Art Along I-35

The very first time we came to Rockport, Texas was a very hot July and we were in time for the Rockport Art Festival, which is a juried exhibition of original art, by many local and not so local artists.  This year, ten years later, we again were in Rockport in time for the art festival but this time we volunteered to help.  We ended up manning the cold drink booth and it was a lot of fun.  

We had a big surprise while walking through the booths, to see Anna Lisa Leal, who had exhibited in our first Arizona Pastel Artist's national show.  Anna Lisa knew who we were right away and had already been having a great day with 5 sales so far.  (top photo).  Another pastel artist was Mark Schultz who painted large coastal scenes with lots of empty space but with exceptional beauty.  

The third pastel artist, James Offeman, had been painting BIRDS IN PASTEL for over 30 years and had done much of his work for Audubon.  His work was also large but very sensitive portraits of many kinds of birds.  He was almost sold out of his paintings by the end of the first day.  What you see behind him was all he had left.  

On one of our last days in Rockport, we drove over to Corpus Christi to see the Art Museum.  They were having a retrospective of Robert Julian Onderdonk's paintings.  Onderdonk is considered to be the greatest painter from Texas... an impressionist around the turn of the century, trained in the east, but painted around San Antonio for the remainder of his short life.

Also there was a traveling portrait exhibition that had been juried by the Smithsonian and had some very interesting interpretations of people from around the country.   The museum is small and is located in a beautiful spot right on the gulf where you can sit out on a patio and eat lunch while watching the boats come and go.  But the area surrounding the museum is a downtown in serious need of renewal... with weedy vacant lots and shabby buildings.  I am afraid that Corpus Christi has not improved since the last time we saw it.

Leaving Rockport, we headed up to San Antonio where we first visited the San Antonio Museum of Art which turned out to be in the process of remodeling and upgrading over half of the buildings, which did not stop them from charging us full price for only half of the galleries.  One artist who was represented was Diego Rivera and this painting to the right was done by him when he was 18 and was submitting a work to get a 2 year scholarship to Europe.  Another student got the award and Rivera had to wait until 2 years later before he then received the award.

We also visited the McNay Museum of Art, which is the former home of Marion McNay.  Her home had many examples of Impressionists and Post Impressionists, including several Picasso's.  She had 4 husbands but the museum is named after husband number one, who was the love of her life, and who died young.  This is an exceptional museum and includes a small theatre where they give free concerts on Sundays.  We were there in time to hear a jazz trio.  

Further north on I-35, we stopped in Fort Worth to see the art museum which was hosting the Phillips Collection of Impressionist art from D.C.  We had already seen many of these paintings while in Washington and it was like seeing old friends again.  We were not allowed to take photos of the individual paintings.  

Traveling still further north to Oklahoma City, we went to their museum of art and found the Kehinde Wiley exhibition which we had not had a chance to see while in Phoenix.  

They also had an exhibition of Dale Chihuly Glass works which included the usual lighted ceiling, boats filled with glass balls of many sizes, glass forests, and sculptures of glass.  This is just one of many beautiful pieces that we saw.   We also had a wonderful lunch in their cafe which was right on the main square of government and office buildings, so they were very busy.  Our sandwiches were really good, but the flourless chocolate dessert was awesome.  
Here in Oklahoma City, we turned to the West and headed for Santa Fe where we hoped to have cooler weather.  Up to this point, the heat was intense every day.  

We chose to stay a little north of Santa Fe and finally some cool evenings and fresh breezes.  We returned from the grocery store on the very first day to find blood all over the white leather of the passengers seat.  Murray had somehow pulled out a toenail from his back foot and was trying to stop the bleeding by licking the blood away.  We got him stabilized and the seat cleaned up, but never did figure out how he managed to get injured.  

Now for all of you who like to see and hear about what we eat while on the road, I have to say that one of the best meals that we have had was in the shopping plaza near Trader Joes in San Antonio.  It was called Tarka and was similar in style to Pei Wei, where you read the menu along the wall and then say which sauce, which meat, and so on.  Turns out this is a small chain here in Texas... wish they would come to Arizona.    Absolutely some of the best Indian food we have had in a long while.  Chicken Korma below, Aloo Gobi at 11 o'clock, Garlic Naan at the top, and Chicken Tikka Masala at 2 o'clock.  Mango Lassi Lemonade to drink.  And Samosa's to start.   YUM.

Arriving in Texas

Here we are in Rockport, Texas, staying at the Lagoons RV Resort. After being at the Pastel Convention for a week, we headed south to Las Cruces where we visited COAS to leave a couple of bags of our already read used books for a couple of bags of soon to be read used books.  Had lunch at our favorite winery and then moved east to Ft Stockton for the night and then further east to Boerne where we planned to stay while day tripping over to San Antonio to stock up at Trader Joe's before heading down to the Gulf.  
Somehow, things are never what you plan.  In Ft Stockton we had one of those "end of the world" kind of thunder and lightning displays for most of the night, not over yonder, but right over our heads.  Murray and Elsie, who don't normally take any note of thunder, were buried under the covers, and I was waiting for the rv to take a direct hit from a bolt of lightning.  Since we were parked on dirt, we had to carry the quadripeds to the dog park where there was some grass.... otherwise we were looking at mud from stem to stern... on the underside of the dogs, then tracked into the rv.

The next day we checked into the Top Of The Hill in Boerne and planned for a little stroll through the town, but foiled again with a parade for some local German ancestor which lasted over 4 hours.
But... we were able to find a place to eat, PoPo's, a local family restaurant which serves, what else, family fare WITH SIDES.

 Yep, we are now in SIDE country, a sort of midwest thing.  Allan was thrilled to find fried chicken on the menu and I decided on a pork chop....  I stayed with my low carb diet with green beans and salad, Allan went whole hog with the creamed corn and baked potato with all the fixin's.   One thing that we completely forgot about Texas, is that smoking is allowed in restaurants...  and that instead of cream for the coffee... they serve creamer, ugh.    However... on the good side for Texas... they have fireflies.  

The people who owned this restaurant travel one month out of the year and collect plates.  There were over 2400 plates on the walls from all over the world.
While we were in San Antonio, we had to find a gas station to get gas for the crv..... well, in Arizona, there would be a gas station on every freeway intersection... here in Texas, there are churches on every intersection... with flashing neon billboards advertising the preacher's sermon.  These are not churches with steeples and columns and pillars... no, those are reserved for the entrances to large ranches or car dealerships... the churches here look like warehouses with parking lots that are larger than Costco's parking.  Never heard of most of the denominations either... wonder what happened to the old time religions of Catholic and Methodist?

Anyway... we are here in Rockport and have signed up to help at the local art festival next weekend... selling coke at the refreshment booth for a morning.   We also head over to the pool in the afternoon for a swim.  As you can see from the photo, it is an indoor pool... so no insects and the water is clear and cool.  Unfortunately, the park takes children in the summer, so we plan our swim accordingly.  Although we have some mosquitos in the early morning... not many and I have set up all my citronella candles to ward them off in case they get any ideas about drinking Arizona blood.  The days are humid, but not unbearably so and the temps are in the 90's.  Allan has been taking photos and I have done one experimental painting which will never see the light of day.  But will continue to persevere.  

ARRIVED IN ALBUQUERQUE

Isleta Lakes RV Park

in Albuquerque, NM

Arrived on Sunday and immediately went out for some green chile stew.  Not as good as up in Santa Fe... but we may find something better by the end of the week.  Yesterday we drove up to Bernalillo and went to a used book store where Allan found several books... all military memoirs and I got a few travel anthologies and a couple of mysteries.  Today we hope to drop in on a couple of other used bookstores here in town.

Wednesday the convention officially starts, although there are some workshops going on today for the early birds.

I am really thankful that most of my shoulder tendinitis is gone and the pinched nerve in my neck has quieted down... I hope to get through the convention without any more issues, but we will see.  This has just been the hardest winter with health issues, rv issues, and a very heavy pastel society schedule.  We are looking forward to enjoying the convention and then heading on down to Rockport for some rest by the sea.  

YUMA TO SAN DIEGO

Yesterday we drove from Yuma to the Elks Lodge in Chula Vista where we will be for the next 5 days.  Interstate 8 was covered in California Poppies which was a remembrance of times past when we lived in this state.  Our new motorhome handled the elevation changes without taking a breath... and the exhaust brake works like a charm.  The seats were so comfortable and it was nice being able to get up and move around while we were driving along.

The dogs have finally found their spot.  As long as the sun is not pouring through the window they are in heaven... mostly sacked out or looking at the cars going by.  If it gets too hot, they move into the back and lay about on one of the couches.

Over the years we have been in numerous rv parks in Yuma and have not found one that we wanted to return to again.  

But this time, we stayed at Westwind RV Resort at Passport America rates, which is half price for non rv'ers, and the sites were easy to get into, every person we met was friendly, the pool was wonderful and warm, the hot tub was large, they had a dog area for off leash, and a restaurant next to the Golf Course with a great view.  We had fish and chips on Friday evening... just stepped out of the pool and stepped over to the patio where drinks were served along with our dinner.    

On Saturday, we drove over to Algodones where we picked up 7 more frames for a total of $85 and I got a cowboy hat for our trip to Albuquerque in June.  

And then on Sunday, we came to Chula Vista....  more on that later.   

TUCSON GETAWAY

We are starting to get the itch to get out on the road more, now that we have our new (used) motorhome.  This came about for a number of reasons, mostly because we wanted to get away from using the truck which had such poor suspension that I ended up with a whiplash in every trip we took.

So earlier this winter we went out to see what kind of motorhome we could trade for.  We visited just about every rv sales place on Apache Trail, and ended up at Cassones RV Sales where they had mostly very high end used motorhomes.  But the salesman said there were two in our price range to see and the second one was THE ONE.   Both of us fell in love with it and couldn't even leave it to go into the office to talk about finances.  The finance manager came out and sat in the rv with us and also took us for a drive in it... letting Allan take the wheel after a bit and then went way out of his way to work out the finance arrangement that I wanted, so we could get it.  So we now have a bit of a payment each month, but we are making plans to get back on the road and have been adding little amenities to the rig in preparation for some trips.  As you can see from the photo, it has wood floors and leather sofas.  This was a plus because of having Murray and Elsie with us and it will be really easy to keep clean.
This last winter has been not one of the best, with my neck in an icepack for 5 weeks accompanied by chiropractor visits, then both of us getting the yearly cold and bronchitis.  All of this intermixed with our Fall Show in Scottsdale, and additional shows in Cave Creek and Glendale, followed by the preparation for our Desert Museum show in Tucson.  And of course, getting promotional ads for our first national show in Sedona.  But Allan sold two paintings in Glendale, and we had a great workshop with Teresa Saia at the end of January, so lots of good things happening as well.

And now we are down in Tucson in time for the Reception of the Desert Museum show at the Ironwood Gallery.  Here is Allan at the cafe in the Voyager RV Resort where we usually stay while in Tucson.  If you look really close, you will see Nancy and Jim, our rv friends, just over the wall, coming to meet us for dinner.  They were both in Arizona for the first part of winter, then headed over to San Diego, and now are back in Tucson for a month.  
We spent the time catching up and planning some places to go while we are here for the reception.  

Yesterday, they came to pick us up to go down to Tubac and Tumacacori National Monument.

We had a good day with the exception of the lunch, where the wind forced us inside, they ran out of guacamole, and had no olive oil for our salads.  
I had purchased some Meyer Lemon Infused Olive Oil from one of the shops, so we used that for our salads.  I think that one more of our favorite places to eat, has gone to the dogs....  

And speaking of dogs....  here is Elsie making herself comfortable on the couch.  







But Murray really knows where to hang out... you can always find him next to the heater.

RACING BACK TO HOME

While we were in Ruidoso, we went to the horse races a couple of times, which was a great outing for an afternoon.  Since the temperatures are in the 70's in Ruidoso, and the sun is mostly shining (except when the monsoon comes in the late afternoon), it was very pleasant to eat our lunch and watch the horses and bet a little on our favorites.  On one of the afternoons, we met up with another couple that was staying in the same rv park.  

Ruby in the winners circle.

There were three female jockeys and one of them was very good.   Ruby, seen to the right,  has a ranking around 330 among 1440 national jockeys on thoroughbreds (as opposed to quarterhorses).  The other two women were quarterhorse jockeys.  

The first five races of the day were quarterhorse races, which meant that they were short races, since quarterhorses are bred to run very fast for a quarter of a mile.  Thoroughbreds on the other hand, run longer races, often holding back until near the end of the race, then coming from the middle of the pack and crossing the finish line by a head or a nose.  This makes for a more exciting race.  

Painting by NC Wyeth

Before we left Ruidoso, we headed east to San Patricio where the Hurd Gallery is located.  The gallery is actually one of the actual buildings on the Hurd Ranch and was converted into a gallery by Michael Hurd, one of Peter and Henrietta's sons, and the grandson of NC Wyeth.  

NC Wyeth was mostly known as an illustrator and probably some of those books you read as a child had his illustrations either on the cover or inside the book.  But the gallery also had some of his paintings.  There were also paintings by the Hurds and also Andrew.  

White Sands Painting by Michael Hurd

But mostly the paintings were by Michael Hurd who painted the scenes around the New Mexico area.  By our great good luck, Michael came by the gallery to drop off some paintings and we were able to chat with him for quite a while about where to paint in the area and he showed us some of his recent work.  
We left a week ago last Tuesday, heading to Eagar, AZ for a couple of days.  Shortly after we arrived, we had a water leak near the water connection box of the rv.  A mobile rv repairman came out and fixed us up very quickly with an added bonus of No Charge.  We spent the next couple of days exploring the area and were surprised to see that we were up to almost 8000 feet.  The area had beautiful meadows with Aspen and Spruce trees.  The Big Lake area is exceptionally beautiful.  And the little town of Greer is really cute.  A little lower down near Show Low, we encountered Firs and Pines.  By the time we were headed home down Hwy 60, we found ourselves back in Juniper and Manzanita, then on down into Mesquite...... We didn't take any photos.... and I doubt we will go back east on 60 ever again, as the 3.5 hour trip, took us 6 hours pulling the fifth wheel down into the Salt Canyon and then back out again.  Some of the scenery around the canyon was similar to Sedona.  And there was a lot of road construction.... it appears 60 is getting more lanes.  
So we are now home... trying to get everything laundered and put away until the next excursion.    

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO

Maybe it is the missile proving grounds, or maybe it is just something in the air, but everywhere we go.... there are little green men, except they are silver around here.   Especially in Roswell, New Mexico where the first UFO was discovered in 1947 on a ranch outside the town.  

Photos of alien spacecraft.

The UFO museum documents a rancher's discovery of a strange silver disc, made of some undetermined, indestructible material and the Sheriff dutifully notified the military base nearby..... well, that is when all the stories started to flow, including the stories of the military trying to suppress the information.  All to no avail, alas.... as photographs streamed in from around the world of oval discs hovering over Brazil, Canada, and other countries.  Movies were made, Radio shows were broadcast, journalists interviewed everyone....  and even today, sightings are seen.  Although you would think in this day and age of moon travel and space exploration, we would be able to find and identify at least one of these errant spacecraft as they hover in our atmosphere.  

However... we did not go to Roswell to see the UFO museum specifically.  We actually drove all the way to Roswell to see the Art Museum which has quite a selection of contemporary and dead artists.  Billy Schenck has an exhibit of his contemporary oil paintings, which when you first glance at them, seem to be prints in the style of Gustave Baumann.  But they are not prints, they are definitely oils.  

 Another contemporary artist was Donald Anderson, who painted big shapes with great contrasts.  

There were some examples of R.C. Gorman's works.

There were a number of paintings by artists of other artists, which was interesting.  And also there were some paintings from some of the Taos Artists, including this painting by Dorothy Brett, titled: Millicent Rogers; day and night.  Millicent Rogers hosted Dorothy and also Georgia O'Keefe for a short while and her home is now an art museum in Taos, New Mexico.  

There was an entire room dedicated to the art of Henriette Wyeth and Peter Hurd.  This is a self portrait of Henriette that she painted in 1940.  Henriette was the daughter of N.C. Wyeth and learned art from her father, going on to become well known for her portraits and her flowers.  Her brother was Andrew Wyeth.  

Her father took on a student by the name of Peter Hurd and he and Henriette married and had two children while continuing to work under her father's tutelage.  Eventually Peter wanted to return to New Mexico where he was raised, so they moved to San Patricio which is about halfway between Ruidoso and Roswell, NM.  This is a self portrait of Peter Hurd, painted in 1956.  

The Gate And Beyond by Peter Hurd

Peter Hurd was a very successful artist and was asked to paint the Presidential Portrait of LBJ, which was famously rejected by LBJ in a public unveiling, saying it was the ugliest portrait he had ever seen.  This prompted hundreds of political cartoons of the event, giving Peter Hurd national prominence and numbers of commissions, including King Faisal.  Norman Rockwell ended up doing LBJ's portrait (I think).    
Peter Hurd painted some oils, but mostly he painted in egg tempura.

Portrait Of My Father by Henriette Wyeth Hurd  (NC Wyeth)

Henriette, usually painted in oils.  One of her portrait commissions was of First Lady Pat Nixon.

The art museum also had displays by artists in residence and school children.  

And one hall was the entire workshop of Robert Goddard who started thinking of ways to get off the planet as early as 1898.  He was a graduate student of physics and by 1917 had grants from the Army to build a rocket which did not work out as hoped, so he returned to teaching.  However, by 1926 he had launched his first successful liquid propellant rocket at his Aunt's farm which went 184 feet in the air.  And in the photo above, you can see a long black rocket which went 1000 feet in the air, returning by parachute, in 1937.  Many of his patents and inventions are used by the military today. 

And on a personal note, the museum had a small reproduction of the Wells Fargo Mail Stagecoach which during its centennial, carried mail from the east coast to the west coast and mail carriers were given the opportunity to ride on the stagecoach for short portions of the trip.  My father worked as a mail person on the railroad out of Los Angeles at the time and was chosen to ride one of the stretches of the journey.