Quarai Winter

Back in the 1980s I was an interpretive ranger at Salinas National Monument in New Mexico. The ruins of the 17th century mission churches at Quarai, Gran Quivera and Abo are amazing structures, giving glimpses not only into the architure and building processes but also hinting visually at life 400 hundred years ago. This painting of the 1628 mission, La Purisima Conception de Cuarar (Quarai), looks down the valley toward the village of Punta de Agua and the Estancia Basin beyond. Located in the foothills of the Manzano Mountains, Quarai enjoyed a fertile and somewhat protected location, although in the 1660s famine decimated all the Salinas pueblos which were abandoned by 1672. I love this part of central New Mexico and its history. This is the one of five paintings I did some years ago of the mission churches. In a forthcoming trip to NM I will be exploring other missions and pueblos with an eye to a series of NM paintings.

Meanwhile, there is another creative nudge occupying some of my attention. All my adult life people have urged me to write my stories - and all my adult life I have resisted. These prods had pretty much ended as I produced more paintings but in the past two weeks once again people have been urging me to write. Two such prods came from individuals whom I had just met. Knowing how much I have disliked the idea of sitting down and trying to produce a piece of writing, I am now viewing this painting blog as a bridge to writing. One of those new acquaintances urging me to write is himself a writer who explores his thoughts in notes to himself. That reminded me of Hugh Prather's Notes to Myself which I first read years ago while living in NM. And for the previous two summers I attended The Writing Salon in Taos - again connecting these two aspects of my life. So, maybe this is the stimulation I have needed to venture into the written word. We'll see how far I go.