Waste not, want not

July 28

Today I tried my black sand paper. I was so please I rushed out and bought 12 more sheets for 3E. I was doing quick cloud studies off the deck. One made me a little angry, so I gave it a little thump. Almost all the pastel fell off. I have never seen that before. I am feeling less confident about this paper. I basically had to start all over on what I was doing. I did not thump it again. I did spray it with the fixative I bought in Sulmona. I think it is a non-workable fixative. It smells like turpentine. After it was dry I touched the pastel and it came right off on my finger. I guess I will not bring 100 sheets of this paper home. It is so interesting to work on black. The colors look nothing like they do on gray paper. I like the effect, but I am worried about how well they will hold up. Time will tell. They are no more archival then the sand paper from Germany that I used to use. How long does stuff have to last anyway? Will anyone care in 100 years or even less? Anyway, I am happy to have something to keep working on. I did four small, quick, pastels off the deck today.

We walked up to the newly finished earthquake renovation area. It is amazing. They have done a beautiful job and have kept or created architectural areas of interest such as peep holes and arch ways. They have put in rails where window used to be so you can look out at the view and other windows that they have stoned in still have their surrounds. It is all open air, but you can feel the layout of the houses that used to be there. Looking straight down you see the destroyed houses that have no roofs. A turquoise blow dryer lies in the middle of the floor. Three years and still so much work to do.

Willa Cather in her book, “Death comes for the Archbishop”, said about New Mexico that you don’t know whether the land is the backdrop for the sky or the sky is the backdrop for the land. The same could be said here. The mountains are ever changing, but it is because of the clouds that tower up, blow away and tower up again. Behind the clouds is a sky of the darkest, richest, blue that comes with no humidity. With a sky this large it is possible to see it raining on distant mountains and a rainbow in the other direction. In the morning the clouds touch the mountains and roll down over them. Sometimes you see the jagged peaks and sometimes the tops look like gentle rolling hills. Sitting on the terrace all day is not a wasted day.