We’re back! We visited southern New Mexico in January, to
stay warm and away from a lot of snow.
Now that it’s warmer, we are visiting northern New Mexico.
Taos:
We drove the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway which provided many scenic
views of the northern New Mexico area, most notably the ski area Angel Fire and
the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.
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| Rio Grande Gorge Bridge |
We really enjoyed exploring Taos.
We began at the Taos Pueblo where native Puebloans still live
today. Many of the current buildings
were constructed between 1000 and 1450 A.D.
The women still use these ovens to bake frybread:
The present San Geronimo Chapel was completed in 1850.
The Taos Plaza is much like the central plazas in Mexico.
The roads are lined with beautiful floral
displays.
Kit Carson was possibly Taos’ most famous resident. His home is now a museum and features many of
the family’s possessions.
Taos has numerous art galleries and has been home to several famous artists
over the years. We visited the Harwood Museum of Art which features
many works of Agnes Martin. The works in
this gallery were created in 1993 when Agnes Martin returned to Taos and the
gallery was built specifically to house her works. Martin suggested the addition of the 4 yellow
Donald Judd benches and she would often visit the gallery and sit quietly on
the benches to experience the unique setting.
Susan Folwell: Through the Looking Glass
This special exhibition was very exciting! Several early 20th century paintings provided inspiration to Susan Folwell and her painted vessels enhanced the conversations. This is one of my favorites:
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Sleeping Model (painting by Victor Higgins)
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This work by Melissa Zink is intriguing:
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| Wall with Light, Etc., Etcetera |
The outside of the Museum offered a lovely treat with this beautiful
sculpture:
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| Persian Wall by Peter Chinni |
The San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in Taos is a beautiful example
of the Spanish Colonial mission churches in New Mexico. This one was built between 1772 and 1816.
Not all of Taos is built of adobe – take a look at these homes built of
natural and recycled materials that provide a sustainable environment and
are independent from the “grid”. We visited
the Earthship
Biotecture and learned much about how
we could reduce energy costs.
When we learned that the oldest winery in New Mexico was nearby, we had
to make a stop there – the La Chiripada
Winery in Dixon!
Maybe it was the wine, but these sculptures sure did strike us as
funny! 😊
On the way to Albuquerque, we stopped at the Puye Cliff
Dwellings and had a wonderful tour by a native Santa Clara Puebloan.
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| Ruins on the Mesa Top |
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| View from Mesa Top |
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| Cliff Dwellings |
Next week we continue on to Albuquerque.