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Golden hour in Valle Grande.
I recently spent two weeks awash in the oceans of light and sky that are Valles Caldera National Preserve, located atop the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. I am incredibly grateful for this unique opportunity, for all of the experiences and encounters my time at the preserve gifted me, and for all of the ways that the nourishment offered during my residency will continue to flow through my creative practice.
Twilight outside the cabin.
Each day at 6pm the gates of the preserve closed to the public, and the wild animals and I had our own private light show. The elk and coyotes and prairie dogs congregated in the great bowl of grass-filled earth to graze, hunt, and socialize, while a multitude of simultaneous events unfolded in the atmosphere above.
Watering hole in Valle Grande.
It was calving season in the Jemez Mountains, and the mews and barks of the mama elk could be heard alongside the howling coyotes. The light and soundscapes of those early evening hours held me in their primeval flows.
Valle Grande
I spent my days mostly walking and sketching. It has been 18 years since I lived in the desert, and I often felt a much younger version of myself accompanying me on my daily explorations. I felt such tenderness for her—her ingenuousness, her curiosity, her beauty, her loneliness, the magnitude of what awaited her.
Walking the Jemez River Trail.
Obsidian found along the Obsidian Valley Trail.
The creative arts have served an influential role in the history of the National Park Service, inspiring people to travel, dream, and explore. For this reason, artists often rise to the forefront of efforts to preserve America's most treasured landscapes. Today, this legacy continues through Artist in Residence (AiR) programs. Through these programs, selected artists are provided a residency period in a national park to find inspiration, create artistic works, and share their vision with the public.
Valles Caldera National Preserve is one of more than 50 NPS sites that currently host an Artist in Residence program. Selected artists participate in a two to four-week residency in historic lodging on-site. Lodging is provided to the artist in exchange for one public art program and one donation of an original piece of art inspired by the residency.
—National Park Service
View from the top of Cerro La Garita, 2000ft above the caldera floor, looking out over Valle San Antonio, Valle Toledo, Valle Jaramillo, and Valle Grande.