Admiring: Midwife of Art, Ideas, and Healing

photograph by Carl van Vechten
April 12, 1934
via Yale Library

Mabel Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan was an influential salon hostess throughout her life, in Italy (where she hosted Gertrude Stein and Carl van Vechten, among others), then in New York (where she again hosted salons and also helped organize a post impressionist art exhibit). But she is perhaps is best known for hosting many great thinkers of her day at her home in Taos, New Mexico. Georgia O'Keefe, Carl Jung, Willa Cather, and D. H. Lawrence were among the visitors that Mabel invited to stay with her.

When her third husband moved to New Mexico, she soon followed, and when she arrived she was thoroughly moved by the landscape and the people who lived there. She saw the value in the pueblos' rituals and art, their connections to the earth and to each other. 

She was also interested in psychoanalysis and its ability to help people rediscover these connections, and she would invite guests that she believed could help her spread this "gospel" of reconnection to the rest of the world. Apparently her strong beliefs and goals also could make her manipulative and domineering. There are no perfect heros! But I admire her whole-hearted determination to bring healing to the world.

The Burning of Old Man Gloom

Old Zozobra circa 1938
via Zozobra 

Each year at the Santa Fe Festival, an Zozobra, or Old Man Gloom is burned, and today is the day of this year's celebration.

The Santa Fe Festival began in 1712, but it wasn't until 1924 that artist Will Shuster created the Zozobra effigy. Shuster drew from a variety sources for inspiration, including the Mummers parade in Philadelphia (in which participants would whip a scapegoat-type figure) and  the Holy Week celebrations of Yaqui Indians (they would lead a fire-cracker filled effigy of Judas around on a donkey before burning it).

"Zozobra is a hideous but harmless fifty-foot bogeyman marionette. He is a toothless, empty-headed facade. He has no guts and doesn’t have a leg to stand on. He is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. He never wins. He moans and groans, rolls his eyes and twists his head. His mouth gapes and chomps. His arms flail about in frustration. Every year we do him in. We string him up and burn him down in ablaze of fireworks. At last, he is gone, taking with him all our troubles for another whole year. Santa Fe celebrates another victory. Viva la Fiesta!"
    —A.W. Denninger

The burning of the effigy at first glance seems rather violent and opposed to my general disposition to rehabilitate and recycle. But, I think there is a place for the symbolic destruction of burdens—the process of calicination in alchemical works is an important first step towards the goal of finding the Sorcerer's Stone. It's from the ashes of these burdens that the recycling can begin.

The Magical Art of R. C. Gorman

As you may have noticed from the pictures in my post on chili, I'm a fan of R. C. Gorman's art.

I particularly his nighttime scenes. For one thing, the colors are sublime.

Crystal, by R. C. Gorman

Gracias, by R. C. Gorman

His nighttime scenes also serve as a reminder of the wisdom that comes from stories and dreams.

Night Stories, by R. C. Gorman

Dream Night, by R. C. Gorman

What about you? What nighttime stories did you listen to growing up? What stories will you pass on to your family?

Flowers and Skulls

What is it about the juxtaposition of flowers and skulls that's so engaging and haunting?

"Life is short; even the most beautiful of creations will die"—this is what I hear these compositions say.

Antler no. 6986, by Kari Herer

"Even the most delicate of creations has a surprising strength and resilience."

Antler Drawing and Flower Photograph 4226, by Keri Herer,
via decor8 and going home to roost

Of course, Georgia O'Keefe, the great artist of New Mexico, is famous for these themes.

Ram's Head, White Hollyhock, and Little Hills, by Georgia O'Keefe,
via this mama makes stuff

Summer Days, by Georgia O'Keefe
via endless me

Food for the Soul: The Alchemy of Chile

I'm away in New Mexico for a few days, so the next few posts will be related to all the beauty that can be found there.

Chili a la Mode, by R. C. Gorman

When you go to New Mexico, it is impossible to avoid the glory of red or green chili sauce. When you order just about any dish, the server will ask you, "red or green?" Red is a little more floral, green a little more citrusy. If you can't decide, you can always say, "Christmas."

At home, we make our own red chili sauce, and it can transform many dishes into something magical: enchiladas, slow-cooked pork (carnitas), bean stew.

Recipe for red chili sauce:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

¾ cup ground dried mild New Mexican red chile, preferably Chimayó

4 cups water or beef stock

1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican

1 teaspoon salt

1. Warm the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.

2. Add the onion and garlic, and saute until the onion is limp.

3. Stir in the chile and then the water, a cup at a time.

4. Add the oregano and salt, and bring the sauce just to a boil.

5. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. The completed sauce should coat a spoon thickly but still drop off it easily.

For pork carnitas, simply add a cup or two of the sauce to a pork roast, and let it slowly transform in the slow cooker. Remember, the key to juicy meat is "slow and low." (For 5 or so pounds, cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9).

For bean stew, simply add a tablespoon full to each bowl of cooked beans.

La Chilera, by R. C. Gorman

You'll find that many dishes are transformed by a little heat from the chili sauce, and you'll feel great, too!