My sister had sent me a picture of this church from the front but yesterday as we drove past on our way to a picnic and short walk I had to stop and take this photo of the back. Some of the old adobe churches just look so good from the back. There is a sense of mass that seems to echo the cliffs and canyons in the area. I am definitely painting this view minus the chain link fence and in my version the structural renovations will be finished. (Those poles on the left are bracing the walls. On the right they are half-way finished with the buttresses.)
As you can tell by the cars in the distant right this church is still being actively attended by the residents of this little mountain community. Settlement of this area goes back to the 1600's and the Spanish occupation of what would be eventually New Mexico. We did not get statehood until 1812 I believe.
This view was only one of 70 pictures I took yesterday. Before departing Angel Fire I was finalizing some sketches of churches that have been in my "portfolio of subjects" but it is always nice to have new fodder as it were. For this artist that means getting out of the studio and doing "research" with the digital camera. Such fun.
Very interesting..will be waiting to see
ReplyDeletewhere you take these!