Santa Fe, New Mexico, was a
joyful surprise. In spite of the heavy rains fearing we might need Noah’s Ark
again, the place looked vibrant with colour. The adobe houses even more deeply
coloured when wet, a striking contrast with the dark pines and the aspen,
yellow in their autumn finery.
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| Brightly painted pillars of a museum |
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| A painting of the aspen |
Colourful clothes made from Chinese kimono's
It is a town and probably a State
so different from the Northern clime. In the centre, around the Plaza, I
inspected the many shops selling Indian artifacts, beautifully decorated pots
with geometrical patterns, all hand made by the native population often still living
in pueblos, silver and aqua coloured jewelry, stunning necklaces, but heavy
looking and better suited for bigger women I think. Just as well as they were expensive,
as were all the shops around the Plaza, except for the souvenir shops. Most shop owners
offered me a considerable discounts, which made ma e wonder how much profit
they make, profits for the middle man and not for the artists!
Canyon Road is the place for
all the galleries and artists’ studios. It is located away from the central pedestrian
shopping area. Early in the morning it was still quiet which was lovely. We
walked around and up the road, admiring the bronze statues of animals and
children, bigger than life, the many mobiles or wind features on long poles meant
for gardens, and then of course the art displayed in the galleries.
Everything
was brightly coloured, in lemony yellows, lipstick red, cobalt blue, just
leaping off the canvas. Unfortunately the gallery owners were not artists
themselves, but in one of the smaller studios I was lucky and found an artist
at work who did not mind having his photo taken when I asked.
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| Below: some paintings of the artist we see here at work |
And of course it was cowboys
and Indians, shops with handmade cowboy boots, in different patterns and
colours, very striking and very artistic. In one of those shops the man in
charge or owner told me he just designed the boots and they were made elsewhere
by hand. A pair of simple boots might start at $500, but usually the ones made
to measure would cost from $1250 upwards. And most boots would be made to
measure. He offered me a pair of Cowboy slippers for $300! Noisy slippers at that.
The woollen horse blankets in traditional patterns were another expensive
attraction.
Some artists specialized in
painting Native people, chiefs in full regalia, proud and weather beaten. Quite
a few of the artists were Native people themselves.
We ended up at the top of the
road, in a teashop with some 200 (!) varieties of teas. I never knew if they
gave me the one I had chosen, as it was unknown to me and the waiter mixed up some
orders. It had a chocolaty flavor, pretty unusual.
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| Glass flowers |
