Land of Resilience-John Meister

Excellent article filled with plein air painting tips (originally published 2018 but so timely for the upcoming PACE visitors from out of state): 

https://www.outdoorpainter.com/land-resilience-face-decay-new-mexico-plein-air-tips/?fbclid=IwAR2TCWxCrTYu5PbYM8Lnhs5Fcxm3bVKx5SKk8ob500e835prjRysSz8gswU

First few paragraphs: 

Plein Air Painting in New Mexico’s High Desert
By John Meister, 2018 President of Plein Air Painters of New Mexico
Article originally published in 2018

We call it the “Land of Enchantment,” and some people get it the minute they step out of the airport. Others spend years here before they realize it is part of them. For the visitor, the ancient history, the amazing sites, and the diversity of culture, provide a host of experiences. This is a place where stories are born. This is New Mexico.

As for me, I grew up in Austin, Texas and have now lived in Albuquerque for 28 years. It is where much of my family is from, so we made the drive from Austin, across the West Texas plains and into a terrain full of features that intrigued a young boy looking out of the rear window.

The city of my childhood essentially had two halves of the year — sticky-green summer and dense-wet winter. Now, living in a place with four distinct seasons, I appreciate the small day-to-day changes between each of them, and how moisture, temperature, and wind are players in a game to sustain life or break it down. Everything, from plants to mountains, must have a little extra advantage to survive here, and it is their resilience in the face of decay that produces the extraordinary landscape that we painters enjoy.