Simply Norma

Not all museums are created equal and, although small, the Albuquerque Museum of Art & History was a very nice place to visit.

The museum is right next to the historic old downtown.  Parking is free ~ you just need to give your parking spot number at the admissions desk.  We were also able to gain free admission to the museum since we arrived on a Sunday morning and there is free admission from 9 a.m. til 1 p.m.  Free, free and free.  We were really liking that everything was free and later went on a 1 hour free guided tour of the old downtown that was given by a volunteer.

I was allowed to take pictures inside the Museum with my iPhone as long as I did not use the flash.  So ~ I took pictures of some of the artwork that I felt drawn to.  I find that art is very much personal preference and sometimes I’m not sure why I’m drawn to certain pieces.

From afar, this first piece of art doesn’t look like much outside of some brilliant colors …

But up close there is a lot of detail work that was done.  I wish I had been able to ask how long it took the artist to do this because it’s quite amazing.  I have trouble working on my quilts on a small scale.  This artist had to visualize a larger picture which is something that my brain has not mastered.

This was woven together and is really quite masterfully done.

I had to take my glasses off and stand very close to see all the detail.  Wow! and Wow! again.

For all the time I spent looking at this piece, I totally forgot to look to see who the artist was.  I’m disappointed in myself.  Sigh.

The next piece of artwork that intrigued me is by Jorge Lizarazo from Columbia.  It was a tribute/interpretation of the work by Venezuelan geometric artist Carlos Cruz-Diez.  It simply stood out boldly from the other pieces of art around it.

This next piece of art was made using PET bottles by artist Alvaro Catalan De Ocon who “recruited the indigenous Guambiano and Esperara-Siapidara communities in Colombia to recreate lamps by applying traditional weaving techniques to vertical strips of plastic PET bottles.”

The Cactus Light below was made from pine cutoffs, bottle bulbs, RGBW LED strip lights, brass fittings and fabric cable.  I’m not sure why it caught my attention except that it looked very weird.  (laughing)

The art displays in the first room were from Latin America and had mostly items that were “repurposed.”

This next piece of artwork is really cool.  You have to pay close attention to the details.

It’s a guitar ~

But look what it’s made of ~

Cool, right?  The artist, Pedro Reyes, collaborates with the police department in Mexico City and refashions confiscated guns and makes them into musical instruments.

This next piece of art by artist Elmer Schooley looks abstract from afar …

But look at this Hot Country close up ~ “the artist exaggerates the heat of the dry earth and contrasts the bright salmon warmth of the soil with the cool green and sage colors of the mounded shrubs.”  I couldn’t have said that better.

This next piece of art evokes emotion ~ anger? frustration?  It’s called Woe Man I by Judy Chicago who lives in Belen, New Mexico. Woe Man I is a cast paper sculpture that “combines the angst of modern life with outrage at the denigration of fundamental principles of equality, creativity and emotional sensitivity.”  I have to say, I didn’t get all of that from this sculpture.  I saw pain and a sense of anticipation of when it will cease.

The next two pictures I mainly photographed because I liked the colors and am considering them for quilts.  I didn’t jot down the artists’ names ~

Really ~ they are nice colors for quilts, aren’t they?

I really enjoyed this museum even though our visit was cut short because an announcement over the speakers stated that they were giving a one hour free guided tour of old downtown Albuquerque so we hurried out for that.

So much history here.

A recent trip to Albuquerque led us onward to Santa Fe even though we’d heard so many negative things about it, i.e. it’s expensive, the people are snooty, you’ll get sick from the altitude, etc.

Santa Fe is about an hour from Albuquerque via car.  We made sure we had plenty of water to keep us hydrated as that’s one of the reasons we’ve read that people get sick when heading to higher altitudes.

Our destination in Santa Fe was the street called Canyon Road which has many local artists and shops.  We arrived early and parked in the public parking lot although the parking pay station didn’t want to take our Chase Sapphire Visa Card because it was too thick. Weird, huh?  We wound up having to use one of our other credit cards.

We arrived just as the stores were opening so the streets were almost bare.  Although there were a few clouds, it was a beautiful day for strolling.

The absolute best store I walked into was Luca Decor Contemporary Art.  I immediately fell in love with the handmade wooden spinners.  Each one is made to order so you can pick your colors.  They are just a tad pricy though ~ okay, the truth is, they are more than a tad pricy, they are pricy.  They come in different sizes but at $900 and up … well, I’ll have to wait to see if one is gifted to me.  Yeah, right.

We saw a statue of a huge horse head.  It didn’t seem interesting to me until I thought about how long it took the artist to make it.  Then it had a WOW factor.

We bumped into a local artist who was quite chatty and did his best to sell us one of his paintings. His smooth “how much would you pay for it if you were going to buy it?” made us smile.

The one thing I found really interesting about Canyon Road is that there are no public restrooms.  One shop owner had a sign that said “Restroom” and when I asked to use it I was told it wasn’t for the public.  Uh, okay.

So, we went into a cafe in town called the Teahouse, sat down and had a scrumptious breakfast ~ just so we could use the restroom.  To top off the strangeness of Canyon Road having only one restroom, the Teahouse had ONE restroom for both men and women.  It’s quite a disappointment to only have one restroom in this famous area.

Having said that, I was glad we stopped in because I had a very unique “oatmeal.” It was gluten- free oats, buckwheat groats & forbidden rice, served with maple cream & whipped cream.  I had asked the waitress to forgo the whipped cream but she assured me I wanted it and had it served on the side.  It was the best whipped cream I’ve ever had ~ very light with just a hint of sweetness.

After we finished our “snack,” a gentleman came to our table and asked us how we liked our breakfast.  We told him it was great and then found out that he was the owner of the Teahouse.  He was really really nice and this gesture added sweetness to the visit here.  (We found no snooty people here …)

As the afternoon drew near, it started to get chilly so we headed downtown to a glass shop called Liquid Light Glass where we learned how they make glass chilis.

 

 

 

On a recent trip to New Mexico, we were quite pleased to be able to stop in to a place called the Liquid Light Glass which holds classes for people to learn how to make different glass sculptures/items.

This business has a 5 star rating on TripAdvisor and we thought it was well earned.

When we arrived, we headed into the store which has many beautiful glass items that are made by the instructors and ready for purchase.

We were encouraged to go into the classroom via a door and sit in on a class that was being held ~ no charge.

The instructors were busy instructing a person on what to do so we did not get much interaction with them.  But none was really necessary as we were quite enthralled with what we were watching.

There were three people in this class and each had to make their project individually.  A gentleman who had moved to Santa Fe from California has been taking classes here for 3 years.  His goal this time was to make glass chilis so he could make a Christmas tree.  What a unique idea!

The kiln that was used for this particular project heats up to 1200° Fahrenheit.  A tad hot, no?

After the glass is in the kiln, it is taken out and immediately “shaped” into the object you’d like ~ in this case, a chili.  One has to move quickly though so the glass doesn’t cool down too quickly.

Notice how the student is using an instrument that looks like pliers to shape her chili.

She makes sure the tip is pulled to the length she wants her chili to be along with twisting it to the right shape.

When she pulls her instrument away she looks to make sure it’s what she wants.  If a mistake is made, the glass goes back into the kiln.  This one looked pretty good.

Wait … just a little more shaping …

While the chili is being shaped, someone else is prepping the glass for the stem.

Next it’s taken over to the place where the glass chili has been inserted so they can add the stem to it.

And then the stem is carefully shaped.

Next the chili is put into a ‘refrigerator” to cool overnight.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the finished product but the process itself was fascinating to me and the glass pieces they sell are absolutely beautiful.

If you’re ever in the Santa Fe area, this is one place you should visit.

 

I’m trying really hard to focus on the Republican Debate this evening.  I really am …

But all the back and forth bickering is a little too much for me.  They talk over each other and then we can’t really hear what they’re saying.

The belittling they do of each other is so sad. Don’t they realize that the words they use on each other will later be used on the one candidate of their party that stands against  the Democratic nominee later this year?

I watch as Governor Kasich and Retired Surgeon Ben Carson stand at each end of the stage and watch the other three bicker, bicker and bicker some more. And I wonder why they aren’t further up in the polls. Ethically and morally I would rather have one of them come to the forefront ~ at least they hang on to their integrity and don’t get into the bullying matches.

I’m not a Republican.  I’m not a Democrat. I try to choose who I believe the best candidate will be irregardless of their party.  It’s going to be really hard this year.

Life would be much simpler if the only decision we had to make was how to rescue a kitten from a tree …