Tis the Season. . . To Give

This Saturday night from 6-8 pm in Taos - buy the gift of ART or just shop one of the most beautiful galleries in Taos while attending a great holiday party with the focus on giving back.

The Taos Hearts & Stars Holiday Miniature Show and fundraiser brings together work of some of the best artists in New Mexico, Colorado and points beyond, with collectors and the Taos community.  Donations and a portion of all sales go to support Taos Coalition to End Homelessness, Inc., making this one holiday miniature show that doubles your gift with every purchase. I am sure that most of the shopping done at this time of year will not yield that kind of benefit. All the work is under 8"x 10", and very affordable.
Rob Wilder Nightingale at Wilder Nightingale Fine Art does a wonderful job hosting this event. Live music, fabulous food and beautiful ART make it a party worth attending if you are anywhere within 200 miles - all for a good cause.
Saturday, November 24th from 6-8 pm at Wilder Nightingale Fine Art at 119 Kit Carson in beautiful Taos. A suggested $10 donation at the door.
My piece,  'Sangre Spring' is 4"x 6" - painted en plein air in early spring, right here in the San Luis Valley.

I Am Thankful For. . . .

Our town - Alamosa.
I sketched this "impression" quickly out of my head, from only a glimpse, seen out of the corner of my eye, in the evening as I drove to class and looked back toward town and the mountains -  it seemed printed on my brain.
Mt Blanca at twilight, dwarfs the downtown intersection where the railroad meets the highway.  "Out on the Edge of Everything"- to quote singer, songwriter and friend, Alison Kitchen.
Sometimes it feels that way.
Yesterday, we joined friends, some we knew and some we didn't for Thanksgiving dinner at our community Shelter. It is our family tradition and one of the best parts of our holiday, not because we are so generous or helpful, but because we live in a community committed to caring for its own as well as the transient, lost, down hearted and hopeless. I moved here from a large city with cynical attitudes about things like homeless people and the agencies who "served" them.  After 10 years living in Alamosa,  I am continually impressed by what it has to offer - not its agencies but the people who are its heart.  It is a heart that strengthens and encourages the entire community. We are a congregation of hope.
Happy Thanksgiving.