Hi Everyone,

My first post!

This is truly amazing. Since moving out here to the mountainous hinterland of New Mexico it has been a love - hate relationship. I absolutely love it here - the beauty, peacefulness, and freedom. The hatred part - that's in trying to stay in touch with loved ones and friends, which has been difficult. A reminder that life truly is about compromises.

Perhaps blogging will be the way to keep in touch and let everyone know what is going on in my life here in the "wilds" of New Mexico.

With my friend Michelle Newman's permission I'm starting off my blog with her article about her trip her to the ranch. She did a fantastic job of capturing the essence of the place. So please enjoy reading her take on what it's like to be marooned.

I'll do my best to keep my posts frequent but out here nature has a way of always coming between what you plan and what actually happens - truly humbling to know that we are not really in control of what occurs in our lives. Certainly keeps me on my toes!

Marooned in the Desert

By

Michelle Newman

on Jun 11, 10 12:05 AM

Maria Teresa Stoa takes crocheting to a whole new level on her ranch in Ramah, New Mexico. Most folks never heard of Ramah and neither did I; it's located half way between Grant and Gallup. It was worth the 2.5 hour drive, crossing the Continental Divide and driving down a dirt road though the high desert to get to Teresa.

As soon as my Southwest Airlines flight landed at the Albuquerque International Airport, I picked up my rental car and was off to see Teresa. I was a woman on a mission, nothing was going to stop me; not even the Continental Divide. Isolated on her Rancho Pinon many miles away from civilization, a grocery store, or Wal-Mart Teresa is inspired by her spectacular surroundings.

Driving down what seemed to be an endless dusty, rocky dirt road, I could appreciate how the raw beauty of this natural landscape continuously inspires Teresa. Mesas with millions of years worth of striated rock layers looking like huge earth tone parfaits, brilliantly colored wild flowers, cactus, tumbleweed, and jagged weathered caves that once provided shelter for indigenous cliff dwellers helped me grasp the connection between this glorious landscape and how it is echoed in Teresa's work.

As I approached the gate to the ranch,I became a bit apprehensive when I noticed rattlesnake warning signs. While I appreciated the head's up I knew I had better watch where I was stepping.

Teresa's corrugated metal studio is a magical space stacked all the way up to the ceiling with treasures collected over the years. Shelves overflowing with fabrics, specialty threads, ribbons, trims, beads, lace, fabric paint, await to be transformed into Teresa's fantasy-like creations.

I was experiencing visual overload in Teresa's packed studio with theatrical vignettes and props set up to create a mood. I was greeted by a gypsy fortune teller bust, next I was invited to sit in the Pirates of the golden throne nestled behind an exotic beaded curtain. Teresa's mermaids and whimsical art dolls are scattered through out her studio blending into the surrounding creative chaos.


Just like most mixed media artists, Teresa admits that she is an obsessive hoarder. As a doll maker, jeweler, and mixed media artist, this translates to Teresa saving nearly everything. I don't know how she finds anything in her cluttered studio, but artists always have their own peculiar system of organizing. Eventually, when the time is right, all of the little odd tchotckeys and scraps will wind up being put to good use in Teresa's creations.

Teresa is a nationally recognized mixed media and doll artist. Her one-of-a kind creations have been featured in countless magazines and her work is found in top galleries nationally. For over 15 years Teresa has been a pioneer in the field of creative crochet work She works intuitively and says she throws a lot of fantasy into the mix. Teresa describes her work as "eclectic, spontaneous, and free-form." Each one of her necklaces is a wearable work of art. Her signature "Cascading Crochet Necklaces" are big and chunky. She creates these dramatic statement necklaces crocheting thin wire, antique beads, buttons, found objects, crystals, fresh water pearls and nearly anything else she can get her hands on.


When Teresa isn't in her studio creating she is tending to her small herd of Jacob Sheep and llamas which she raises for their fleece. Once cleaned and dyed, Teresa spins the fleece into chunky artsy yarn for her fiber necklaces and embellishing her one-of-a-kind art dolls.


GETTING THERE: Southwest Airlines
www.itsatrip.org
Text and photos by Michelle Newman