It's Fall Arts Festival time in Taos. Woke up this fine first day of autumn to pouring rain, and the first yellow leaves on our little maple tree. I know it was all green yesterday... how did it know today was the day to start changing?

We had a slow, lazy morning, with a surprise chocolate croissant Rick had been hiding for me. I immediately declared it a Spa Morning, and after flipping through the latest In Style magazine, locked myself in the bathroom for some beauty time. Of course my version of a manicure is nail clippers, and a facial is a fine jar of Mud Mask from Desert Blends of Taos. I like their mud, and the bath/body oil too. Smells nice and real, but pretty. Buy it online, and we'll all smell the same.

Around noon, we headed into town. We'd been to the big art openings on Friday night, but there were so many people, we didn't actually see the art. We stopped at the Quick Draw first today, to see the artists in action. The rain didn't stop them from setting up this morning, and it didn't stop the crowd of locals and art-loving tourists from showing up either. We left before the auction though... it's dangerous for me to go to that thing. I always buy a painting. I think I have four from the Quick Draw now, just because the deals are so good. I can't resist original art, made that day, by really good artists. But with the move to Oregon coming up, the last thing I need is more paintings. Later maybe, once we have walls again...





Next we headed across the street to the Taos Open, and the Invitational. Anyone can enter a piece at the Open. It has a little bit of a County Fair flavor at times, but there's also some really good work there. The Invitational is very la-dee-da. Only the best of the best are invited to show, and then only if they've lived here long enough, and have shown in galleries long enough. A friend of ours, Lisa Burge, won best of show. And Kathleen Brennan took a third place for one of her photographs. We've very proud of them!

Back to the Open, here are a few things that caught my eye. I tend to like quirky portraits for some reason. I think it's because they look back at you. There's a kind of connection and interaction between the art and the viewer. And I like them best if I don't know the person. A favorite artist of mine is Milt Kobayashi. He's not a Taos artist, but I saw a show of his work here a few years ago. I stopped in front of one particular painting, and was so drawn into the mood, tears started streaming down my face. I was too embarrassed to meet him, but now I wish I had... Anyway, the following are from the Taos Open. Not Kobayashis by any stretch, but still interesting to my eyes...







And now, back at home, we're sitting by the first little fire of the season, more for atmosphere than for heat. In fact, the front door is open. We made a test batch of Grand Cosmopolitans, and might just have to try one more time... uh, to refine the recipe...
We don't have whole weekends like most people, but we do know how to make good use of a Sunday...