After a long day of travel, we finally got into to Denver late last night. We spent the better part of the day driving to Taos, seeing some impressive snow-capped peaks along the way. This evening we are staying at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, which housed many great artists and writers in the past. Georgia O’Keeffe stayed there in the summer of 1929 on an early formative trip to New Mexico.
On the drive to Taos, we passed through San Cristobal and we spotted a roadside sign for the D.H. Lawrence Ranch, where Lawrence lived and wrote for two years. O’Keeffe painted a well-known depiction of a tree located on the ranch (“The Lawrence Tree”).
We started to venture down the dirt road heading toward the ranch, but decided not to make the full trip due to limitations of time. There was a mountain vista on that road, however, which begged to become the first real film shoot of this trip. Although I wasn’t quite yet in O’Keeffe’s home territory, it felt right, and I would bet that she liked that place.
After this spontaneous side-trip, we continued through Taos and further south into Ranchos de Taos to film the famous San Francisco de Asis church (aka St. Francis church). This structure has been well loved by American artists and photographers, including Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, and of course, Georgia O’Keeffe. I was surprised to find the church smack dab in the middle of a parking lot, making it difficult to get a good wide-shot, but the golden sunset light was exactly what I had been hoping to catch. It was energizing to finally see and film this compelling building.
Tomorrow it’s off to Santa Fe to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, and tomorrow evening… Ghost Ranch!
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