the lawrence tree

bravo, lauren superbrain. it is indeed the lawrence tree! you win first prize, but a close second goes to me own poppy nick the greek. happy birthday and father's day also! and thank you for the explanation in my comments and for the beautiful quotes from o'keefe herself. take it away, dad...

From Nickipedia:
The Lawrence in "The Lawrence Tree" is author D.H. Lawrence. He had a ranch near Taos, New Mexico, and O'Keeffe visited. In her words:"...There was a long weathered carpenter's bench under the tall tree in front of the little old house that Lawrence had lived in there. I often lay on that bench looking up into the tree...past the trunk and up into the branches. It was particularly fine at night with the stars above the tree."But the most authoritative source regarding the painting's orientation is O'Keeffe herself, in two letters included in the National Gallery's catalog:"I had one particular painting -- that tree in Lawrences front yard as you see it when you lie under it on the table -- with stars -- it looks as tho it is standing on its head..." (Letter to Mabel Dodge Luhan from Taos, August 1929.)"...I also got a painting of the big pine tree as you see it lying on that table under it at night -- it looks as tho it is standing on its head with all the stars around -- Pretty good -- for me..." (Letter to Rebecca Strand [James] while on train from New Mexico to New York, 24 August 1929.)


there you have it, folks! a little art history for ya...
and now lamy has dsl so this whole blogging thing will not be as labor intensive. yay!!!
ciao!

trip out

hello there.
i started off my summer vacation with first trip out of town in two years. weird... and fun! hilary and i went to taos which is about 60 miles north of santa fe. we drove on the old high road which is many winding miles of alpine peaks and valleys scattered with trailers, cabins, farms, moo cows, tire biting dogs etc. we drove up an old road in truchas (espanol for trout) to check out the landscape.
we found a crumbling adobe just like the ones i remember seeing in mora when i was a kid. i remember my mom and my aunt deni scaring my cousins and me by driving up to them in the black new mexico night and wandering around inside with flashlights under their chins. it doesn't help when your grandma has just told you stories about keeping brujas out of their houses with garlic in the old days. i remember jasmine and i sobbing in the back of the volvo begging them to get back in the car. still not funny... i took this picture quickly and ran back to the car!

my favorite spot on the high road to taos was el santuario de chimayo. it's nestled in a verdant valley with a rilling river behind it. it was the first real river i'd seen in forever. how i miss water, but i've traded it for air and sky so i won't complain. el santuario is a popular tourist and pilgrimage site for thousands as many believe that it is built on holy dirt with curative powers. the grounds were very peaceful and ideallic until our service dog in training discovered the wildlife.

me and my service terrier. not very focused ....

we arrived in taos on tuesday evening and pulled into the quaint rural town of arroyo seco. it was refreshing compared to trafficky taos. yes, i am completely spoiled. all californians, washingtonians, bostonians, nigerians, and others would scorn my impatience at sitting 10 minutes behind a row of cars to get through a small town. i was actually pretty disoriented for 2 days being around so many people and cars. don't know what'll happen when i return to california for a visit. kind of pathetic, but i'm really blessed to live where we do. i now appreciate how much it helps my nerves.

this is apple hill farm where we stayed. it was a straw bale green home with mud floors and all recycled tiles, stones and broken glass. sorry i didn't take photos of the inside-- i was actually very overwhelmed for the first two days of the trip and couldn't adjust so i spaced out on a lot of stuff. the house was crowded with a collection of colorful rugs (since the sealed mud floor can't get wet), books, nichos, nicknacks and a variety of handmade ceramics on which to dine and drink. i thought of meag, aunt deni and uncle big mike a lot. it was very cool and cozy behind those one foot thick undulous brown walls.

johnny and n graciously allowed us to stay an extra day. after all that packing and unloading of human and doggie equipment and food our hearts sunk at the thought of reloading and driving home after two nights away. so yay... we stayed one more night and had a great day on the third day. we went to mabel dodge luhan's crazy home. she was the wealthy new york socialite who brought all sorts of positive artistic and political attention to the beauty and cultures of new mexico. she hosted famous friends like georgia o'keefe, ansel adams, martha graham, and d.h. lawrence and even bought land for some of them. nice. she married a tiwa man named tony who had all the hook ups including another wife and family on the pueblo. pretty weird crowd, but they did a lot to preserve new mexico. view from her kitchen window.

mabel's land borders the taos pueblo.

we visited the taos pueblo on our second day in town. it was pretty intense, but an important place to visit. we paid up for parking, admittance, photos taken, five minute tour, baked bread etc. felt like an amusement park, but not quite as fun. sorry to be negative, but it was a sad mix of commercialism in a run down, yet amazing historical and natural setting which included many dogs in need of medical care. that probably describes a lot of the world. interesting points: it's the oldest continuously inhabited pueblo in the u.s.-- 1,000 years! there are 15 families still living there, the land in the background was signed back over after a 60 year battle thanks to.... nixon! they can now go once again on annual hunts there and get unfiltered water from their sacred blue lake.

the setting was incredible and the people were more welcoming than i expected. it's weird to pay to walk through someone's land while bored teenagers are texting on crumbling adobe, echoes of growling dogs threatening to fight cause you to continuously jerk around, cars are driving in and out of ancient roads, and a renovated catholic church is in the center of it all. it was a mind-bender and if anyone knows more about it let me know...

we also saw the rio grande gorge which spans 60 miles. imagine riding your horse up to that back in the day...

we also stumbled upon the d.h. lawrence ranch which is now owned by the university of new mexico and this here shepherd.

overall, it was a great trip. i am very grateful to have gotten out of town and to have seen something new. thanks to all those who made it possible.

does anyone know the story behind this famous tree? accollades for the winner in the next post... counting on you, geoff, if no one else figures it out.