Well, I just got back from Indian market, and what a fantastic experience. We decided to stay in Taos this time and explore it...we ponder moving there every now and then. I like Taos a lot more than Santa Fe....it still has its heart. Santa Fe is becoming so huge. It's not like when I lived nearby at all.

We spent our first day roaming the galleries and stores in Taos. We went to RC Gorman's gallery on Ledoux Street, which is always an event for me. He was the only oil pastel artist I knew of when I first began working with oil pastels. He was Dine (Navajo), and he always painted the most beautiful Dine women. His technique was flawless, and the emotion, respect, and passion he had for women came through in the most beautiful paintings. His heritage shown through. He died a couple of years ago, and as I looked at his paintings my eyes welled up with tears. I remember buying two posters of his from that very gallery back in my 20's, and how I used to look at them every night as I fell asleep. My ex-husband tore them to shreds one night, which was devestating to me. I found one of the posters there that I used to have...Red Angelina. I will go back this September and get it.

Another fantastic oil pastel artist is Miguel Martinez who has painted the same woman's face for years. I often wonder who she is...his muse...beautiful work.

As I roamed the galleries on opening night, which is Friday in Santa Fe, I couldn't believe everything I saw. What Monet, Van Gogh, Rothko, Kamrowski and Pollack did to move away from form and break all of the rules of technique, many of today's artists are taking technique to new levels of perfection. Poteet Victory and Tony Abeyeta's works just floored me. The colors and the many glazes that they painstakingly did to such perfection left in me total awe. It made me wonder as I walked down Canyon Road if there was any place for my artwork.

I think the world feels so unsafe right now, and it is showing up in the artwork of our day. If you look through art history, artwork focuses upon technique during times of war. During depressions or times out of war, art moves away from technique and focuses more upon emotional expression. For some reason, I am constantly working on emotional expression. Technique is very important to me, but I am always trying to figure out ways to break my own rules, to shift my style, to paint looser, to be more open to the Shamanic experience and Spirits that guide my paintings.

Art today seems to be more and more slick, and my artwork is becoming more and more messy....hmmmmmmmm.....well, I can't change.

I feel like I am moving towards something, but I honestly have no idea what it is...that right now I am just scratching the surface of what I really want to do even though it isn't apparent to me as of yet.

Fritz Scholder was always an inspiration to me and is an inspiration to today's many leading artists. He taught Nieto and Furlow to name a few who are both very prominent artists in the New Mexico area. All of his work is from the Other World...that place I journey to. I recognize the images that he painted, but for some reason my art cannot go where he went with it yet. Check out his work on-line if you can. Really amazing and different...I wish I could have studied with Scholder. If only I could go back in time.

If you ever get the chance to hit Canyon Road during Indian Market, go for it! It is a fantastic experience.

Also, go to the Indian Market. All of the work that they do is simply amazing! So many people from tribes all over come to this event. Most of the "best" work is sold by 7am on Saturday morning. Collectors literally camp out waiting for the booths to open right at 7am to buy what they can from their favorite artisans. That is a sight to see!

We went to the Furlow opening in Taos on Saturday. That was a wonderful even. Three different artists were showing their work at the McCormick gallery, and they all were showing some beautiful work...very vibrant in color and composition. I had someone following me around the gallery, and not wanting to cause a scene, I left. I didn't want to ruin the night of all of these great artists...but when you are in Taos, stop in at this gallery as well...and go into everything on Ledoux Street and on Kit Carson. You won't be sorry.

Fritz Scholder was and is an inspiration for me...I first read about him and saw pictures of his work when I was a teenager. He was a Shamanic Artist, and he painted some very powerful works. I just saw several of his paintings in Santa Fe, and they really get to the core of your soul...they shake you, stir you up, and make you want to move forward on the Path of a shamanic artist....

I wanted to post the below, because they are his words...and I think they are inspiring and can apply to everyone. Check out some of his work at www.scholder.com

Fritz Scholder made the following remarks on May 11, 2002, in a commencement address for the College of Fine Arts at the University of Oklahoma.


I had packed my suitcase the night before. So, early on the morning of September 11, I was dressed, waiting for a car and driver to take me to the airport. I had a ticket to Washington, DC, where the next day I was scheduled to meet President and Mrs. Bush at a White House reception for artists. It was the Millennium Project: Gift to the Nation.

I had not turned on the television that morning. The car arrived and we headed down the street. A few minutes later, I asked the driver to turn on the radio and we heard the news. We turned around and headed back to my house.

For the next three hours, I sat in front of my television. I saw the most horrific and surreal images in real time over and over and then I turned it off. Any more looking, for me, would be masochistic. I had to make myself happy. I went to a movie.

That helped a bit.

I then realized that a new Bob Dylan CD was coming out that day. So I bought it and returned to my studio. It was good, but depressing, so I went to the market and bought some orchids. That afternoon, I started a Flowers Series of paintings.

I am still painting flowers.


I tell you this story regarding my personal reaction to September 11, for I am a natural optimist and on that day, which has changed everyone in the world forever, I had to produce something civilized and universal with classic form and pure color.

Attitude and approach will color you life. For me, it is the act of producing a work, which hopefully will outlast me and will be seen by my grandson years later.

Picasso once said, "Art is a lie, which forces one to realize truth." Gertrude Stein, the famous art patron, asked Picasso to paint her portrait. When he showed it to her, she said, "That doesn't look like me." Picasso replied, "It will."

Art and religion are the two constants inthese strange days of terror. The artist as shaman is more important than ever.

You must be yourself on purpose. First, find out who you are and fully accept it. Fall in love with your life and live your life with finesse and manners. Be a role model for yourself, and many will be influenced. To truly keep something, you must give away.


Remember the paradox. Beware of progress, a myth made false by the true lies and factoids of our history. Like the Greek mask of tragedy, man's excellence is equal to his most tragic flaws. Are we the best and brightest, watching our planet dimming? The cybernetic age challenges each of us. The digital landscape quakes. Overpopulation and disease run rampant. The battle has begun between the shaman/artist and the cyber/technocrat. We are living at a place of crucifixion in a crossroad of time. Opposites cross. Polarities collide. Industry and technology have succeeded for two centuries by moving in complete indifference and denial toward nature.

Reinvent yourself with every day. Each day can be a new adventure in your quest for truth.

Discover yourself. Travel. Sensibilities change dramatically by placing yourself in a new location; an unknown street in your own home town or in front of the Sphinx. Learn to write well. Learn to read well. Learn to listen and speak well. Keep a record of your time. Learn the rules, so that you know which ones to break. Remember, freedom is not free. To be free rests in our ability to mold our thoughts. Learn responsibility. Establish priorities. Learn your strengths and especially your weaknesses. Know what you want from life so that you may attain it.

Banish greed and help your friends, town and country. Be more thoughtful, understanding and kind. We are all in this together. And do all of this with love and intelligence and most of all with passion.