More sketches from Taos

A couple more quick sketches from our trip. There is so much beauty to capture here - mountains, rivers, desert, that vast, beautiful sky that seems to go on forever. It's hard to know where to start, or when to stop. These can't begin to capture the breathtaking beauty or awesome scope of the land here. But it was fun trying.

Sure can't wait to get back to it, some day soon...

Ken in happy mode

I sketched my fisherman along the Cimarron River outside of Eagle's Nest, New Mexico. It was a glorious day, with incredibly blue skies, sunshine and perfect temperatures. A great day for hiking, sketching, basking in the sun - but for fishing, not so much.  I had fun anyway. So did Ken. And so did the fish, since none of them got caught that day.  

A magical place

This was the view we woke up to every morning from our room at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, just at the edge of Taos, New Mexico. A remarkable place, built by a woman way ahead of her time.  It backs up to the Taos pueblo, with views of the mountains and desert from nearly every room. It seems to be imbued with the spirit of the many artists who spent time here as Mabel's friends and guests. It has a truly magical feel.

A native American woman I met told me that the reason it feels so magical here is that the land is inhabited by the spirits of all those who have walked it before. Her people -  a mix of Pueblo, Cree and Apache - believe that the spirits of their ancestors enter you as you walk, and for that reason the land is sacred.

I loved hearing that. It was just one of many amazing and beautiful things I learned in this visit to Taos.