New Mexico Enchantment

This country is very beautiful and also difficult . . . it is not a country of light on things. It is a country of things in light, therefore it is a country of form, with a new presentation of light as problem.

Marsden Hartley, letter to Alfred Stieglitz, 1918

It’s been a few hours since I left Ghost Ranch, attempting to paint en plein air. My efforts were thwarted by a desert storm–one of those rare cloudbursts with powerful gusts of wind. I had to turn my watercolor face down to avoid the large drops. Of course it was over in a few minutes, and the earth here still looks like iron ore. But I had already packed my easel and gear, and fatigue from my morning hike had set in.

I’ve resumed reading an O’Keeffe biography and came across this Marsden Hartley quote which matches my sentiment. This is an amazing environment that I’m still working on solving in watercolor. I appreciate O’Keeffe’s remark that no one could ever teach her how to paint her landscape–only theirs, but not hers. I feel the same way; I admire so many watercolor artists who have mastered landscape, but I don’t want to attend a workshop to learn their ways; I’m seeking my own voice, my own vision here.

Thanks for reading.