Solitude – Open Spaces in the Arizona Grasslands

Solitude

Solitude © 2011 Bo Mackison

East of the Santa Rita Mountain Range is the town of Sonoita.  It is a region of ranches and horses and wide open spaces.

Arizona Vineyards

Arizona Vineyards © 2011 Bo Mackison

The Sonoita-Elgin area also has nearly a dozen small wineries and the beginnings of vineyards, the grape vines arranged neatly in the red soil. Evidently the soil is similar to that of Napa Valley near San Francisco and the renowned wine country of France.

Ride 'em, Cowboys

Ride ’em, Cowboys ©2011 Bo Mackison

Rusted metal art installations are popular. I saw dancing girls, a solitary cowboy watching over cattle, and these five “ride ’em cowboys”.  The roads I traveled ranged from two lane paved roads to packed gravel roads, and finally red dirt roads. No problem with traveling on a warm, dry day, but one wouldn’t get far in a monsoon rain or a dust storm.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for two months, exhibiting her photography in art shows, taking photographs, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and living life “solo.”  Still practicing the skills needed to adapt to life’s ups and downs.

Photographer’s Shadow – Integrating Light and Shadow

The Photographer's Shadow

The Photographer’s Shadow © 2011 Bo Mackison

Arizona is working out well. Mostly. I love the new places to explore, the challenge, and of course, I love the sunny skies and the warm weather.

But once in awhile I feel like I’m living under a shadow.

One needs both light and shadow to make a photograph. All light and the scene will be over-exposed and all white. Nothing visible. All shadow, and the photograph would be underexposed, the scene dark, the shapes and figures indistinguishable.

Photographs are a combination of light and shadow. Life is a combination of light and shadow, too.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for two months, exhibiting her photography in art shows, taking photographs, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and living life “solo.”  Even learning how to adapt to life’s ups and downs is a worthwhile adventure.

In the Mission Garden – A Time of Reflection

Garden, Mission San Xavier del Bac

In the Garden © 2011 Bo Mackison

Today marks the first month of my two month stay in Tucson. The “Bo Goes Solo” experiment, to my great relief, has been a quite a success. I think I could become a desert rat with ease, though to be honest, I’ve only experienced the beauty of spring and nearly perfect weather. I would probably be talking a different story if I was here when the temperatures hit 100˚ and stay there for weeks at a time.

I look back at the last month in amazement. While the world has been spinning and Madison has been on the news day after day, I’ve been spending a lot of time sitting in gardens. I spend much of that time taking photographs, but I also take time to simply sit and absorb. Every place has its own space, its own mood. I’ve spent time in reflection in mission gardens, in the great solitude of the desert at mid-day, atop a mountain accompanied by the constant chirping of migratory birds who are stopping here temporarily.

I’m getting to know a different habitat and the different creatures that live here. I’ve gotten accustomed to visits from the javelina. First, one adult made the rounds at dusk. Now I often see the mom and dad with their two offspring. I’m not fond of the adults’ appearance, though the baby javelinas are cute in an ugly kind of way.

I hear the coyotes singing at night and have seen a few on my desert walks. The road runner I saw when I first arrived hasn’t run past my door again, but other birds are plentiful — several species of hummingbirds, Gambel’s quails,  finches, woodpeckers, even a glimpse of a mountain bluebird.

So I celebrate today, the day “in the middle”, privileged to have spent the first month learning how to “be solo”, and delighted to have the next month to continue my explorations. I’ll also be printing my new collection of desert and mission photographs for the next art fair at the end of the month. I am truly grateful for this time in the desert.

This photograph was taken in a small courtyard garden at Mission San Xavier del Bac, a most remarkable place.

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Bo Mackison is living in Tucson for two months, exhibiting her photography in art shows, taking photographs, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and living life “solo.”  There are many gifts to find when one takes the time and opportunity to seek.

Mission San Xavier del Bac

"White Dove of the Desert"

"White Dove of the Desert" © 2011 Bo Mackison

Mission San Xavier del Bac is located only a few minutes south of Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation. The mission was founded by Father Eusebio Kino, a Franciscan missionary, in 1692. Father Kino also founded the mission at Tumacacori, located 20 miles south of San Xavier, and several other missions in southern Arizona and in Sonora, Mexico.

The church, which is a National Historic Landmark, was built in 1783-1797. It is the oldest European structure in the state of Arizona.

Sacristy,  Mission San Xavier del Bac

Sacristy, Mission San Xavier del Bac © 2011 Bo Mackison

San Xavier’s interior is filled with many pieces of original statues and mural paintings, all dating from the 18th Century. The Baroque architecture has many dramatic features including painted faux doors, wood sculptures painted to resemble marble, and many niches that hold statues in curtained surroundings. It is all quite intricate and full of ingenious detailing.

Mission San Xavier del Bac, Interior

Interior, Mission San Xavier del Bac © 2011 Bo Mackison

Once inside the church, one barely knows where to look first. There are more than 300 angels an over one hundred saints represented in paintings, sculptures or bas reliefs. Many of them are highlighted in gold leaf.

It is hard not to look in amazement at the decorative features that cover nearly every inch of this masterpiece. The church has undergone several restoration projects, and some of the nations’ most talented art conservators gave new life to much of the art a decade ago. It’s an amazing collection of church art, considering it was conceived and constructed over 200 years ago.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for two months, exhibiting her photography in art shows, taking photographs, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and living life “solo.”  There are many gifts to find, here in the desert.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Squiggly Organ Pipe Cactus

Squiggly Organ Pipe Cactus © 2011 Bo Mackison

One of my goals during my time in Arizona was to take an all day trip to a place I’d never been, to a place that was at least 150 miles from home base in Tucson. I knew this would be a challenge when I added that goal to my list. At the time, I wasn’t fond of driving and I worried about getting lost.

In the three weeks I’ve been in Tucson, I’ve gotten much better at driving and I’ve been going to lots of new places. Today’s weather was perfect for a drive, so it seemed a good time to get on the road and visit a place I had on my list–Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona.

Considering I left before sunrise this morning and I returned home just as the sun was setting — well, my brain is too tired to say all the spectacular things I’ll want to say when I am more awake. So I’ll post just one photograph for now — I promise there will be many more. I loved this park.

Isn’t this Organ Pipe Cactus against that cloud-streaked Arizona sky a thing of beauty?

(Though I might call this particular specimen an Octopus Cactus! The ones I’ll post tomorrow are better examples of why they are called Organ Pipes, but this one has a lot of character!)

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for two months, exhibiting her photography in art shows, taking photographs, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and living life “solo.”  She spent the day driving and is going to bed early. More photographs from Organ Pipe NM tomorrow.