#23 – THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE!!!
Looking back on all my years at the easel, I have only met two or three artists as generous as Jan Herring. She poured information into us – new words, new methods, technique. No question went unanswered. Our class came together as strangers and when Friday came around we had shared some very precious hours […]
#22 – Taos 9/15/18 -REFLECTION
Twelve days ago I celebrated my 79th birthday! A little bittersweet…. Do I miss those long ago days when I had great legs, a nice smile and lived life with strong certainty that I could accomplish anything? – Hell, Yes!!! Now I move ever more slowly and my word of the day, every day, is […]
#21 – EUREKA!!! MAMA LEARNS TO PAINT!
Jan Herring had taken a workshop led by Frederic Taubes, a well-known Polish painter and author. Apparently she excelled and he invited her to be his assistant the following year. Taubes had studied the methods of the Flemish masters and developed a line of copal painting mediums, which when applied to a board or canvas […]
#20 – JAN’S MAGIC BRUSHES!
Jan Herring was a dynamo. Quite simply, she loved people and she loved to teach! Married to a Texas farmer named Henry they raised their family in Clint, Texas. She began painting in 1952 and it was my understanding that she had studied with well-known artist and writer, Frederic Taubes. Over the span of her […]
#19-MAMA TAKES SOME BABY STEPS
Need to start this post with a huge confession. Although my resume states that I studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, my night school studies there lasted only one half of the first semester. Started out with high expectations of learning the basics. Although I won prizes all through my grade and high school, […]
#18 – CLOUDCROFT/THE LODGE
Late on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, my Greyhound Bus arrived in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Alamagordo’s elevation was 8600 feet. A car from the hotel was waiting to take me to 9,000 ft! Our trip to the Lodge was an uphill climb all the way…. heavy forests on either side of the road with only a […]
ON THE ROAD….1968
The New Year celebrations were very quiet on Alegre Street that year. It was a time of adjustment, settling into routines. The babies were growing fast and developing their own personalities. I loved watching them; every day there was something new. They were funny little people and I enjoyed being their mother. Although I was […]
HISTORY LESSONS
Stories – I love stories!!! Being a newcomer, everyone wanted to tell me their own family history in New Mexico. I listened and asked questions. Most often I was given the gift of generations; stories passed down through families – oral histories that never found their way into print. It became a habit to listen […]
BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED!
Santa Fe 1967 – A very smart self-help guru once said “If you don’t know what to do, do nothing”. The trip through the mountains on the back of that Harley was what I needed to settle down and stop moping around. It is not healthy to stay sad forever! I needed to take stock […]
BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED!
Santa Fe 1967 – A very smart self-help guru once said “If you don’t know what to do, do nothing”. The trip through the mountains on the back of that Harley was what I needed to settle down and stop moping around. It is not healthy to stay sad forever! I needed to take stock […]
