Hogan on the Hill

Hogan on the Hill, 10x10

It is a windy day when I see this hogan on top of a small rise on the outskirts of Fort Defiance, but I'm able to angle the van into a little driveway cut-in, and get out of the wind to paint.

The hogan is deserted, but still sturdy and straight, and habitable, I'd guess. It must have a good view of the mountains, and of that edge of town, too. 

According to Steve Getzwiller's Nizhoni Ranch Gallery, a website that explains and discusses a number of topics about the Navajo, the hogan is considered a gift of the gods, and, while it is the traditional home of the Navajo, it "occupies a place in the sacred world." The first hogans were built of turquoise, jet, and abalone and white shells. Traditionally, the building of a hogan is a community affair, and is consecrated with a rite asking to let this place be happy. 

And yet, many of the hogans I see are deserted, like this one. One Navajo tells me that the hogans are used for religious purposes, or to provide shelter if someone in the family needs a place to live. There are no walls inside a hogan; it is one big, open space. Traditionally, it had a hole in the ceiling; a fire would be built below the hole, and the smoke would rise and escape through that hole. These days, it is as likely to have a chimney instead of a hole, and a door instead of a blanket hanging over the single, east-facing opening. 

Also on Getzwiller's site is a page showing some contemporary Navajo rugs. Click here to see them! It's well worth the time - they're amazing. The historic ones are, too, and you can find a link on that same page.

My painting in the landscape

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 A couple days after I paint "Off Navajo Road," I go back to the same road, hoping to paint again. I turn off the main road, drive about a half a mile, and see something happening down the road in front of me. I stop to watch - there is no traffic - and I realize it's a herd of something, crossing the road in front of me.

I wait, and pretty soon, I can see it is a small flock of goats, with a llama and three dogs. The llama and dogs must be protection and guidance for the goats. Two of the dogs are cattle dogs, and one is a large white dog, probably a Kuvasz, a Hungarian herding dog Peter and I first encountered in Maine, at a farm owned by a bunch of nuns.

The dogs get the little herd safely off the road, and guide them along the scrubby verge. It seems very clear that they have some place to be, and I can't help wondering how this little journey began. Have the goats decided they want a new place to graze? Did the owner of this little herd give instructions to the dogs - "Take them down the road until you get past that third driveway, then turn south and bring them to the field along Indian Route 12, ok?" It is mystifying.

After they pass, I head down the road, until I see a sign that promises road construction for the next 55 miles. That's when I stop, have my lunch, make the small watercolors, and head back. When I am on the main road, I catch a glimpse of the little herd near one of the green hills along the main road.

Here's the herd, a couple hours after I first see them, grazing away in a field off the main road.  

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Dog of the Day

The paintings I'm posting are still from the reservation, and I have a few more still to post from there. But I've moved east, heading for Memphis, where I have a show this coming weekend. I've been stuck a couple of times by bad weather. This dog, I encountered on a sunny moment between storms near Morrilton, Ark. He was someone's dog, but he'd have jumped in the car and come home with me. He was that kind of friendly guy.