Today has been one of those days where, no matter how early you get up, you’re already running behind. Now, with evening’s onset, we finally have the chance just to sit for a moment and appreciate what has otherwise been a beautiful day: warm air, light winds, and despite the lack of rain, still plenty of green on the ground beneath a cloud-studded vault of blue.
We live in the land of the turquoise sky, and it’s a gift that is more true to its name now than at any other season. It’s something about the angle of the light now that adds that subtle hint of green, compared to the shades of cornflower and indigo more prevalent at other times of year, And it’s why the gemstone of the same name is the one most associated with this place: turquoise, the Skystone, bits of the bright blue sky fallen to earth as rain, then hardened into a jewel of beauty and value.
It’s also the backdrop of today’s featured work, a painting by one of Wings’s oldest friends in the Indigenous art world (indeed, they grew up together here at the Pueblo). Frank Rain Leaf is known not only for his artistic talent and brilliant use of color, but for his complex, layered portrayals, at a fundamental and deeply intimate level, of the beauty of his culture in even the most ordinary aspects of traditional life.
Today’s work is a perfect example, layered both literally and figuratively. Foreground to horizon covers a multitude of miles, a vastness of earth and sky that delineates the mountains in rows of indigo shadow laid out before the nearer tableau. In Frank’s hands, the very rocks and trees become animated by their own subtle spirits, rising from the canvas to embrace the small world of the people in it. His human figures, too, are deeply traditional in appearance and dress and action, seated here upon the land while a raptor circles the turquoise sky. From its description in the Other Artists: Wall Art gallery here on the site:
Frank Rain Leaf (Taos Pueblo) evokes an entire culturescape in this painting of the the Pueblo’s people and lands. It’s a timeless image, one that summons spirits long past yet thoroughly alive today. Frank’s meticulousness shows in his attention to historical detail, as seen in the men’s old-style braids and their blankets in classic striped patterns. It’s also manifest in his portrayal of the land itself: the lifelike colors and shadows of the limestone rock outcroppings, the gradients of color in the stripped bark of the old pines. Close-up of partial canvas shown immediately above.
Acrylic on canvas; wood frame
$425 + shipping, handling, and insurance
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I should note here that the close-up shows the detail work, but does not begin to do justice to the colors. The smaller image of the full painting shown at the top of this post is true to the actual colors of the work, all vibrant blues and electric greens. Both photos were taken in the old gallery, where such natural light as filters in through the small window and the open door were all the light available (for there is still no electricity of running water inside the walls of the old village), and in close-up, such limited, shadowy light produces the effect of washing out the colors in nearly any canvas.
Earlier today, a wave of clouds swept through half the sky, a harbinger, perhaps, of the monsoonal weather patterns that are now forecast to arrive with summer’s informal beginning on Monday. Now, they have mostly passed through between the peaks and out on the eastward side, only a few trailing remnants of white — indeed, much like the clouds in Frank’s painting, above. Meanwhile, overhead is the same pure blue with that tiny hint of green underneath, a bit of the late spring light reminding us that we live in the land of the turquoise sky, as valued and valuable as the jewel that bears its names.
~ Aji
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