6-02 Gusher

Santa Fe in May

In 1992 I was jogging in Central Park when I saw a large crowd gathered in front of the Metropolitan Museum. I inquired and found that there was a showing of the works of Georgia O’Keefe. The showing was sold out for sometime to come. Well, I hardly knew who Georgia was but I verified that she was very special as a US female painter. Enough said. I hung around until I found somebody selling their tickets and arranged to attend. I liked what I saw and purchased books commemorating the exhibition for us and for the two artistic members of our family. Thus, began my interest in Georgia O’Keefe. Within a year or two that exhibit moved to LA. My sister, Bettie, who is quite good with a brush, came and we attended the LA showing. By then I was a real-live O’Keefe fan. I found Georgia’s life to be very interesting and I loved the Jimson Weed flowers and the skulls. Too, the way that she magnified the flower blossoms in many of her paintings amazed me. How could she do that? When asked about this technique she replied that if she painted the flowers small that nobody would look at them.

Of course, I am really very ignorant when it comes to art but don’t we all have a need to associate ourselves with something like a great artist? Ann and I have always done dumb things like walk into some of the finest museums of the world with only one main goal. We wanted to see the Van Goghs. Well I am still attached to Van Gogh but I had wanted for some years to continue my search for O’Keefe by going to Santa Fe.

First, I made a reservation for the tour of her home in Abiquiu. This had to be done well in advance for there is quite a long waiting list. Then, Ann exchanged into a Santa Fe timeshare. This was not easy for there are only a few timeshares in the area. We were almost set. We decided, however, to invite my sisters. After all, Bettie is my Georgia O’Keefe partner and Peggy doesn’t get to go very many places. All that remained was to get a few tips on things to do and places to eat. Tips came from Louie (he spent a lot of time there, lobbying, I guess), John Watson (he has a son in Albuquerque), and Sylvia McBride Kehle (Sylvia lives in nearby Durango). Ann’s office personnel added some sage advice and we were gone. Gone to Santa Fe.

We had a great trip. Ann and I drove the scenic eight hundred miles and met our Texas contingent at the airport in Albuquerque. Our first stop was Bernalillo for lunch at the Range Café. Little did we know that this would be the first of five restaurant tips that paid off big. The Range was so scrumptious that we decided to take along a supply of baked goods for our timeshare (I say timeshare instead of resort for this is one Sunterra that we will avoid in the future.) Later meals at the Coyote Café, Santacafe, Michaels (Taos) and Geronimos were all noteworthy. Our meal on the porch at Geronimos called for "oohs" and "ahs" and the dessert called for the camera. The food in the area must be universally good for we had a great lunch at the Black Mesa Coffee Company as we waited for the return flight. Great food in the airport? Where else can you find that?

I knew from the Internet that a new exhibit was going up at the Georgia O’Keefe Museum on the Friday of our visit. We felt fortunate. Our first step was to go to the Museum on Monday to get a look before our tour of the home on Tuesday. And, we wanted to see the exhibit before the change took place. We found, however, that the Museum was in transition. All but one room of the Museum was closed in preparation for the opening. That situation worked to our advantage for the Museum felt very sorry for us and gave us an alternative tour of the Museum Research Center. The Center is located in an old mansion down the street and it is not normally open for tours. Here we not only heard a lot about the artist but we were also allowed to see many of the tools of her trade. Georgia prepared for her afterlife with everything labeled and stored with six million dollars sort of help it all along. Several researchers are on hand year round doing work on every aspect of Georgia’s life and art. For example, Georgia’s framing techniques have been the subject of two published studies. Now that is important, isn’t it?

Our Tuesday visit to the home was amazing. Georgia lived in a wonderful adobe that she restored from ruins. The house was like most of her photographs, very austere. But, the adobe is so cool and quite, you just want to sit down and stay. The view from the studio/bedroom section is a flowing river valley below and the colorful mountains above. The large picture windows and the skylights don’t go with adobe but Georgia had to have light. Her love for natural light, you’d find, resulted in the loss of much of her eyesight. Although the house was on the edge of a small village, Georgia lived and painted mostly in solitude. The Abiquiu area is some of the most beautiful country in the world. Part of the beauty is the ever-present mesa. The whole region should be called Mesa Land.

The Museum was overflowing on Friday for the new exhibit. The subject was a group of photographs by Todd Webb. Todd was one of the few friends that Georgia had and she gave him a lot of freedom. The photos, which were interspersed among the paintings that comprise the regular exhibit, included Georgia, scenes from the house and scenes from the area landscape. Quite revealing. One thought, however, is that Georgia in later life always appeared for photos in clothing designed for special effects. She seemed to use sort of a costume in an effort to overcome impressions created by the many nude photos made of her by her famous photographer/husband, Alfred Stieglitz.

Georgia left us with about 2,200 paintings. The Santa Fe Museum has about one hundred and twenty. Her family had laughed at her aspirations and the men in her life said that no woman could paint.

This exhibit includes a broad cross section of flowers. She concentrated some on Poppies, Calla Lilies, Cannas, Roses, Petunias, and Jimson Weed. The flowers, like the numerous landscapes, vary from a real life view to a total abstraction. You can see, for example, the beautiful Jimson Weed blossom or just the pistil exploded in size until it is unrecognizable. Then the river below her home was painted many times. You can see the scene when it is easily recognizable or you can see the river represented only as a narrow line. Somehow, I like them all even though the bones and skulls of the desert do not appeal to everybody. She loved to paint them but she must have realized that not everybody would appreciate a bare skull. She tried to overcome this with the addition of a flower blossom or two.

Maybe it was because we were there in a bit of the off-season, but it seemed to me to be the friendliest place that I can recall. In every shop or gallery there was always somebody to talk to. Somebody who really took you seriously. Wow! I could visit with these people endlessly. Even on Canyon Road where the galleries are very upscale, I was often talking with big time artists and/or owners. And, we were usually, just chatting, maybe about their Macintosh. By the way, we walked into one gallery where a price list was handed out at the door. The prices ranged from the low 100 thousands to the mid 500 thousands. After New York and LA, Santa Fe is the most important art market in the nation.

Louie had mentioned that the state capitol building was special. And, how! Thanks, Louie. We spent more time wandering around in the capitol than any place that we visited. The building, you may know, is built in a huge circle with a spectacular rotunda. Then, like the spokes of a wagon wheel, hallways run outwards and all of the way around. And, and, you guessed it, every hallway is filled with works of art. There are three or four levels of this to roam. And, then, if you get tired of roaming art, you can visit with the government staff for they, too, are very friendly people. Their offices are spaced very openly around the building along with the art. Well, I had a great conversation with the Attorney General.

Otherwise in Santa Fe we mostly took day trips. All were great but two scenes are "must sees." One day we had been up north primarily to visit a special memorial to Vietnam veterans. We were up pretty high for we drove into a ski resort or two. We decided to take a long-cut home and we drove through what is called the Highlands. Miles and miles of a grassy high prairie. And, along the way, we drove through a Ted Turner ranch. It was stocked with, yes, yes, you guessed it, BUFFALO. I had read about his millions of acres devoted to wildlife but I never expected to see just plain old buffalo roaming the range like an old movie. Buffalo for several miles. Some very close to the road. My sister, Peggy, said immediately that she was ready to go home. Seeing that herd was enough for one trip.

Another day we were north and west seeking some kind of a monument. Monuments and pueblos are what it is all about in the area. Late in the day we passed a special place. Something like the largest remains of a collapsed volcano. It had created a very large valley of grassland called a calderas. It has a name but I cannot remember it. This was all well below the road which ran high above and along the valley. And, down along the stream in the middle of the valley were, yes, yes, you guessed it, ELK. Elk as far as you could see in both directions. I guess that I, too, could have been ready to go home after that scene. But, then, why? We had only seen forty-seven of the galleries in Santa Fe and there were two hundred and three to go.

Too much.

You know, I hardly ever wish to be Bill Gates rich. I feel very fortunate. And, I live in a house with stucco and a red tile roof. It’s the house that I always wanted. But, if, somehow, I had money to burn, I would immediately begin looking for a location to build a duplicate of Georgia’s house. Adobe is the only way to go. There is only one problem. I would have to do it here in Southern California. Santa Fe is wonderful but when you get through with the galleries and the meals and the scenery, what is left to do? And, besides, they are out of water. So what is wrong with here? We are only running out of water. What is wrong is that all of the choice building lots have been gone for years. Wow? I would have to tear down my own house to build here. I guess that I will have to ask Bill if he would do it.

Georgiaed and Santa Feed, Don Marshall dcmarshall@eee.org

Lumberton man takes his time in getting his artwork perfect

by Tom Eckert
The Enterprise

LUMBERTON - James Robbins walked into his garage and picked up a well-used palette from his workbench. He squeezed a green oil-based paint from its tube and swirled the viscous paint in a circle with a small camel-hair paintbrush. Satisfied with the mixture and texture, Robbins turned and faced the 8- by 16-foot canvas where the Jordan River flowed between the mountains in the Holy Land. "It's a lot of work," Robbins said with a wry grin. "I've kept a record. I've got 171 hours of painting on this canvas. It's the biggest painting I've ever done."

Robbins, 68, began the mural 18 months ago after Coy Phillips, wife of pastor Lawrence Phillips of the First Baptist Church of Loeb, asked him to paint the baptismal mural for their church at 3082 U.S. 69 in Lumberton. "I was in his home at a Sunday school meeting and I noticed several paintings he had hanging on the walls. His wife told me he had painted them," Phillips said. "I told him I thought he could do an excellent job on the baptism mural. He was reluctant at first but finally he consented." Robbins hesitated to accept the assignment because he doesn't like time constraints or deadlines when he paints, but Phillips assured him he could work at his own pace.

"He doesn't get in a hurry to paint because he's so detailed," said Darlene Stokes, 39, one of Robbins' three daughters. "It blows my mind how anybody, especially my father, can paint so realistically. I think it's a gift from God."

Robbins, born in Mississippi but raised in South Park, began painting in a sixth-grade art class. "My mother decided she needed to find something for me to do," Robbins said. "It sure came in handy when I was in the service."

The U.S. Army drafted Robbins in 1955 and sent the 20-year-old radar operator to Fort Richardson in Port Whittier, Alaska. "Every five to seven nights I'd have to stay up all night so I'd paint to stay awake," Robbins said. "My battalion commander saw my paintings and asked me to paint a wildlife scene for him." The commander liked the painting so much he assigned Robbins to temporary duty in Anchorage to paint a mural in the base mess hall. "I was supposed to be there for two weeks, " Robbins said. "But it took 10 days just to find the right picture." With the help of the base librarian, Robbins combed through every book and magazine on the base until they found the perfect photograph to use for the painting. In the June 7, 1954, issue of Life magazine Robbins discovered a four-page photo spread called "The Four Seasons of Alaska." The pictures, each depicting a different season, featured indigenous flora and fauna against a background of majestic mountains.

Robbins recreated the scenes on a 3- by 20-foot canvas and hung the mural on the wall above the serving line in the mess hall. "The Stars and Stripes came and took a photo of it for their paper," Robbins said. The mess hall painting became the first of Robbins' nature murals. Unknown to Robbins, even greater works awaited the modest artist.

"I went to San Antonio to the Buckhorn Saloon, and they had a wildlife display with stuffed animals," Robbins said. "I told myself I'd do something like that one of these days."

Years later, Robbins saw a picture of Lost Maples Canyon in the November 1981 issue of Texas Highways. Using the picture, Robbins recreated the wilderness scene in three dimensions in his living room. An old bathtub and small water pump became the flowing stream and small pond in the photo after Robbins painted the background on the wall. The rocks used to create the terrain in the three dimensional art work came from the Del Pappa Ranch about 20 miles from Lost Maple Canyon. A tree trunk supports the ceiling in place of a column in the scene. "At one time I had live plants growing in the mural and used grow lights at night for them," Robbins said. "But each plant needs a different type of light, so I went to plastic plants." Robbins completed the three-dimensional scene in 1984 after working on it off and on for three months.

"That's why he got inducted for the baptismal mural," said his wife, Orelia, 60, a substitute teacher in the Lumberton ISD. "They saw this mural. So everything is a stepping stone. He's blessed with an incredible talent."

Robbins said he could have made the baptismal mural smaller, but by making the painting 8 by 16 feet, everyone in the congregation, regardless of where they sit in the church, will be able to see a part of the mural.

Robbins' grandson, Jarrod Stokes, 13, a student at Lumberton Middle School, helped with the painting by drawing the outlines of the mountains for his grandfather. "He's awesome," Stokes said. "He asked me if I wanted to help and I said yes. He's incredible."

Robbins wants to finish the mural by the end of the year, but if his plans bear fruit, it's not the last mural the retired plumber will paint. "I'm planning on painting one more bluebonnet scene to fill the blank wall in the living room," Robbins said.