Grande there - okay, not looking all that grand - some balloons swoop down from the sky and do a "splash and dash." Very cool. I learned more from one of the hookers in my guild; she and her husband work a balloon's chase crew.
Damn little camera on my phone. You probably can’t see the hundreds of balloons at different levels participating in mass ascension. (Better photos after we head to the Fiesta field.) In the meantime, see the Rio Grande there – okay, not looking all that grand – some balloons swoop down from the sky and do a “splash and dash.” Very cool. I learned that term from one of the hookers in my guild; she and her husband work a balloon’s chase crew.

Not that there haven’t been the fun moments. Our hopes were great after that pre-fiesta balloon landed behind our house last week. Now we’re deep in Albuquerque’s famed Balloon Fiesta. We humped up the hill to the neighboring Catholic high school – which happens to have a great view – and watched the first “mass ascension.” (Okay, fellow Catholic peeps, the ballooning term “mass ascension” is nothing but a coincidence. Ironic though. Maybe they could’ve gone with “the Rapture,” but I digress.) Tom and I will head to the fiesta tomorrow in the early, early 50-degree morning. We’ll be right on the field, phones/cameras in hand. How I wish I had a really good camera…

And I have been hooking; most evenings, in fact. I finished hooking, though not blocking and such, my rug-sized New Mexico mat that will eventually grace the floor somewhere in the new house. Now I’m working on a table runner: t-shirts and some gossamer, chiffonny fabrics. Going for a different texture. I got to work on it at a hooking demonstration with my new Adobe Wool Arts guild just yesterday at the BioPark Botanic Gardens. I’d love to share some photos of this (insert long face here) – I even brought my phone.camera and planned on it – but we were so busy chatting with one another and visitors, that I plumb forgot…till we were packing up. Next time, I promise!

Georgia O'Keefe's Petunia No. 2, 1924.
Georgia O’Keefe’s “Petunia No. 2,” 1924.

Another highlight this week: a visit to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe. It’s taken me two vacations to the area and a final move to make it there, but Friday was the perfect time. Tom’s niece – an artsy type, too, with good taste – was in town and also wanted to see it. There was an American Modernist exhibit going on with O’Keefe’s and others’ work represented. Excellent! Oh, and the street food on Santa Fe’s plaza was fabulous.

Alexander Archipenko's Woman with a Fan, 1958.
Alexander Archipenko‘s “Woman with a Fan,” 1958.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, while this moving thing’s a bitch, we managed to tame her for a bit and just enjoy the area. Hey, it’s why we moved here. So far, no regrets, and that’s all that matters.

PS – How do you other bloggers remind yourselves to take pics when you’re all agog listening to stories and looking at beautiful things? Tell me the secret!

My favorite piece, I think. (I reserve the right to change my mind, of course.) O'Keefe's Pond in the Woods, 1922.
My favorite piece, I think. (I reserve the right to change my mind, of course.) O’Keefe’s “Pond in the Woods,” 1922.

 

 

 

 

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Field trip to Santa Fe’s Indian Market Place

An artist at the Santa Fe Indian Market, 2015.
An artist at the Santa Fe Indian Market, 2015.

Who can resist a field trip? Especially to Santa Fe, New Mexico, on a lovely Saturday morning in August. Not me! This past weekend, Tom and I headed there – about an hour north of Albuquerque – to attend the annual Indian Market Place. A writer friend from Rhode Island who lived there for a few years insisted that I not miss it. We had no intention.

 

Contemporary glass works by Dan Friday of Fridayglass.com.
Contemporary glass works by Dan Friday of Fridayglass.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those not familiar with the Market, it’s been going on in some form for 94 years. This year there were almost 1000 (!!!) Native American artists, most of them professionals, from all over the United States. There were potters, painters, jewelry and basket makers, weavers, glass blowers, sculptors of all kinds… It was hard to take it all in.

 

 

Sculpture by Cliff Fragua of Singing Stone Studio.
Sculpture by Cliff Fragua of Singing Stone Studio.

If you’ve been to Santa Fe, the plaza was covered with tents/booths as were the sidewalks and streets leading there. Tourists, indigenous folks, museum curators, and serious art collectors thronged, jockeying for good views and to speak with the artists. Suddenly, drums sounded and on the stage or on the street amidst spectators, traditionally clad dancers performed. Wafting on the breeze was the aroma of fry bread. Damn that I’m gluten-free and that I’d cheated (and paid for it later) at last week’s Rail Yards Market in Albuquerque!

 

Contemporary gouache by Benjamin Harjo, Jr., of benjaminharjojr.com.
Contemporary gouache by Benjamin Harjo, Jr., of
benjaminharjojr.com.
Ledger art by Dolores Purdy of dolorespurdy.com.
Ledger art by Dolores Purdy of dolorespurdy.com.
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Offerings from Navajo (Dine) Weavings and Supply. Sorry, their web address doesn’t appear to work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only thing I regretted was not seeing more fiber artists. Sure, there were some Navajo weavers and even clothing designers, but they were few and far between. At least where I was. Maybe there were more in other areas of the market. I hope so.

Enjoy the photos I took. I tried to get artists’ names, but did miss a couple. Next year we’ll hit up the Indigenous Fine Art Market running about the same time in another part of Santa Fe. It’s a little smaller, but sounds good. It’s only a couple of years’ old, but getting plenty of media coverage.

What cool art or other markets are there around your home? What kind of field trip inspires your art – whatever it might be?

My little treat to myself. Pottery by Mel Cornshucker of Oklahoma.
My little treat to myself. Pottery by Mel Cornshucker of Oklahoma.

 

 

Traditional dancer and drummer.
Traditional dancer and drummer.
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