My He(ART)-Full Life



Monday, May 14, 2012

New Mexico magic

                                                    (somewhere in New Mexico)
Tara and I have been on the road these past 4 days...driving  to meet up with Tim. Tara has been such an amazing little traveller. Of course I have had to keep her busy busy in the backseat. Lots of rest stops, parks, books, movies, coloring books and singing. We drove through Sante Fe and stopped off for the afternoon. I just love love love Sante Fe ...everything is art in this charming town...even the bus stops!!! No kidding!! I went crazy taking pictures...every glimpse and corner is a photograph just begging to be captured.

This was an amazing artist from Burkina Faso (West Africa) who was painting right there in the church grounds. I stopped and we talked  for a good half hour about art, spirit, making his own pigments, symbolism and abstraction, politics, his country, Mother Africa...on and on. All the while Tara was listening intently, looking at his amazing art and wanting to get her hands in the paint, of course!!
Here's an old church ...I love the juxtaposition of the modern steel (moving!!) sculptures with the old stone + architecture. To me...it speaks of the passage of time and how we can honor and preserve the old (even in ourSELVES + our lives) while still accomodating the new. Growth demands it!!

I stumbled upon this gorgeous little store tucked away in an alley that has the most fantastic textiles. The store is called Passementrie and is located at 115 Old Sante Fe Trail. It's totally worth checking out. These quilts right here are handmade in India...I love the patterns + colors...don't you?


More quilts...I just couldn't resist. They also have all sorts of clothes, knitwear and accessories.


Old brass and copper pots from Mumbai that had me swooning. This was at India Palace where we had lunch. If you like Indian food...this is the place to go. They've been in biz here for over 20 years and are recommended by Fodors, Lonely Planet and...just about everyone in town!! The owner was an interesting + congenial man...and he treated Tara like a princess!! Oh!! and the food...I've been dreaming about it ever since!!
Every little alley and wall has an amazing piece of architecture. Here was this jewel of a piece just sitting there in between two stores. I would love to have it in my studio:)


Gorgeous (Spanish??) tile. I love the blue and white combo...very Dutch...very summery. Like I said...art everywhere!!!
Fat spools of Italian yarn...they were all stacked up on tables...hundreds of them it seemed. Makes me want to sew.

Metal art...I love the turquoise and copper combination. Tara and I stopped off at a little bakery/cafe and right across the way..I spotted this lizard.


Adobe architecture reminds me of O' Keefe. The humility, earthiness, simplicity and elegance are mirrored in her paintings (I feel).  I adore the strong lines and connection to the earth...how it seamlessly blends into the desert landscape . These are found all over New Mexico...every one slightly different. In my dreams...I live here.

7 comments:

PatH said...

What a wonderful taste of New Mexico! Lovely to see it from your perspective. Thanks, Soraya!

laurie said...

i have always loved santa fe and made many a weekend jaunt down there when i lived in colorado. have you ever taken a tour of georgia o'keefe's house? it is about an hour north of santa fe but well worth the trip! have fun, you two road warriors. :-)

Jen @Sadie Inspired said...

Wow! It looks amazing and full of so much to see. Thank you for sharing your trip. I have never been there so it was nice to "visit" a bit trough your photos. :) I hope you had a beautiful Mother's Day!!

SooZeQue said...

OMG! You went to my Home and you didn't tell me!!! Wow if you would of been just like 4 weeks earlier we could of run smack into each other in Passementrie's! Isn't there stuff just awesome. I could of told you every spectacular place to go. DANG!

scrapwordsmom said...

Oh so pretty!! I love that you talked to the artist...that is sooo me, Soraya:)

You are brave to drive by yourself...I am a chicken about things like that.

Enjoy!

Leslie

Unknown said...

Amazingly beautiful.

patty said...

OH, isn't it just the best!! The art, the blue, blue skies, the light and the COLOR!! So glad you got to experience all of this.