Still lovin' Santa Fe! The historic center of town is beautiful, what with its lovely, earth-tone adobe buildings, Saint Francis of Assisi Church, and various galleries to peruse. Everything is pricey, of course, but it makes for wonderful window-shopping...strolling the streets and just enjoying the beauty of it all. It was sunny but chilly on both days that I made it there, so I didn't linger, but saw everything worthwhile...except for some of the museums which I hope to visit the next time around.
Besides the historic downtown district, I thoroughly enjoyed walking up and down "gallery row" on Canyon Road, along with some of the side streets. I was thrilled with some of the magnificent creations, and seriously appalled by others. Appalled and downright horrified at times, because of the outrageous prices on the shlock which some deluded people somehow believed was "art". Now, I know this sounds judgemental, and beauty truly IS in the eyes of the beholder, but SERIOUSLY!? Isn't there yet SOME semblance of an objective standard about what is worthy of appreciation and what isn't?! Well, apparently not. Much of what I saw--along with the astronomical price tags-- was beyond belief. Clearly, there are many, filthy-rich people in this country with money to burn...even so, I couldn't help but think of how much good such large amounts of money could do if spent on truly worthwhile causes. Rather than buying a giant, bronze snail for $26,000, couldn't a lot of the homeless dogs around the world be rescued, neutered and given homes, as a for-instance? This--in my mind--is how such vast sums should be spent. But...who am I to say?! Look at the photos, friends, and judge for yourselves!!
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| I don't think that this bronze Einstein was for sale... I loved him! Do you think I could pass for his daughter?! |
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| The Saint Francis of Assisi Church on the main plaza... a couple hundred years old. Of course it could not compare with the REAL church, which I had the good fortune to see and visit IN Assisi a couple of years ago. Still, it was beautiful... and not a bad facsimile of the original. |
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| The statue of St. Francis himself, gracing the front of the church. |
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| Incongruous, yes...but nice to have another statue in front to honor the Native American women. New Mexico is the land of pueblos and home to many such peoples. |
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| Inside the church, toward the front-- a lovely piece of stained glass reminiscent of Notre Dame in Paris. I do not recall a similar one in the cathedral of Assisi, but it certainly could have been the same. |
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| The lovely gothic arches, so classically rendered as part of the church's style. |
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| Side view, gorgeous against the typical New Mexico sky! |
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| A typical piece of Native American pottery in one of the town's shops. Bears are a very common theme... I love them and have always felt them to be my totem! |
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A typical adobe-styled building of the sort one finds everywhere in the center of town.
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A beautiful stone horse sculpture...only a mere $1600!!
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One of MANY bear sculptures seen often around town!
A different church, not far from the main one... I didn't go inside.
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Another classic-looking Adobe building
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Onward to Canyon Road and the myriad galleries there... many wild scultures lined the streets. Not my taste, but loved the colors, especially with the Adobe building and gorgeous sky in the background.
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| Yep...another bear! |
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Animal sculptures are prolific on all the streets where the galleries are. I really enjoyed them!
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Another rendering of St. Francis at one of the galleries
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VERY life-like, this cougar...doncha think!? Really impressive sculpure.
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Yep, yet another bear...with cubs this time!
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| No gallery in NM would be complete without the representation of the state bird: the magnificent road runner! |
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This was the bronze snail I was talking about...
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| Amusing, sure...but SERIOUSLY!?!? This price tag is just about an entire year's earnings for me... who would be insane enough to pay THIS much money for a giant snail!?!? WHAT a bizarre world we live in!!!! |
The interior of the same gallery... It really was interesting and beautiful. I loved the large size and fairly life-like quality of the "wildlife" therein!
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Pet stone rattler, anyone?!?! What a conversation piece it would be in your living room, eh?! Not quite as whacky as the giant snail, but still interesting, to be sure!
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Nice depiction of a Native American, I thought...
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It is a little hard to make out, but this Native American woman is cuddling the baby lamb while looking down at the mother... I found this very sweet!
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My favorite gallery and artist... of course I have forgotten his name. But his work was NOT a fortune, and I thought it was quite beautiful. If I had a home to put it in, I would have bought this piece! (I think just a couple hundred for it, thereabouts...!)
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Another gallery, another giant reptile... I liked this turtle very much!
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I thought the school of fish was unique and beautiful... they are attached to the background via magnets; as such, they can be played with and moved around... quite clever, I thought!
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Another beautiful fish, same gallery, lit up from the inside!
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A little hard to make out, but this is a sculpture of 2 otters playing. Loved it!
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| A vast park of pinwheel sculptures! Unfortunately, it is hard to make them out... but many were quite charming. |
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A truly precious sleeping bear!
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Loved the colors of these twin birds...
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Yep, you are not imagining things... $18,500 for this giant painting of a wolf which I find gaudy and hideous and which a five-year-old could have painted, wouldn't you agree!??! There really IS no accounting for taste... and an incredible waste of money!!!!
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Ditto, my sentiments for this one... and about the same price! Unreal...
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The part-human, part-animal was rather clever, I thought...
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More bears, of course... and beautiful ones!
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Don't know the price tag of this giant bronze pig, but it too was surely in the thousands...
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| I thought this herd of horses was quite wonderful! And thus ended my entertaining and eye-opening tour of the famous Santa Fe galleries!! |
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