Santa Fe, Bandelier National Monument and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento

It’s been another whirlwind week for me, with wild variations in my activities. I’m back home now for a month and it’s been so nice to settle back into my life-I have a good life!

I visited the Santa Fe, NM area last week and met my friend of 40 years there. Lynn and I were hippie chicks in the 70’s…oh but that’s another long story! We had not seen each other in a few years so it was a treat for both of us. We rented a roomy AirBNB with original art by the owners and a well-stocked kitchen. We really lucked out.

But we didn’t stay there that much, as we were active the whole time. Lynn lives in Durango, CO and ice climbs, mountain bikes, backpacks and skis so this was no shopping vacation!

Santa Fe is known for its art galleries-more than 200 in 2 square miles! We visited just a few, as that was not our focus. Once again I ran into this curious phenomenon-lots of dead retail space, lots of occupied space–and no visitors! This was just like Palm Springs and I just don’t get it.

There is lots of official and unofficial public art in the area. This was just a random scene on one of our walks through the city.

We visited the Santa Fe Botanical Gardens-loved it! There was a 40-piece collection of sculptures by Bill Barrett, beautifully integrated into the gardens.  The garden’s website described the collection as  “emotional, gestural works in harmony with the natural surroundings”.

They were created over a 40-year period and were inspired by “the 911 attacks, modern dance, musical influences, the panoply of human emotions, and nature’s richness”.

I forgot to find out about the maker and story of these. There were several installations across the property-they were a whimsical and charming addition to the Gardens.

Ooo-and I found a new grass! I sent some of this home and I hope to make prints with it.

I never tire of the “shredding” of the yucca leaves. This must become a quilt someday. Love all those curly guys!

We spent a whole day at the Bandelier National Monument. The park is well-maintained and there was no one there! The park incorporates over 33,000 acres of canyon and mesa and within its boundaries is evidence of human presence going back over 11,000 years. The landscape we see today was formed from the aftermath of a volcanic eruption which left a circular depression (caldera).

Bandolier is the outer slope of the caldera. The canyon walls are made from the cooled ash of the volcano which created the fairly soft rock called tuff. The Ancestral Pueblo people used the natural holes in the tuff to create shelter.

See that beautiful waterfall behind Lynn? It was over 90′ long and just spectacular!

One part of the park includes a trail with 4 long, narrow ladders to bring you up to the next level. I did one. Lynn, The Climber, did all 4. I wanted to show the pitch and how steep and scary these were. Sorry for the butt shot Lynn!

The scenery was spectacular and the day was sunny but a wee bit cold-40’s or something like that. We had a great trip with sunny, cool days and rain only on the day we left.

I returned home for just a few days and then met my friend Dolores at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento-I had not been in awhile.

The Crocker is the first public art museum founded in the Western United States (1885). It was the personal mansion of Judge Edwin B. Crocker and is a fine example of the Italianate style.

I’m seeing inspiration here…

Maybe a whole cloth in my future?

So beautiful!

The traveling exhibit of Claire Falkenstein (1908–1997) contained a diverse collection of her work that included sculpture (some of it kinetic), paintings, prints, jewelry, glass, film and other works. This particular piece intrigued me and could definitely inspire a quilt. At least 4 times the gallery had a photo of a piece with a description, then a note that the work had been “Destroyed”. We never found a docent to explain that one. Weird.

I’m back home now. I hope to be very productive in the time between now and Craft Napa during the second week of January. It is just the DH and I for Christmas and I am looking forward to the quiet beauty of the season. I hope your holidays are filled with joy and peace.

Linking up to Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.