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What's Valentine's Day
without Chocolates?
At first glance, it would be easy to assume that this rare 1930 advertisement for Whitman's Chocolates was illustrated by
N.C. Wyeth.
There's no denying the Wyeth influence, but this ad for Pleasure Island Chocolates was illustrated by none other than Peter Hurd. |
Shocking cold hit the Hondo Valley at the beginning of February, freezing water and bursting pipes all over New Mexico. Within a couple of weeks, things returned to normal and we're now enjoying temperatures in the 50s and 60s. If you've ever lived here, then you already know...that's just weather
in New Mexico! |
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~ Happy Birthday Michael ~
In thanks for donating one of his mother's prints to the church, the congregation at St. Jude's thanked Michael with a birthday cake fit for a king!
Munchkin the Gallery Greeter also celebrated her 2nd birthday (in human years) on February 26th. She didn't take the day off though...she was hard at work greeting visitors to the gallery. |
 If you're new to our newsletter family, you've missed a few! Click on the photo above to visit our Newsletter Archive Page. |
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Carne Asada Tacos with
Pico de Gallo
2 lbs. top sirloin (thinly sliced)
juice of 6 limes
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. olive oil
8 small flour tortillas or gorditas
1 can black beans (rinsed, drained and warmed)
Sprinkle steaks with the lime juice and garlic powder, then let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Sear the sirloin slices about 30 seconds per side until done.
Pico de Gallo
4 lg. tomatoes, peeled & chopped
1/2 cut minced sweet onion
1 clove garlic, minced
4 pickled jalapenos, chopped
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds (optional ~ for color & sweetness)
Salt to taste
Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for several hours to allow the flavors to blend.
Warm the tortillas and beans. Serve steak with plenty of Pico de Gallo and guacamole for do-it-yourself tacos.
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Perhaps one of the most challenging artistic feats is portrait painting. And yet, as a very young girl, Henriette Wyeth already demonstrated extraordinary ability.
When she was 11 years old, her father, N.C. Wyeth, exclaimed in a letter, "Henriette's
natural ability to draw is so astonishing that I hardly know what to do about it."
Portraits eventually became the mainstay of Henriette's work. About her youngest subjects, she said, "One of the reasons I love painting children: there is an inherited character bone, I can always feel that under those petal-soft faces, you know? Those brilliant eyes, and the exquisite gilt hair, the breadth of eyebrows and the fold of lips like a flower petal's, and all the future is before them, and I must get this while it is this way."
Perhaps the most remarkable are the portraits of her family, particularly her own children and grandchildren. Collectively, they are a visual recording of the life of a family. Paul Horgan wrote that they form "a connected chronicle of her enduring and inexhaustible love for those lives born into her responsibility." |
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Like many children in the early 1900's, Henriette Wyeth was stricken with polio which damaged her hands. She most likely used her own hand as a model for this whimsical childhood valentine. Perhaps she drew the hand to look as she wished hers did.
When she began to work in portraiture, Henriette found hands to be particularly difficult. In true Wyeth fashion, she determined that she would focus on nothing but drawing hands until she perfected the skill. Hands later became a prominent feature in many of her portraits. |
Early in his career as an artist, Peter Hurd was commissioned to paint 80 year old Jess Jenkins, owner of the Hip O, a big cattle spread in northern Lincoln County. The Hip O was famous for it's thoroughbred race horses, and as a struggling young artist with a polo addiction, Peter was more than happy to accept the commission which promised as payment, a registered thoroughbred mare, something young, gentle and of good conformation to be used as a brood animal.
The commission had been arranged by "Miz Jenkins," and Mr. Jess, as people called him, fussed and fumed at this deal. The last thing he needed or wanted was a picture, particularly of himself.
During the portrait sittings, Mr. Jess kept himself distracted with reminiscences of old Tascosa in the days when Billy the Kid and his band of cattle thieves were on the prowl. (Jess Jenkins is referenced 15 times in John L. McCarty's book, " Maverick Town: The Story of Old Tascosa.") The stories of the life and death of that old cow town enthralled Peter, whom Mr. Jess called "Boy," (a name that Peter considered a blessing considering what Mr. Jess was calling some of his other friends and acquaintances.) The only interruption in Mr. Jess's narrations was when he would spy one of his horses coming for water at the earthen tank outside the window. He would then launch into a detailed recitation of the horse's blood lines, inevitably ending with, "That's the best horse I ever saw!"
As the portrait neared completion, Peter suggested that Mr. Jess be the one to select the mare who would return to Sentinel Ranch and begin an illustrious family of polo ponies. Mr. Jess was well acquainted with all his "runnin' stock" and knew exactly what Peter desired. The two men drove Peter's trailer out to the corral to load the mare. As the ranch hand led out the mare that was to be the new queen of Sentinel Ranch, he avoided eye-contact with Peter and the reason was immediately obvious. She was a miserable, malnourished, broken-down bag of bones, ewe-necked, over at the knees, cow-hocked with a mane full of cockleburs. Although this was late June, she still hadn't shed all of her winter coat giving her a patchy, mangy, appearance.
Loading her was a battle of wills as she battered the trailer with her forelegs. Once aboard, she sat down twice with her legs doubled under her belly, lips curled back exposing bad teeth and her mean little eyes rolling back with a mixture of terror and anger.
Sweaty and frustrated, Peter finally got behind the wheel for the 80 mile drive back to San Patricio. As the dust rose behind him, Peter heard Mr. Jess holler cheerfully, "Good luck, Boy, that's a good mare you got. Best horse I ever saw!" |
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