Not Weird, But Albuquirky
April 14, 2016
Love Albuquerque! Every day I seem to find one more special place or thing to "write home about,” or in my case, draw - from the rosy finches 10,000 feet up in the Sandia Mountains to the cottonwood trees in the riparian woodlands along the Rio Grande River. And of course, the jalapeño themed cocktails are certainly not to be missed. So, in spite of all the signs around town reminding me "There is proof of god and YOU WILL find him," and the days and nights of 50 mph winds, this is one of my favorite cities in the country.
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Watercolor of Cottonwood tree.
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Early morning sketches at Satellite Coffee, and followed by my first attempt at computer coloring on a very windy day.
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Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is a little over an hour south of Albuquerque, and we visited several times. Drawings of Sandhill Cranes and Lesser Goldfinches.
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When I am sitting alone and drawing I’m sure people who walk by must think I am crazy. I tend to talk to the trees, the birds, the bushes, sculptures, and the mountains. Especially the mountains.
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The guards at the Survivalist Show were very suspicious of my subversive sketching amongst the bullets and knives.
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I joined the Albuquerque Urban Sketchers a few times for some fun Sketching Meetups.
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The Madonna of the Stump, a cultural touchstone, lurks in the yard of the San Felipe Church off the Plaza in downtown Albuquerque.
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Pottery and Parrots at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
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I even had fun drawing the atom bombs at the Nuclear Museum.
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This sculpture, Fiesta, by Luis Jiménez is on the University of New Mexico campus.…
and back again to Satellite Coffee for one last sweet potato scone and cup of Mexican Coffee.
Love your sketches and envy your commitment to draw! Favorites are the birds and bugs - thank you for sharing all with us.
Cindy S
Albuquerque was also an incredibly memorable place for me. The first time I visited New Mexico, the drive from Albuquerque to Sant Fe was no less than magic! I had entered the wild west!
Ilo-Mai
Lovely pictures! Thanks for keeping me posted.
I assume that you will be going on to Santa Fe and the Georgia O'Keefe museum in particular. I also recommend Georgia's home out past Los Alamos. And Bernie will surely like the science museum at Los Alamos, named, interestingly enough, after the Los Alamos Lab's second, and nearly anonymous second director, rather than its first world-famous one.
Stan F
Thanks for the tour. I especially enjoyed the survivalist show. Betcha it was much better in person!
Donna K.
