Mission San Xavier del Bac

Essence of Place – Mission San Xavier del Bac

February 19, 2014 by Bo Mackison 6 Comments

https://www.parolacce.org/2024/09/18/hq6hqler5l go “Essence of Place” – A limited selection of photographs that, when combined, provide an overall feel for a place and offer a unique glimpse into what gives a place its particular essence. The mood or emotion portrayed in the place is emphasized. People are frequently included to illustrate culture or connection. ~ Bo Mackison

Capturing “Essence of Place” is not limited to expansive landscape and wilderness areas.

https://boxfanexpo.com/0nry445gt7 Essence of Place is also a useful container when photographing historical sites, architectural spaces and urban settings. are also perfect spaces to capture their essence in a limited number of photos.

https://trevabrandonscharf.com/ht9lds6ngna In some settings, particularly if one is traveling to see a special place, it is helpful to do some research and list a few words or phrases that highlight what the qualities that capture the essence of place. This is simply a place to begin — there will always be the serendipitous photos seen on site.

https://www.fandangotrading.com/rrg1m2whq When photographing an architectural, it is helpful to keep in mind scale, and include photos of the entire site, photos of a part of the building’s exterior, plus expansive interior photos, intimate interior photos, and photos that capture small, telling details.

Words, phrases and concepts that define the “Essence of Place” at Mission Xavier del Bac:

National Historic Landmark
Catholic mission
a sacred place and active ministry
south of Tucson Arizona
construction from 1783 through 1797
built by the Tohono O’odham tribe, under the direction of Spanish Franciscans
oldest European structure in Arizona
original statuary, murals undergo constant restoration as funds are available
carved wooden statues of Native Americans and other saints
roofed with masonry vaults, domes
shells (symbol of pilgrimage) and cords (Franciscan symbol) are throughout the church
lime plaster exterior covering adobe bricks
painted curtains, marbling, even exterior drain spouts

This intimate landscape highlights the adobe brick structure, covered with lime plaster.

watch The white is stark against the Arizona bright blue skies. Desert trees offer minimal protection and shade. The sharp angles taken from a low vantage point emphasize the church’s majestic presence over the surrounding desert environment.

Creative details abound in the Mission Church.

https://semnul.com/creative-mathematics/?p=0iqi21cuxxh In this frontier land in the 1700s, stone and adobe were available for building supplies, as was a limited amount of wood, but other items were hauled from Mexico, requiring a difficult overland trek

click This did not stop the creators of the church from fabricating a sacred space using paint, gesso, and other natural materials. In one example, the drain spouts were fabricated from adobe, covered with lime plaster, and then painted from a crushed red rock substance.

In this portrait in a landscape, visiting brothers explore and worship in the historic church.

https://technocretetrading.com/3kmz993mc The original church, whose construction dates from 1783-1797, was built by Tohono O’odham and supervised by Spanish Franciscan priests and brothers. The church has been repaired and renovate countless times – after periods of abandonment and disuse, earthquake damage, and lightning strike fires. Renovation is an ongoing process.

https://www.thephysicaltherapyadvisor.com/2024/09/18/4iqdpf6e Pilgrims from around the world, some 200,000 a year, visit the Mission Church known as the “White Dove of the Desert”, a sacred space steeped in history, culture, and art.

The sacristy and east and west transepts feature over a hundred carved statues and murals.

Order Valium Online Canada Fabricated curtains, tassels, fonts, niches, and columns are carved from plaster and then highly decorated to resemble marble, fabric, gilding, and wood.

The mission church is a National Historic Landmark.

https://www.fandangotrading.com/dhx4jxt It is the oldest, still intact, European structure in Arizona. Masonry vaults and domes form the roof which makes it unique among Spanish Colonial buildings in the United States borderland.

https://ragadamed.com.br/2024/09/18/8omw2bvqv The church continues with restoration as funds become available. A glimpse of the scaffolds in the west sacristy is the site of a current restoration project. Experts are restoring a wall mural.

Statues were usually created in the artist guilds in Mexico.

https://traffordhistory.org/lookingback/g0wkgvgfhds Then the statues were transported to the Mission where local artists added the finishing touches. Often the statues were “dressed” in gesso or fabric.

Candles are an integral part in many Catholic Churches.

click here A warm golden glow emits from the many candle racks in the transepts of the church. Parishioners and visitors light candles as offerings, in gratitude and in petition. The candle lit areas are a favorite place for quiet prayer, introspection, meditation.

https://www.thoughtleaderlife.com/jusvptyxn I chose to take a photograph of these candles and highlight the painted portrait of St. Francis Xavier, namesake of the mission and a revered saint of the Tohono O’odham — a “portrait” in a still life photograph.

A side chapel honors the namesake of the mission, St Francis Xavier.

https://www.thephysicaltherapyadvisor.com/2024/09/18/5bpmkn3sn2z Inside the small square building are racks for votive candles, statuary, and offerings from petitioners. Atop the chapel are three brass bells in a triple bell tower. The area in front of the chapel has carved stations of the cross in the stone wall and a desert garden.

A detail shot shows the interior of the ten foot square chapel, white washed walls streaked with smoke.

https://livingpraying.com/uaaynd5i2h There are always lit candles of petition and gratitude. (The paraffin candles have been replaced with a smokeless candle which will avoid further smoke damage to the ancient walls.

https://www.drcarolineedwards.com/2024/09/18/lbqp4hoowq0 If one is patient, there are lulls between the petitioners’ visits. Wait long enough and the empty shrine fills with the still-present energy of seekers and believers.

source site I stood in this dim room, my eyes slowly adjusted to the candle lift dark when I came inside from the drenched-in-bright-sunlight desert. Scrawled letters with heart-touching stories, children’s drawings, holy cards, wedding and baptismal announcements, bits of jewelry and children’s toys adorn the altar.

https://www.modulocapital.com.br/nmz8z1awy0 (The Mission San Javier del Bac is located approximately 20 miles south of Tucson, Arizona, easily accessed from the I-19 expressway.)

Filed Under: Photography, Travel Tagged With: "Essence of Place", Arizona, Catholic Church, church, mission, Mission San Xavier del Bac, San Xavier, Tohono O'odham, Tucson Arizona, White Dove Mission

Quiet Time in a Courtyard

February 2, 2013 by Bo Mackison 4 Comments

https://semnul.com/creative-mathematics/?p=xzc20hz6 I have a practice of searching for sacred spaces. While these spaces are often churches or missions, I have no limits on what I include in defining a space as sacred.

https://boxfanexpo.com/9q509amet The spaces I seek are varied — a deserted picnic area on a mountain road; a bare space on the desert floor, a circle of desert where visible desert plants have not yet taken root; a solitary bench under a sycamore tree in a city park, a labyrinth tucked in a quiet corner of a bustling desert museum. I frequently find sacred spaces — place to ground, connect, let my thoughts wander.

It doesn’t require solitude, although often the spaces I choose are quiet, out of the way. Frequently, there are a few people scattered in the space, usually quiet, reflective, thinking their own quiet thoughts, making their own discoveries.

Courtyard, San Xavier del Bac Mission Church

After a busy weekend, it was time for a sacred place visit. I headed to my go-to place, a spot in the Sonoran Desert that has a tiny picnic area — two tables — and several trail heads. It is usually unoccupied, so I often bring my camera and journal and a few art supplies, and spend some quality time with myself.

Angel, St. Ignatius of Loyola, Baptismal Font, East of Sanctuary, in the San Xavier del Bac Mission

But his time I got sidetracked. Driving by the Mission at San Xavier del Bac, also called the White Dove, I suddenly took the exit for the church. I usually visit the mission several times each winter, but it is a favorite place of pilgrims and tourists, and so it is seldom my choice for quiet inspiration. People are very respectful in the church itself, but it tends to be busy with many people admiring the lovely folk art in the church’s interior. I’ve done this myself – it is a fascinating place, and deserves respectful curiosity and contemplation of the simply rendered sacred art.

But, for me, it is not a good place for quiet meditation, writing in a journal, or making a few sketches.

Nevertheless, I found myself pulling into the parking lot late on a midweek afternoon. A steady stream of cars and visitors were leaving and there were only a few folks in the church. I found a space in a dark corner in the east transept and sat awhile, quietly focusing on the amazing art. There is much to take in, but I found that focusing on just one of the many statues worked for me, moved me into a place of calm and reflection.

I found my favorite space, though, upon leaving the church interior, and discovering a small courtyard. There were tile murals, simple and beautifully executed, on three of the walls. There was a small garden shrine, with a touching display of garden flowers, cacti and succulents in pots, and a few simple rocks.

The adobe walls shone with a white patina, a glow from the sun low on the horizon. The shadows on the walls were repetitive arches from a nearby decorative fence. The water-spout was carved from the adobe and painted a red ochre, giving it the appearance of a clay drain. There is much illusion in the church art — adobe fountains painted to resemble marble, doors and cabinets painted on the church walls.

I found a bench, and just watched, felt, listened, thought.

My unexpected stop turned out to be a perfect space for what I needed.

————–

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She continues on her search for sacred spaces.

Filed Under: Art of Healing, Photography Tagged With: Arizona, church art, courtyard, garden shrines, Mission San Xavier del Bac, National Register of Historic Places, paintings, quiet, reflect-five, shadows, simplicity, Southwest, tile murals, Tucson Arizona, US Southwest

Rays of Sunlight

April 3, 2012 by Bo Mackison 15 Comments

Spiritual and creative journeys are not so much about growing in certainty — in many ways it is about growing less certain — it is about about learning how to move deeply into the heart of mystery, into the great unknown.

During the first few days of each new month, I look for a photograph for Photo-Heart Connection from last month’s photos. I look for one that speaks to me in a special way, perhaps one with a message I overlooked the first time I worked with the photograph. Here is my choice from the many photos I took in March.

I took this photograph of three simply carved chairs in the stunningly decorated church at the Mission of San Xavier del Bac, just south of Tucson, Arizona. Construction of the church began in 1783 and was completed fourteen years later. It is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona and is a National Historic Landmark.

The church is filled with original, hand carved statuary and murals on many of the walls – many of the murals depict items that could not be obtained in 18th century Arizona. There are paintings delicately rendered as substitutes for wall coverings, draperies, wood, and marbled surfaces. Dozens of statues were also hand carved, painted, and then finished with materials brought from Spanish missionaries from Mexico into Arizona.

Whenever I take photographs of the Mission at Xavier del Bac or other holy places, I am often filled with a depth of connection and spirituality that I seldom encounter in other buildings.

When I took this photograph of the sacristy, I was aware of the rays of sunshine illuminating the armrests of two of the chairs. I loved the contrast, the symbolic meaning of light opening a dark space. When I checked the photos on my computer, again the contrast struck me — this time between the ornate — the heavily ornamented walls and niches — and the simple — the carved chairs illuminated by a shaft of light coming through one of the few windows.

It was a photograph that made a heart (and soul) connection.

—————-

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She has been living in southern Arizona for the last two and a half months, and has taken many photographs of holy and sacred places. She joins other photographers at Kat Eye Studio and posts a photo taken the prior month that “connects with her heart’ during the first few days of the new month.

Filed Under: Photography, Travel Tagged With: Architecture, Arizona, Bo Mackison photographer, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, light vs dark, mission, mission interior, Mission San Xavier del Bac, National Register of Historic Places, Photography, quotations, Seeded Earth Photography, southern Arizona, Southwest, Tucson Arizona

March 6, 2012 by Bo Mackison 7 Comments

I photographed the Mission San Xavier del Bac on the Tohono O’odham Reservation this morning. Seen from Interstate 19 heading south out of Tucson, the church is a bright gleaming dome in a desert setting. It is easy to see how the church came by its name, “The White Dove of the Desert.”

The mission itself was founded by Father Eusebio Kino, a Franciscan missionary, in 1692, but this building was built in the late 1700s and not completed for use until 1797. 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 on the National Register of Historic Buildings and is also a National Historic Landmark, is the oldest European-inspired structure in the state of Arizona.

San Xavier del Bac’s interior is filled with over 70 original, restored carved statues and over 200 mural paintings, all dating from the late 1700s. The church has many folk art features, using the materials that were available to the artisans and their assistants.

They took advantage of the mountains and the nearby stone to build the church, used mesquite for the main doors, and utilized some of the desert elements to make some of the paints and other decorative features. They painted faux doors, made wooden decorative pieces and painted them to resemble marble, and fashioned many niches to hold carved and painted statues in “curtain” surrounds.

Mission of St Xavier del Bac - Sanctuary and Crossing

Many of the statues are decorated with silver and gold accents, and other materials such as glass eyes for the statues, were brought to the mission by the Missionary Fathers from Europe via Mexico. It is all quite intricate and full of ingenious detailing.

Mission of St Xavier del Bac - Sanctuary

I studied the interior of the church in amazement — the decorative features cover nearly almost every surface. There are identical gold lions in the sanctuary flanking the altar and intricate murals on the walls. A baptismal font is painted to look like marble. There are geometric designs on the lower church walls in bright primary colors. Murals of cherabim in red checked robes are painted on the church’s ceiling and choir loft.

Mission of St Xavier del Bac - East Transept

There are two transepts — west and east — that are filled with niches and statues of saints, all surrounded by sculptured wood that mimics columns, cornices, pedestals and more.

The church underwent an extensive restoration projects during most of the 1990s and some of the nations’ most talented art conservators including conservators from the Guggenheim in New York City and others brought from all over the world to give new life to this remarkable art.

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: "White Dove of the Desert", Architecture, Arizona, Bo Mackison photographer, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, mission, Mission San Xavier del Bac, National Register of Historic Places, Photography, Seeded Earth Photography, Sonoran Desert, southern Arizona, Southwest, Tohono O'odham, Tucson Arizona

In the Mission Garden – A Time of Reflection

March 4, 2011 by Bo Mackison 10 Comments

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.

————–

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.

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: Arizona, Bo Goes Solo, garden art, Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson

Essence of Place – Mission San Xavier del Bac

Capturing “Essence of Place” is not limited to expansive landscape and wilderness areas.

Words, phrases and concepts that define the “Essence of Place” at Mission Xavier del Bac:

This intimate landscape highlights the adobe brick structure, covered with lime plaster.

Creative details abound in the Mission Church.

In this portrait in a landscape, visiting brothers explore and worship in the historic church.

The sacristy and east and west transepts feature over a hundred carved statues and murals.

The mission church is a National Historic Landmark.

Statues were usually created in the artist guilds in Mexico.

Candles are an integral part in many Catholic Churches.

A side chapel honors the namesake of the mission, St Francis Xavier.

A detail shot shows the interior of the ten foot square chapel, white washed walls streaked with smoke.

Quiet Time in a Courtyard

Rays of Sunlight

Mission San Xavier del Bac

In the Mission Garden – A Time of Reflection

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