San Miguel Mission Santa Fe, 2010, oil 20" x 24"
The back sides of these old buildings are often as interesting as their fronts, if not more so. San Miguel is in the center of Santa Fe on the Santa Fe Trail, and there's always lots of people around. The handsome Indian woman in the painting actually was standing across the street from the church:
The back side of San Miguel is another painting that I started from only the briefest sketch, laying it out in big brush strokes instead of drawing it, concentrating on the forms, textures and colors, the way I would do if I were actually painting in plein air. I made the drawing of the church later, which helped me in finishing the painting:
Just next to the church, on De Vargas St on the east side of the Santa Fe Trail, is the oldest house in Santa Fe, c. 1646:
When I painted the back side of San Miguel I was thinking of a famous painting by Georgia O'Keefe, "St. Francis of Assisi Missionary at Ranchos de Taos, 1929," my favorite High Road painting. She painted the back side of that mission, and her stunning iconic image has always been in my head since first seeing it. It's my inspiration for my High Road paintings. Ranchos de Taos is at the other end of the High Road from Santa Fe, and with Georgia on my mind I made a drawing of the back side of that mission:
I'd love to make a large oil of this, the forms, textures and colors are truly classic. This also is a classic example of how interesting the back side of the building is compared to the front side:
I admit that my Southwestern Collection, which I'll show all of in the next blog, is way overloaded with New Mexico missions. I started these when we had plans after retirement to move to New Mexico, and I wanted to have a collection of New Mexican scenes ready for sale when we made the move. But now that we're staying where we are, I'm eager to paint lots of new classic Colorado views, which also have their own colors, forms and textures.
Thanks to rudraksh for the comment on my last blog. Yes, these paintings do provide a simple connectivity between you and me, and that's entirely what I'm seeking.
