Working with Models 101
 Rule #1 ~ Always be prepared for inspection. |
Rule #2 ~ Remember not to make your models stand in one place for too long. |
Rule #3 ~ It never hurts to reward with watermelon treats on a hot day. |
Rule #4 ~ No matter how they smell, always compliment your model's minty fresh breath. |
(This recipe has been Michael & Tiffanie tested and approved!)
Tequila Chile-Lime Popcorn
ala Cinco de Mayo
4 qts. freshly popped popcorn
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 tsp. lime zest
1 tsp. tequila
1/2 small jalapeno, minced with seeds and membrane removed
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. ground cumin
Prehead oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil
and set aside.
In med. size bowl, whisk butter, lime juice, lime zest and tequila. Add jalapeno. In a small bowl, combine black pepper, salt, red pepper and cumin.
Put the popcorn in a large, clean paper bag. Drizzle 1/2 the butter mixture over the popcorn, fold over the top of the bag and shake until the popcorn is coated and moist. (Taste popcorn and add more of butter mixture if you like, then shake again.)
Sprinkle most of the pepper mixture over popcorn, fold bag again and shake a few times to coat. (Taste again and if you want more pepper flavor, add the rest of the mixture. Shake again.)
Spread the popcorn evenly over the baking sheet and bake until popcorn is dry,
7-10 min. |
Sentinel Ranch Goes Green
What better place than Sentinel Ranch to celebrate Earth Day? At this time of year, the ranch emerges from it's winter slumber in an explosion of green. In the above picture, Gallery Director Tiffanie Owen, is harvesting the ranch's abundant wild asparagus. The gallery staff is committed to doing their part to help the environment with a paper, plastic, cardboard and ink cartridge recycling program. |
If you're new to our Online Newsletter family, you've missed a few! Click on the picture above to link to our Newsletter Archives. |
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| Grain Elevators at Portales by Peter Hurd
 Price: Please Inquire Size: 19 1/2" x 28"
Medium: Watercolor
Signed: Lower Left
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| Cinco de Mayo by Michael Hurd
Price: Please Inquire
Size: 20" x 28"
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Signed: Bottom Right |
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The Story behind Tequila Moon
~Tiffanie Owen
I was living in Alamogordo, when Michael called me one night to exclaim, "You should see the sky tonight! There are amazing cumulus clouds rolling through the valley, catching the moonlight...it's magical! I think I'll go out on the polo field and try to do a quick watercolor!"
"In the dark?" I asked. I didn't know it was possible to paint at night.
"Sure! Why not?" he said excitedly, "I have to go. I'll call you when I finish."
About an hour later, my phone rang again. Michael was bubbling over with enthusiasm about his nighttime watercolor and said he couldn't wait to show it to me.
The next morning, however, his enthusiasm had waned. "You know that watercolor I was so excited about?"
"Yes, how does it look?"
"Well, before I went out to the polo field to paint last night, I thought I'd have a shot of tequila. That watercolor doesn't look as good this morning as it did last night. Must have something to do with the tequila."
Despite the questionable results of the first attempt, Michael decided to create an oil painting of the familiar stretch of highway between the Silver Dollar restaurant and Sentinel Ranch (where deer are as common as vehicles.) He was able to use the tequila watercolor as a reference for the sky that he had seen that night. And this is how the painting came to be named "Tequila Moon."
(Author's Note: A shot of tequila is NOT required in order to view the painting.) |
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 Although he is best known for his art, Peter Hurd's renaissance-man personality is strongly reflected in his desire to create beauty and artistry in his surroundings. As a child, young Peter was a boy scientist, conducting experiments (with mixed results) on his family's Roswell farm. Over the years, Peter's interest turned to botany and horticulture. After much planning, study and saving, he was able to construct a large, underground orangery on the east side of the Hurd home. Over the years, many visitors were treated to meals or refreshments in the orangery, amongst banana trees, bougainvillea, plumbago, guava berries and copa de oro vines. Guests reclined in a private jungle where water from a spring-fed acequia was channeled over inverted spanish tiles to moss-covered, shell-shaped sconces, eventually trickling into a fountain with lazily swimming goldfish.
In 1946, two bachelor scientists from Los Alamos, who had worked on the Manhattan Project, became aquainted with Peter and Henriette and were soon frequent guests at the ranch house. Seeking relief from their stressful jobs, the two young scientists relished the refuge of the orangery where they established their own tradition of martinis in the tranquil Hurd orangery.
Now Peter enjoyed a little nip now and then, but in time, he became concerned about the alcoholic consumption of his young friends, so he decided to try and encourage sobriety. One night, as evening faded and the muted lighting in the orangery became the only remaining light, the scientists were enjoying the exotic smells of the orangery and the comradary of giddy story-telling through somewhat glazed eyes. Suddenly one of the men noticed a light moving slowly among the plants. He elbowed his buddy, who had already spotted other mysterious lights moving through the orangery. Convinced that they were suffering from the D.Ts, the scientists pushed away their martinis and didn't touch a drop of alcohol for weeks. The plan had worked. Only later, did the scientists learn that Peter had mounted small candles on the backs of several resident turtles in the orangery.
Although the orangery is no longer maintained, Peter's son, Michael, has inherited his father's understanding of the importance of building art and beauty into your surroundings. Several smaller greenhouses and sunrooms at our guest houses provide year-round color and beauty for the continued enjoyment of guests to Sentinel Ranch. |
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