SAN XAVIER MISSION-The White Dove of the Desert

When we have visitors, as you well know, the first place in Tucson that I take them is De Grazia’s Gallery In the Sun.


Next on the list is this very special place, San Xavier Mission-the White Dove of the Desert.

We went there on Valentine’s Day. It was a lovely day of brilliant sunshine and perfect temperatures.

The place was jam-packed with both tourists and worshipers. First ,on our agenda, was food. Of course!

All these ramadas are sheltering Tohono O'Odham people who are making and selling frybread with various toppings and fillings..and they’re doing a brisk business!

There is the scintillating aroma of many mesquite fires. Wood smoke is my favorite perfume! I am drawn like a bee to honey.

We stop at the ramada of Jennifer Juan and her father, Frank. They generously allow me to make a pest of myself taking one picture after another while they are busy cooking up these scrumptious offerings.

Beginning with these dough balls, Jennifer quickly, efficiently and expertly produces a tortilla.

Look how perfectly round it is!  How paper thin, it is!!

She has done this a time or two, ya think?

I have tried doing this. It is very hard to do. My Navajo friends gave up on me as my tortillas all turned out grossly misshapen. I claim that I was only trying to pay tribute to Australia as all mine turned out looking like that continent.

Into the very hot fat it goes………

Before you know it, it begins to blossom into a thing of beauty!

To pop up, moments later, looking like this.

A quick flip with a fork and....

Next, the fillings or toppings of your choice go on. Today, we were hungry for more than a snack, so we missed out on the lovely delicacy of hot fry bread drizzled generously with honey.

I’m drooling over the memory of that tasty concoction. Perhaps next time.

But for now...this will surely do!

When I first came to Tucson, I heard about a pageant to be held at the mission and I went to it. Jennifer and I got to talking and I mentioned that event. She told me that she had been one of the participants in what turned out to be the last one held. She had been one of the “Indian” children who followed Father Kino into the village. I distinctly remember that part of the pageant and it was really fun to connect with someone who shared this memory from so many years ago.   It was a beautiful event and I’m sorry to say that the lack of finances stopped it. I am so grateful that I got to witness it. 

After we ate, we took a stroll up Grotto Hill.

The grotto was built in this black lava rock in 1908 and is still a place of prayer for many. It’s also just a fun place for kids of all ages to do some rock hopping!

On our way toward the hill, look what we saw!

Road Runners are just so darn cute!

I can't help myself.  I have to tell a grandma story.

My youngest grandchild, Skye, once informed us that the job of a roadrunner is to run around all over everywhere and tell everybody how the roads are.  The reason he knows that, he says, is because he, Skye, is the president of all the animals.

So, now, you know.

These beautiful animals guard the entrance to Grotto Hill.  They are cast iron...built in 1908.

The hill provides different views.  Looking to the west, you see the Tucson Mountains.

Those green fields are the alfalfa grown by the Tohono O'odham people.

Looking to the North, you see the Santa Catalinas...with some snow left on them.

Just beneath the hill we saw this.  I can imagine the kids having a wonderful time writing words with rocks.  I'd love to do that myself again.

But this is the heart of Grotto Hill.

We walked the path around Grotto Hill to the other side....and look who we found!

Perhaps it is a sacred space to him, too.

I did not intend to take a picture of this gentleman praying.  I would never do that purposely.  But, sometimes, my camera catches something beautiful...too beautiful not to share.

I am so grateful for this place.  I am grateful to Jennifer and Frank for their graciousness.  And I am grateful for Frank's service in Viet Nam.  I am grateful to the Tohono O'Odham for sharing with us all, this beautiful White Dove of the Desert.

Tomorrow's blog will be about the mission itself.  But for me, the 'place' includes so much more than the church.  It is the totality.  It is the memory of the pagaent I attended so long ago....dancing with local historian, Jim Griffith....to the music of a chicken scratch band.  Seeing Jennifer and the other 'actors' portraying the history of this spot on the map...from the earliest native people to the conquistadores to the arrival of the Catholic priests.  A huge circle of bonfires, lighting the night, as the statue of Mary was carried, followed by Yaqui and ToHono O'Odham dancers, mariachis playing and singing and priests praying and burning incense...all followed by an enormous display of fireworks behind that white dove on a dark desert night.

It inspired Ted De Grazia, too.

http://degrazia.org/Shop.aspx?page=Prints

BACK TO BASICS

I had done my timed painting and was pleased. I thought I’d find another of my photos to work from and paint another one, just for fun.


I got out a brand new 16 x 20 canvas and went at it.

Lessons learned.

1. Girl! You need to get back to some basics!

2. Gesso is my friend.

I am going to have to find the complete list, but there are some basic elements of design….each of which is very important.

My screw up had to do with composition, specifically, the placement of the focal point. I make this mistake often. Somehow, my focal point winds up near the dead center of the canvas. Since my intent is not to create a bull’s eye target, this simply will not work.

For example:

Remember this painting I did recently?

Compare it with this cropped version of the same painting.

Do you see how the second one is more pleasing to the eye than the first one?

It’s because the second one has the focal point in the correct location.

There is something called the ‘golden mean.’ I am going to google that to refresh my memory.

I’ll get right back to you.

****************

OK. I’m back. The ‘golden mean’ is not exactly what I meant to discuss. It’s a tad too complicated for me. If you want to google it for yourself, be my guest.

I am a believer in the K. I. S. S. principle….keep it simple, sweetie…so we’re going to go with the ‘rule of thirds’, instead.

http://painting.about.com/library/blpaint/blcompositionclass2.htm

I learned this, years ago.  But it seems, I forgot it.  Forgetting that rule has led to some major disappointments.

The same thing applies to photographs.  I went through some of my De Grazia pictures and found another example of a 'bull's eye' target.  I don't know about you, but when I look at this for a minute, I become darn near mesmerized by the hub of those 'spokes' in the dead center of that flower!  I guess that would be fine if you wanted to go into deep meditation.  But that's not usually the purpose of a picture.

See if you like this better.

I find it a tad harder to cocentrate my full attention on the flower's center.  I tend to want to see what else is in the scene.

Here's another way to do it.  I actually think I like this one the best.

I think I will start drawing those lines on my canvases BEFORE  I start my painting.  I need all the help I can get.

And then, possibly, I won't have to  use so much gesso to cover up a bad application of expensive paint!

But, I am grateful for gesso which can save many a canvas from destruction.

NEVER ON SUNDAY VALENTINE

The sweetest sound of love is silent communion.
Happy Valentine's Day.

I am grateful for silence.

THE COLOR RED

My witty husband said my first picture should be of the balance of our bank account.

To that, I can only say, thank goodness for our small overdraft protection.

Red will be the most difficult color for me to do, because red is probably my least favorite color. 

I'm talking about red...real red....Marilyn Monroe red...or fire engine red.

Throw a little orange in it...or some blue...and I like it a lot better.

Nevertheless, I was able to find a few photos that are fitting.

Red, of course is one of the primary colors.

Red
Blue
Yellow

Out of those three colors, plus white, all other colors are made.  ALL of them!  Isn't that amazing? 

http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html


Anyway...back to red.

Red is the color of valentines, of course.

So, I guess it's fitting that I am featuring this color so close to Valentine's Day.

It's also the color of something I dearly love.

Red Chiles!!!!!!!

Here are some, drying on a roof-top and hanging from the rafters of a shop in Hatch, New Mexico, where the very best red chiles come from!

From these beauties, you can make this.

Yes, that is red...not brown.  And, it is tuly red HOT!!!

You won't find the recipe for it in this.....

but you can find lots and lots of good recipes.  This is my 'go-to' cook book........

this and The Pioneer Woman's website.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Be careful, though.  That woman might make us all fat!  Fat, but happy!!!

Speaking of happy....this always makes me feel happy.

It says, 'somebody in Kayenta, Az LOVES YOU!'

My sweet sister/daughter/friend, Samanta gave it to me.

I remember so many happy times with her in my kitchen.  Of course, those glass shelves in my kitchen window with all the colored jars and bottles DOES have one that is red.

I did the 'cartoon' application to this photo because the dust on the shelf was showing in the picture and I didn't want to clean it.

I'm just being honest.

My dear friend, Lori, brought me this fridge magnet when she went on her Alaskan cruise.

And I have this vintage treasure that I got at the swap meet for a quarter.

Our last name is Baker....so, of course, this has a prominent spot in our kitchen!

I couldn't help but take a picture of this old pick-up truck when Lori and I went to Tubac.

And these cactus buds that I saw in the patio at De Grazia's Gallery In the Sun.

While searching through my old photos, looking for 'red', I found this picture I took several years ago of my sweet daughter-in-law's grandfather's old barn. 

See how pink it all looks?  I did a painting from this photograph and gave it to her.  Bless her heart.  I say that, because I slavishly painted exactly what I saw in the photo.  She now has a painting of her grandfather's barn which looks as if it was painted with Pepto Bismol.  I urge her to rip the canvas off the stretcher bars, throw it in the trash and use the wood in her chimenea.  Please?  I beg of you!

I also had this picture of Poppy's barn.

Since that roof is actually red instead of pink, I thought I'd do a timed painting of this picture for today's RED blog.

Here it is.

I don't know what possessed me to do a timed painting of a building, but I'm glad I did it.  Even in this unfinished stage, I think it's better than the first one I  painted of it....in spite of the glaring error in the  proportions of the right side of the barn.

Speaking of buildings, several years ago, while traveling in hubby's 18-wheeler, we came upon this wonderful, old-fashioned country store, in LIKELY, CALIFORNIA.  It reminded me of the store my family had in Roswell, New Mexico.  But we never had such a really neat sign painted on our storefront.

It really brings me back to a time when life was much more simple.

I'll drink to that!

I am grateful for every color in the Creator's rainbow!

DAILY PAINTING 2.10.2010

I chose my next picture for my daily timed painting. It took a while. I want the picture to be fairly simple…but with some striking features.

I took this photo many years ago on a trip back east with hubby in his 18- wheeler. This is, I think, either Pennsylvania or New York. It was in the autumn. Being a desert rat, I had never seen such incredible fall color in such amazing abundance! Three times, that day, I flat-out busted into tears…I kid you not!

I like the overall softness. I will ignore that distant silo and the other buildings. I intend to make that bright green field...the one way back there... stand out a little more. So, I cropped it way down.

I’m going to have to be very careful not to get carried away with the colors of all the foliage on the background hills.  This was actually a very overcast day and the colors should all be quite muted.

By the way, this was taken with my old RCA digital camera which was NOT the best digital camera ever made. But it was one of the very first and I am grateful I had it.

Oh…now, I am remembering the ‘olden’ days.

I could take about 12 pictures with that thing and then I had to upload the pictures to the computer. It would eat up batteries like I eat up..well…nearly anything that is set before me. We had an inverter in the truck. An inverter is a thing that plugs into the cigarette lighter and gives you a place to then plug in an electric appliance or gadget…such as a digital camera. We’d be traveling down the highways and by-ways and I’d be on the bunk with Chuck’s laptop and my dinosaur of a camera uploading pictures as fast as I could. It wasn’t fast. It was painstakingly slow! My! How things have changed! Remembering all this is making me even more grateful for my little Kodak!

But I digress………

Then, I printed it. My print is of very poor quality, due to the camera’s capabilities…or lack thereof….and  probably something else, technological, that I don’t know how to fix.

But, that’s ok. It is only a reference. I can always look at the monitor and see it, so all will be well. I think. I hope.

Also, blurry just might be a good thing. I have to have glasses to read, but never wear them when I paint. You need to squint a lot when you’re painting, so I just ditch the glasses to begin with.

Why do you need to squint when you paint?

Because squinting helps you edit out all the extraneous junk. It helps you see the most important stuff…like shapes and values.

For more about squinting:

http://clicks.robertgenn.com/praise-squint.php

Enough of the talk. It’s time to paint!

****************

I had to take some artistic license in this one. The green field is the reason for this painting. In the photo, it’s too small. So, I made it bigger.

After all, I AM the creator of my world! ;)

I really like this one. I might spend a little more time on it and see if I can make some improvements on it.

Or......
I might just do it all over tomorrow.

I'm grateful that I get to play with paint every day if I want to!

P.S.  Today is our wedding anniversary.  Only thing is, we don't remember how many years it's been....around 17, we think.  If I hadn't married him, I probably never would have started painting.  Am I grateful for him, or what?  That's not the only reason, but it's a big one!