A morning at the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe

Calla Lily ~ 1923

Called the "Mother of American modernism", Georgia O'Keeffe (1887 - 1986) gained international recognition for her paintings of natural forms, particularly flowers and desert-inspired landscapes, which were often drawn from and related to places and environments in which she lived.

The Barns, Lake George ~ 1926 

Having been raised on a farm in Wisconsin, O'Keefe saw the barns and building as a connection to the land and nature.  The grey structures and sky reflect the somber mood she often felt at Lake George.

Georgia O'Keefe and Alfred Stieglitz ~ 1938

O'Keefe spent summers and falls in the Adirondacks at the Stieglitz family home on Lake George, an area that gave her inspirations in portraying nature in a realistic and abstract form.  She married photographer Alfred Stieglitz in 1926.

 

 Black Cross with Red Sky ~ 1929

 

It was in 1929 when she made her first major visit to New Mexico, during a time when her relationship with Stieglitz was strained.  She was drained creatively and emotionally, especially after Stieglitz's long-term affair with her friend and fellow photographer Dorothy Norman.  She ended up spending the summer in Taos as the guest of Mabel Dodge Luhan, a well known patron of the arts in New Mexico.

 

 

 Cross with Red Heart ~ 1932

 

She was attracted to the Catholic Crosses that appeared on the New Mexico landscape.  She wrote: "In New Mexico, the crosses interest me because they represent what the Spanish felt about Catholicism - dark , somber - and I painted them that way ... On the Gaspe', the cross was Catholicism as the French saw it - gay, witty."

 

In the Patio VIII ~ 1950

I am particularly drawn to this piece, the colors, composition, the shadows.

O'Keefe was an independent, adventurous individual, often taking long treks alone, which she called "rambles" in the countryside.

Black Mesa Landscape ~ 1930

 

Having spent a few days in Utah and New Mexico, I clearly can see where she found such inspiration.  I shot this on the way to Bullfrog, Lake Powell, Utah.

And this was shot from our balcony at the Defiance House Lodge in Bullfrog where we had a wonderful picnic dinner.  What magnificent colors and mountains.

On the River I Canyon Country III ~ 1965

She often explored the Southwest on camping trips and other outdoor excursions.  This painting was inspired by a rafting trip down the Colorado River at the age of 73.  The inspiration came from the pink/reddish soaring cliffs in Glen Canyon.

Similar to the image I captured above in Lost Eden Canyon on Lake Powell where Len and I scattered my parents ashes, and a place where we had scattered my brother Carter's ashes ten years ago.

Black Place III ~ 1944

Having spent time in New Mexico over the last two decades, she moved here permanently in 1949, a few years after the death of Stieglitz.  She made several trips, 150 miles from her Ghost Ranch where she found inspiration.

Part of the Cliff ~ 1946

The view from behind O'Keefe's Ghost Ranch house of a cliff with its tall, dry waterfall.  She wrote: "Badlands roll away from my door, hill after hill... All the earth's colors of the painter's palette are out there in the many miles.  The light Naples yellow through ochres - orange and red and purple earth - even the soft earth greens."

Another image I captured in Lost Eden Canyon, Lake Powell.  A place I could photograph all day long.

Pedernal ~ 1941 - 1942

Her view of Cerro Pedernal (Flint Mountain) from Ghost Ranch House.  A sacred site to the Indigenous and Hispanic communities for thousands of years and one that she developed immense love and respect for.

My photo of Mount Hillers in Utah.  Named for J. K. Hillers, photographer with the 1871 John Wesley Powell Colorado River Survey Party.  This peak, one of five in the Henry Mountains Range, rises 10,723 feet above sea level.  Winters snow high on these peaks feed springs and streams, providing water for recreation, livestock, wildlife, including a free roaming bison herd.

 

Untitled ~ 1970

Painted when the artist was ninety, she returned to some of the forms found in her earlier charcoals, highlighting vibrant blues and reds in her watercolors.   She wrote: "I get this shape in my head and sometimes I know what it comes from and sometimes I don't... And I think... there are a few shapes I have repeated a number of times during my life and I haven't known I was repeating them until after I had done it."

 

The Georgia O'Keefe Museum located right in the historic center of Santa Fe is not a huge museum and does not have an overwhelming amount of her works but if you have traveled thru Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, one will appreciate her love of the countryside and how she captured its essence so beautifully. 

 

 

The Georgia O'Keefe Museum

217 Johnson Street

Santa Fe, New Mexico

 

okeefemuseum.org

 

 

 

Le Colonial - Restaurant - Bar - Vietnamien - in Cherry Creek

Lately Len and I have tried a few new restaurants and overall we have not been very impressed.  One being a French restaurant in the Highlands (food was marginal if that, the service was not good and the place was noisy) and a highly-touted Mexican restaurant that just recently received a Michelin star.  But one of our new favorites is Le Colonial in Cherry Creek. 

 The interior of the restaurant is striking and certainly an elegant addition to the dining scene in Denver.

An area just off the bar.  I love the orange.

The larger of the dining rooms, also tastefully done.

The porch area is very pleasant and on a nice day, the exterior glass doors are opened letting the fresh air in.  I love the flooring, reminds me of the various old tile floors I encounter in the churches and old homes in Mexico.

My favorite item on the menu is the Ha Gio, a crispy shrimp and pork roll (Jumbo Shrimp, Heritage Pork, Asian Mushrooms, Mint, Cilantro and Chili Lime Sauce).

Also the Ca Song, spicy yellowfin tuna tartare (Hass Avocado, Sweet Chili, Rocky Mountain Cucumber, Soy Caviar, Ginger Soy, Cilantro and a Rice Crisp).

 

Ca Kho Tieu, Braised Black Cod (Ginger Marinated Black Cod, Fiber of Man’s Shiitake Mushrooms, Rocky Mountain Tomatoes, Herbs, Jalapeño) was very flavorful but a bit over sauced. 

Not everything is worth ordering, for example, the chicken dumplings.  The chicken was like pulverized, a mushy consistency that was not that good.   Once you have identified what you do like on the menu, its a gorgeous space to meet friends for lunch.  

Le Colonial

255 Fillmore Street

Cherry Creek

The photography at the Post Office in Oaxaca is very interesting!

 

The massive post office just of the zocalo in Oaxaca is extremely interesting.  Grand photos of Oaxacan women, marble floors,

an old flatbed railroad cart, 

old fashion mail slots for the city, all of Mexico, the United States and Europe...  But what is really striking are these large photographs of Oaxacan ladies dressed in their regional attire.  

Not much is known of the photographer except for the name above and the address of the studio in Mexico City.   I would guess these photos were shot around 1930.

There is a dance celebration every July in Oaxaca called The Guelaguetza which represents the eight regions of Oaxaca: Valles Centrales, Sierra Norte, La Cañada, Papaloapam, La Mixteca, La Costa, Sierra Sur and Istmo de Tehuantepec.  The Guelaguetza features traditional costumed dancing and each costume, or traje, and dance usually has a local indigenous historical and cultural meaning.

This lady is representing the Valles Central.  Also known as the Chinas Oaxaqueñas, she is “a working woman", typically found in the city’s markets, of a deep Catholic faith, who honors the Virgin or a particular saint with floral offerings and their dance.

They are also known for their jewelry and their long braids.  They carry a cross that represents their religion. And a small charm holding a portrait which may be of a loved one or the image of a saint or the Virgin de la Soledad, a patron of Oaxaca.

In the Sierra Norte region, the huipils are commonly woven from wool and cotton using back-strap looms.  The costumes of this region are characterized by being more sober in color but very rich in texture, adapting to a cooler climate.

From the  Istmo region, the traditional dress of the Tehuanas was known nationwide to be the symbol of the most independent and proud indigenous women in all of Mexico with their opulent huipils and velvet skirts embroidered with local flowers.  Frida Kahlo adapted this style of dress from her mother who was from this region.  Their hair is a crown of braids, although what stands out most is the silk bun and the flowers.  There is the resplandor, a headdress unique to the women of the Tehuantepec Isthmus which consists of starched white lace and can be worn two different ways.  One is on the top of a woman’s head for festivals and the Guelaguetza and the other, at religious events, where it is positioned so that it frames the face.

After my group and I took in all the photographs, we wandered over to the zocalo and low and behold there were a group of ladies in their traditional dress representing the various regions!

Oaxaca has maintained its artistic identity.  The culture, folk art, contemporary art, murals, native dress, cuisine.  

A traditional Mexican proverb proclaims,

 "What you don't see, the heart can't feel."   How true in Oaxaca!

The Center for Arts in San Agustín Etla and Francisco Toledo

One of my favorite places to visit when in Oaxaca is the Center for the Arts in San Agustín Etla, after of course coming from having several delicious tamales in the market in Etla on a Wedneday, their market day.  

I always stop at "Tamales Maty".  That morning I bought Flor de Calabazas (squash blossoms), Pollo y Salsa Verde (chicken with green sauce) and Rajas (roasted poblanos).  Just delicious.  And she remembered me from my previous visit!  She always throws in one or two different tamales as an extra treat.

 

 

The Fabrica de Hilados y Tejidos La Soledad (La Soledad Yarns and Fabrics Factory) was founded in 1883 in the small community of San Agustín Etla. It was abandoned less than a century after its inception.

 

In 2000, Juchitan-born artist Francisco Toledo (17 July 1940 - 5 September 2019) spearheaded an initiative to turn the then-derelict building into an ecological arts center, which opened in 2006. 

Today, water features, gardens, and abandoned industrial machinery dot the complex.

The trees surrounding the complex are just magnificent .

The current exposition in the main building is the work of Francisco Toledo.  This main expansive space is just stunning.  The steel columns came from Chicago Steel & Iron.

Toledo works in every conceivable medium—oil, watercolor, ink, metal, he makes cloth puppets, lithographs, tapestries, ceramics, mosaics and much, much more.

He designed tapestries with the village craftsmen of Teotitlán del Valle.  These two weaving demonstrate his opposition to the introduction of genetically modified corn into Mexico, something that has been a huge issue in the Oaxaca valley.
 

His iron works are wonderful.

 

Toledo was heavily influenced by Zapotec myths and legends, and the wildlife and flora of a his rural upbringing. His work is filled with the many Zapotec deities, the bat god, the gods of rain and fire, and the sacred animals—rabbits, coyotes, jaguars, deer and turtles.

Toledo's devotion to social and cultural concerns did not stop here.  He participated in the establishment of an art library at the Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca (IAGO), in the founding of the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca (MACO), the Patronato Pro-Defensa y Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural de Oaxaca, a library for the blind, a photographic center, and the Eduardo Mata Music Library. 

 

He fought against the building of a McDonald's in Oaxaca City, right in the zocalo.

He announced that he would take off all his clothes and stand naked in front of the  proposed site.  He would enlist the help of a few fellow artists and hand out free tamales to anyone who joined the protest, reminding them of their true native food.
Hundreds of people marched in the 2002 event, chanting “Tamales, yes! Hamburgers, no!” In the end,  Toledo did not find it necessary to take off his clothes.

 

And how fortunate my group and I were there for this latest exhibition, especially honoring the artist who was instrumental in restoring this outstanding complex.  What a beautiful setting!