Another painting from Taos Junction

9x12

After painting at Arroyo Seco in the morning, we decided to paint Taos Junction in the afternoon. We were hoping to try to find some place out of the wind that was raging and so we went to the very end of the road at Taos Junction and looked back up the canyon- I set my easel up in an antpile so they were enraged from the very get go. I tried to move it but it didn't seem to help- they were stirred up so I walked back and forth alot while painting this piece- it was interesting.

Arroyo Seco

This was the last day that I would be able to paint in Taos for the paint out and Amy Evans and Deb Robinson suggested that we paint Arroyo Seco so off we went. This was my fovorite town in the paint out- I loved it! The people were friendly and the man that used to be the priest at the Arroyo Seco Church was riding his bike and came by and talked to us. I had been very inspired by Walt Gonske's paintings at the cocktail party the night before, so I was ready to paint. Afterwards we ate at the Taos Cow - wonderful.

The John Dunn Bridge

Coni and I were up bright and early Sunday morning for the next day of the paint out and after eating a wonderful breakfast at the San Geronimo Lodge, were ready to go. We had a few problems getting there though- Arroya Hondo- doesn't stand out as easily as I thought it would and as Coni and I are always talking when we go anywhere, we missed the turnoff and ended up in Questa. Well we decided that we must have gone the wrong way as we absolutely did not see anything that looked like a small town on the way so we drove all the way back to Taos, thinking that we were supposed to turn right at the stop light. When we got back to Taos, we realized that we had no clue as to what we were doing so Coni did the smart thing and asked for directions! Well we ended up driving 10 minutes to the north again and actually watched closely this time- and there it was- Herb's Lounge and Gas Station- our landmark just as huge as anything, right along the highway. Well, everyone had started painting by then and we found a nice place. I spent alot of time fighting with my umbrella- I'm sure that the problem is with me, not the umbrella.

Taos Afternoon

9x12

On the first day of the Taos paint out on Saturday afternoon, alot of the artists met at the Overland Sheepskin Company to eat and paint this old truck. First, we decided to eat and since we really didn't feel like eating sushi, we went to Orlandos, voted the best Mexican Restaurant in Taos. I agree with the high rating - the food was fresh and delicious. We went back to Overland and I ended up painting this charming old truck. It was an interesting day-I just felt out of sorts- painting wise that is. Maybe it was because I hadn't painted outside for a couple of weeks- I really don't know but hopefully Sunday would be a new day.

Taos Paintout

The Taos paintout sponsored by the PAAC and NMPAP was a wonderful experience. I met so many great people on this trip and had such a good time- this is the first painting of the day, Saturday, May 3. I decided to try a pale yellow sky as it was early morning and this is the result. I will be posting the Saturday afternoon painting soon.