Articles by Bo Mackison

Tumacacori

San Jose de Tumacacori Mission Church

click here San Jose de Tumacacori Mission Church © 2011 Bo Mackison

Tramadol 50 Mg Price I’ve spent a couple of days visiting the Tumacacori National Historical Park in Tumacacori Arizona, a tiny village about 50 miles south of Tucson.

source link The mission of San José de Tumacácori  was founded in 1691 by a Jesuit missionary, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. The Spanish mission was built on the site of a Pima Indian village.

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Detail of Tumacacori Exterior

go Detail of Tumacacori Mission Church © 2011 Bo Mackison

click Construction began on the massive adobe church in 1800, but it was never completed. The people who lived at the Tumacacori mission eventually moved northward and settled at the Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, another of the more than twenty mission sites founded in the southern Arizona and northern Mexico by Father Kino.

click The exterior of the church was originally painted bright colors–yellows and reds, and detailed with black. It was a most impressive structure to the indigenous people who visited the mission.

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Tumacacori Garden

go here Tumacacori Garden © 2011 Bo Mackison

https://thesentinelgroup.com/cartiva-lawsuit-lawyers/ The mission has been under the administration of the National Park Service since 1916. One of the Park Services main objectives is the continued preservation of the adobe mission church and the adjoining structures which include a granary, a mortuary and cemetery, and other archeological features in the 300+ acre park.

http://www.ztpackaging.com/soft-loop/ The garden which is adjacent to the Visitor Center (itself an historic structure built by Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s) is planted with nut and fruit trees, and herbs that were introduced to this area by the Jesuit missionaries. It also has an area of native plants including many cactus varieties.

source site I found the garden a lovely place to sit and reflect on each day’s journey. It has a sparkling fountain as its central feature with walkways throughout the arbor and gardens. The shade from the mature trees offers protection from the desert sun, welcome even in the month of February.

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Buy Ativan Online Without Prescription Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight seven weeks, exhibiting her photography in art shows, taking photographs of Arizona landmarks, both historical and natural, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and learning to live on her own. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

Bird Cage, Ocotillo, and Freedom

Study in Brown

go Freedom © 2011 Bo Mackison

Valium 10Mg Buy Online A visit to Tubac Presidio Historical Park in Tubac, Arizona, gave me an opportunity to photograph some amazing objects from an early historical period in Arizona–from the middle of the 18th Century through the early years of the 20th Century. The above photo shows a part of the historical museum’s veranda. The wooden bird cage is hung from a ceiling made of ocotillo, a thin, wood-like desert plant.

https://www.jacobysaustin.com/grandmas-strawberry-cake/ The park protects the ruins of the oldest Spanish presidio in Arizona, founded in 1752. It is the site of the first European settlement in  Arizona.

https://www.grupoursa.com/vacantes/asesor-inmobiliario/ Tubac is one of only three presidio sites to survive into modern times. The second (if you can consider this surviving) is buried under downtown Tucson, the third in is Cochise County. The Tubac Presidio Historical Park was Arizona’s first state park, dedicated in 1958.

https://www.parolacce.org/vaffanculo/ In early 2010, the state of Arizona decided to close the park due to severe budget cuts to the Arizona park system. Santa Cruz County administrators and the Tubac Historical Society stepped up to thwart the crisis.  The county assumed the role of governmental agent for the park and the Historical Society took on the administration and maintenance of the site — a bold move to protect a historical gem in the town whose motto is “where history and art meet”.

https://gritandgracefamilyfarm.com/the-barnyard/horses/ All of the people who take care of the Presidio are volunteers–a difficult, though rewarding job–and they deserve big thanks. Without their many hours of time and effort, the park would be boarded up and fall into a state of disrepair. So kudos to the Tubac Historical Society docents.

here The park preserves three historical buildings which are on the National Register of Historic Places:

Old Tubac Schoolhouse

Old Tubac Schoolhouse © 2011 Bo Mackison

  • Arizona’s second oldest Territorial school building, the Old Tubac Schoolhouse, built in 1885.
Otero Hall, Tubac Presidio Historical Park

Otero Hall © 2011 Bo Mackison

  • Otero Hall, an adobe building built as a community center and later used as a schoolhouse, built in 1914.
1930s Kitchen

1930s Kitchen © 2011 Bo Mackison

  • And the Rojas House, a typical adobe row house that has the original furnishings of Luisa Rojas, a life-long resident of Tubac, built in 1890, and restored to the period of the 1930s.

On a personal note, I love the photograph of the empty bird cage. It is very symbolic to me–I feel like I am tasting a type of freedom and independence I haven’t experienced since my college days.

I’m learning that independence gives not only freedom, but also demands responsibility. I woke up this morning with such amazing feelings, almost too hard to describe–feelings of wonder and accomplishment and the knowledge that whatever needed to be done today, well, I’m the one that had to do it. But the responsibility feels good; it makes me feel competent, effective, satisfied.

And so I love the photo of the empty bird cage–the bird has flown to freedom.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight seven weeks, exhibiting her photography in art fairs, taking photographs of Arizona landmarks, both historical and natural, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and learning to live on her own. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

Cold Front Sunset – Arizona Silhouette

Cold Front Sunset

Cold Front Sunset © 2011 Bo Mackison

In the nine days since I’ve been in Arizona, the skies have seldom had any clouds. So when I saw clouds forming as a cold front approached, I headed for the nearest mountains. I’d spent the day south of Tucson exploring the Old Tubac Presidio and Tumacacori National Historic Park, and so I stopped at Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains.

I had a long wait. The sun was quite high in the sky when I pulled into the parking area for the trailhead to Elephant Head. But it was time well spent. The sky took on more and more color as I watched, and then the clouds turned a brilliant orange as they caught the sun’s reflection. Elephant Head is the highest peak towards the center of the photograph, and the Santa Cruz Valley is beyond the mountains.

Arizona sunsets. Wow!

Arizona Report – Life in the Southwest

Sun Seat

In the Sun Seat © 2011 Bo Mackison

I’ve been in Arizona for a week. The weather has lived up to its promises, and then outdone itself on a few occasions. Except for one windy day, it has been calm and sunny. I’ve basked in the first 80 degree days I’ve seen since last August. I’m 1888 miles from my home, and sometimes it feels like that distance is half way around the world. Life, for sure, is different in the Southwest.

A few observations from the first week:

  • The critters I see still surprise me. A road runner “ran” across my back yard the first morning I was in my new place. I’ve seen it a couple times since, but that old cartoon didn’t lie. “Beep, beep” and it’s outta here, way faster than I can grab my camera.
  • The birds are simply amazing. As soon as the art show was over, and I had time to slow down, I bought a book on Southeast Arizona birds. Sherpa and I spent our only free day together exploring a canyon world famous for its birding populations. I’ve never been a birder. Except for the few birds that are easily identifiable, I refer to the whole of the avian population as “bird.” I am going to learn to identify some of the birds while I am here, though I don’t think I will ever be a bird photographer. I don’t have a lens capable of capturing most birds, although I’m told the hummingbirds are quite tolerant. At least they hover, almost long enough to get their photographs taken. Maybe I’ll get a photo of a hummer or two.
  • My washer and dryer are outside in a utility shed. I haven’t quite gotten used to this. Yesterday, I returned home from an “explore” and headed for the laundry to get my clothes. I nearly came face to face with a javelina. At first I thought it was a large, gray dog, but when it turned around to gaze at me with its beady eyes, its snout was no dog snout. I don’t much like the idea of sharing my laundry room with the javelinas, but they are crepuscular – they visit at dawn and dusk – so I’ll just do my laundry at other times.
  • Early this morning, I threw my arm over the pillow that is sleeping next to me in this king size bed. At first I thought it was Sherpa. But no, it was only a pile of pillows. That moment gave me my first taste of “alone”.  A sudden heave in my chest and a better realization of what I have taken on, and then the moment was over.  But I was shaken enough by my solitary feeling that I got up and made coffee. Every morning, so far, I’ve watched the sun rise from the porch, a cup of coffee in hand. I figure each day deserves a great start.

It’s time to start my day–I can smell the coffee–and give thanks that I am here, living my dream, and that I have this gift of a new day, full of possibilities.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight seven weeks, exhibiting her photography in art fairs, taking photographs in deserts and desert gardens, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and learning to live on her own. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

Making of an Artist: Part III – Learning as You Go

Ladder of Success

Climbing the Ladder

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers…
You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”  ~Amelia Earhart

There is a lot to learn BEFORE you do your first art fair. Even though it’s a straightforward process to send in an application, get accepted, and show up on the correct date with a basic booth filled with art, there are plenty of daunting details.

But after a year of doing art fairs, I’ve discovered that there are always new lessons to learn DURING every show, too. It’s called “on the job training!”

Here are a few of the lessons I learned from the first shows I did:

Show #1: Only do juried shows. In a non-juried show, anyone who pays their booth fee can be in the show. Usually these shows are described as “arts and crafts” fairs. There is little to no quality control in a non-juried show. My booth was arranged with framed photography. It was situated across from a great-grandmother, a very enthusiastic and energetic woman, who was selling her hand made crocheted Barbie doll clothes. The craftsperson to my left had stamped white skulls and crossbones onto a wide variety of leather goods. They were…good conversation starters. Another vendor (who deserves no “artist” or “craftsperson” title) had imported a wide variety of trinkets, toys, and woven mats. Everything sold for less than three dollars.

My art was NOT a good fit.  I sold one set of cards the entire day — to a student photographer who asked many questions about the “how to’s” of doing art shows. It was painful, no kidding, but there was a bright side, too. We learned to do our set-up with absolutely no pressure. When we were a half hour late getting the booth ready, no one cared.

Lesson Learned: There IS a good time to do a non-juried show — the very first time out when you are a true newbie.

Show #2: No matter what the weather forecasters have predicted for the weekend, take your severe weather gear. All of it. The puffy clouds may turn into a cloudburst, with accompanying 50 mph wind gusts. The most important part of the art booth is a quality tent and canopy that is weighted and secure.

During the storm that appeared out of nowhere, Sherpa and I each hung on to a tent cross bar until the worst was over. The next week we bought enough lead weight to put 75# on each corner. Now my tent doesn’t move when the thunderstorms roll through. As far as tents and safety go, weights are essential. I didn’t quite understand how important this issue was until I saw my first air borne tent, my neighbor’s tent — which he abandoned when he sought shelter in his truck — crash landed too close for comfort.

Lesson Learned: Prepare for any kind of weather. Have a quality tent and weight it appropriately.

Yep, Neighbor's Fallen Tent

Yep, It’s the Neighbor’s © 2010 Bo Mackison

Show #3: If you are doing a summer show, even in a state with a moderate climate like Wisconsin, prepare for hot weather. Really hot weather. Sooner or later, it will come. Bring water and plenty of it. Bring fruit, especially grapes which are easy to eat and not messy. Leave the diet soda and candy bars at home-especially the chocolate!

I also longed for a set of battery operated fans that attached to the crossbars of my tent. My neighbor artist had a few in his booth. Not only was he much cooler than we were, but his customers lingered longer looking at his art, a brief reprieve from the sweltering weather. And that’s always a good thing. Before the next show, I had invested in a couple of new fans!

Lesson Learned: Prepare for cold days. And hot days.

Part 4: More on the Job Training

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, exhibiting her photography in art fairs, taking photographs in deserts and desert gardens, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and learning to live on her own. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”