Frozen Water in the Horse Troughs & Old Masters

Here is a bit of an update:

So the last few days here in the wild, wild west has been pretty cold; cold enough to throw a knock-out punch to some essential transplant crops of beans, chili, some of the corn, and some of the watermelon plants...

Ggrrrr... but that's how the cookie crumbles and those are the risk factors of living in this world. You can prepare and prepare, even sometimes for the unknown, however, Mother Nature tends to give you what you deserve. And you can't always have what you want, no matter how hard you try. It's the plant that you barely try to keep alive that seems to flourish in all the crazy conditions. (Know anyone like that? Heehee)

It just makes life interesting, eh? Some of us survive and death is the only thing that teaches us sometimes. The plants that do survive will be the warrior stock; the cold weather and drought-tolerant stock. (Like me. Heehee)

I've always been interested in the old master painters that came here. They lived here, ate here and spent their time on the Pueblos painting and befriending the Pueblo people. "Seekers" in the late 1800's, and into most of the early and mid part of the 1900's, they saw the fading romance of the wild, wild west and painted it before it faded into the sunset. I grew up with these paintings and would sometimes spend hours down in the Plaza looking through paintings and prints from these amazing artists.

Too Old for the Rabbit Hunt, Oscar E, Berninghaus 1927

The artisans that painted these images saw a world that is no longer. At times I do think that they did paint our fascinating world before it changed. Not completely, but it did change and so to see these works of art, even though very romantic, it is still a world that I know and live, and yes it is very romantic.

The Rabbit Hunter Oscar E. Berninghaus 1945

One of my favorites was Berninghaus, originally from the mid-west. In 1899, he traveled to the Southwest where the light and landscape of the region around Taos captivated him. Berninghaus’ close relationship with the Pueblo Indians in the area was a crucial element of his success,  In 1915, Berninghaus became a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists whose aim was to market their artwork, as there were no galleries in Taos at the time. Their traveling shows were a great success, with exhibitions in major cities exciting interest in the exotic people and landscapes of New Mexico.

Rabbit Hunt E. Martin Hennings 1935

Many of these men employed the grandpas and grandmas and used them for models. The intricacies of depicting daily life has been a staple for many of these artists. People look at the paintings to see where we might come alive. I too have become a model like the grandpas for many new painters of the westerner lore... Heehee J.D. Challenger, William H. Matthews, and others.

Eanger Irving Couse with Taos Pueblo Model

Eanger Irving Couse was ultimately my favorite one of them. Actually I liked them all, however, I'm partial to Couse because I know the family and his granddaughter has invited me on occasion to hang out at her grandpa's old studio.

The Original Society The Taos Society of Artists is shown here, c. 1932. Standing from left to right are Walter Ufer, W. Herbert Dunton, Victor Higgins and Kenneth Adams. Seated left to right are Joseph Henry Sharp, E. Martin Hennings, Eanger Irving Couse and Oscar E. Berninghaus. Bert G. Phillips and Ernest L. Blumenschein are seated on the ground.

Walter Ufer the farmer circa 1900

Walter Ufer was also one that I called the "rock-star painter".  He would have been the one I would have been hanging with... Ufer became one of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists and here's where the rock-star comes to play: he was a complex, enigmatic personality, claiming that he was born in Louisville rather than Germany and he suffered from chronic alcoholism. He was considered a political bad-boy and was dedicated to eradicating social injustice. He was an active socialist, a drinker friend of Socialist Leader Leon Trotsky and frequently joined picket-lines of striking workers. His paintings often depicted socially oppressed Pueblo Indians, un-romanticized in every day life, unlike his peers.

“I paint the Indian as he is. In the garden digging–in the field working–riding amongst the sage–meeting his woman in the desert–angling for trout–in meditation”

Anyway, my friends, come to Taos to visit me and maybe, just maybe, I will be around to join you on some random adobe-street as you walk and wonder about the the town while exploring new moments in your life and replacing notions with imagination stemming from the ancient's catapulting your brain-waves into the future of the past...

Love you.

Your humble artista
As always... Mirabal