Shack on the Hill

Shack on a Hill, 10x10

The best painting spots are the ones when you can face in one direction and see one amazing scene to paint, then face in the other direction and paint a different amazing scene. 

That's the case with this painting. I face north to paint "Near Steamboat," then turn south to paint "Shack on a Hill." It's an especially excellent spot, as it's a windy day, and I'm able to use the van to block the wind. 

I continue to be amazed at the homesteads that I see out on the plains, miles and miles from neighbors, stores, commerce of any kind. Many of these do involve more than one building, though, and as I stayed on, it became clear that entire families live together on the reservation - grandparents, great-grandparents, and many adult children and their children. 

This is a good thing and a not-so-good thing, according to a couple Navajo women I meet. It's great to have the love and support of a family, but not so good to have the constant presence of a watchful family. One young woman moved to a hogan at the very edge of the property, but tells me she still feels that her privacy is virtually nonexistent. 

Another Navajo, however, pointed out that while I see homeless dogs on the reservation, I see no homeless people. And she's right. 

My painting in the landscape

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 I have to crop these photos so that you can see the houses, but believe me, from the road, they are just tiny specks. And there are no other houses anywhere near these. The quiet must be amazing and total. The night sky must be astonishingly brilliant. But how do you get help, if you need it? How much of your day is spent traveling to shop or visit friends, on the day that you do that? How long a bus ride is it for the kids to get to school? I thought places I saw in Maine, or on the Eastern Shore were remote - they are nothing compared to places on the reservation.

This scene, above, feels like the top of the world to me. 

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Dog of the Day

Yes, I know it's a cow. It makes me laugh, though. Cows are more or less allowed to roam free on the reservation. Across most access ways to the roads are cattle guards - roadway-wide segments of metal bars set into the road itself. Cars can go over them easily, but cows won't walk on them. But I see cows in a number of un-cowlike places, and this is one. These metal buildings are part of the government complex at Window Rock, and this cow is enjoying some government-grown grass, late one Sunday afternoon. 

Tuesday Morning Sun

Tuesday Morning Sun, 10x10

This painting, and the one I made with it, Morning Majesty, come easily to me, which is always a joy. It is a cold morning, frosty even, and I find a place to pull off the main road, a place I haven't seen before, though I look every day. 

When I paint back east, people always honk at me, and often shout at me. This is worst in New England and New York, but it happens pretty much everywhere in the east. 

Here, on the reservation, no one does this, and I am thankful. I will be painting, focusing hard on what I'm doing, and in the best of times, the real world sort of falls away, and it is me and the painting. Then some idiot comes along and feels he has to honk and yell at me. I have often jumped so hard that I've smeared the painting. And it always pulls me out of the painting, out of the zone. 

Several Navajos have come up to talk with me while I've been painting on the reservation, but they have approached me quietly, and asked if it was OK to talk and to look. This happens on the Eastern Shore, too, and I do appreciate it. 

Here are my two paintings in the landscape

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 Around the Region

Matthew Bia works the desk at the Microtel in Gallup where I stay during my time painting on the reservation. He is a nice guy, who answers a lot of my questions, and is interested in my painting. He says that he and the staff at the Microtel work seven days a week, just to make ends meet. Below, Historic Route 66, near the hotel where I stay. Hotels and gas stations and convenience stores line up on Route 66 west of Gallup. There's a strange 7- or 8-mile gap between the commercial area on the west side, and old, downtown Gallup to the east. 

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Saw this guy riding, out on the reservation, and, as you can see, walking up the hills. 

I love this small metal building, gray as the February trees that surround it.

On a day when the wind makes me stop painting, in the Petrified Forest, I drive into the

 non-national-park area of the Painted Desert, on the way to Keam's Canyon.

Here's my van, about halfway through the trip. 

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Dog of the Day

Saw this mastiff at the show in Tubac. He was sweet, but very slobbery! 

Snow in the Shadows

Snow in the Shadows

Oil on canvas, 10x10

The days are warm here - well, warmer than back East - but the nights are clear and brilliant and very cold, and so, in the shadows, the snow holds on tight. 

I get the idea to paint the snow in the shadows, and I start looking, first for the snow, and second for a place where I can pull off the road and set up to paint. 

This is always a tall order, and out here, it's no different. At least there are no ditches along the roads here, as there are in so many other places in the US. Here, there are not many roads, well, not many paved roads - and people drive fast! I understand, they are covering long, long distances. But sheesh, drive the speed limit and they're right on your tail. And I drive far below the speed limit, usually, looking, looking, looking. I am a constant annoyance on the road.

I made this painting a couple days ago. Since then, the days and nights have cooled dramatically. So I might go looking for more snow in the shadows, I like this painting so very much. 

My painting in the landscape

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Around the Area

One of the back roads in Fort Defiance. The red dust gets all over everything, washing cars and houses and trees and pretty much everything into a somewhat monotone color. 

This area is at a very high elevation! I see this sign on the road from Fort Defiance to Ganado. 

These yellow rocks above are on the way to Gallup, on the highway. 

The yellow rocks below are on the road from Gallup to Fort Defiance. 

 Sheep and a llama hanging around near the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado. 

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Dog of the Day

The first place I stop to paint snow in the shadows is guarded by this fierce - or apparently fierce - dog, who rushes out, barking wildly at me, as I pull into the driveway. I do not test his ferocity, but go looking for another spot where there's snow in the shadows. 

San Xavier - and One Smart Dog

San Xavier

Oil on canvas, 10x10

At the request of Lois Vanskike, one of the sponsors of this trip, I go to Mission San Xavier del Bac - with my dad - to paint, and to look around. 

The place is absolutely fantastic, and well worth the visit. It's the oldest intact European structure in Arizona, according to its website, and is a national historic landmark. 

The mission was founded by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Kino was born in what is now northern Italy. After taking his vows, he came to Sonora, in northern Mexico, then moved to California and eventually Arizona. There, he helped the local people develop their farming techniques, and to raise cattle, sheep and goats. He brought 20 cattle to the area; during his life, the herd grew to more than 70,000. 

In addition to starting the mission at San Xavier, he also started the Tumacacori mission, just south of Tubac. 

When you're driving down I-19 from Tucson to Tubac (incidentally, I-19 is the only interstate in the US that's measured in kilometers), you can see the mission off to the west. It shines a brilliant white, and Dad tells me it's called the White Dove of the Desert. I've wanted to visit ever since I saw it, so it's really a treat to go there with Dad. 

We walk around the church first. It is heavily decorated inside, with carvings and paintings and tons of gold. The ceiling soars, and angels and cherubs dance around up there. Underfoot, the stones are bowed and worn from thousands of years of feet walking on them. The church still functions as a church, even now. 

A renovation is underway, but it's not done yet. 

Here's my painting in the landscape. 

Here's Dad, sketching. Below is his sketch. 

And here's Dad, inside the church. 

Behind the church is a lovely courtyard

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Dog of the Day

 This dog was hanging around at the snack bar at San Xavier. There are lots of stray dogs around Indian reservations in Arizona. This was clearly one of the smart ones - he'd found where the food was, and he was sticking there.

First, I gave him some corn chips, and he liked them. Then, I gave him one of Dad's french fries. Then I got up and got him a hot dog, and gave him the whole thing. Then I gave him another french fry, and he turned it down!

Then he took a few steps away, laid down on the warm cement, and rolled all over, scratching his back and making a satisfied groaning noise. When the next folks came in for lunch, he was ready to eat again!