Just below a large (24x36) version of my Saint Francis Church I, there are eight redware pots arranged on the mantel in the den of my home. The pots are the work of Wilma Baca, a member of the Jemez pueblo in northern New Mexico. Whenever I want to take a quick trip to The Land of Enchantment, I turn off all of the lights in the room save for the floodlights directed at the mantel and bask in the glow of the famous church's adobe walls and the beauty of the pottery. It is an envigorating experience. 

Like many painters and other photographers, I have spent a great deal of time at the church in Ranchos de Taos. I have returned there on every trip to the area and I always find something new to explore. The version depicted above is my favorite to date as to me it best invokes the spirit of the place.
 
Wilma's work is also spiritually evocative. She decorates her pots with symbols of the natural world - stars, rivers, mountains and much more. I have ten of her pieces altogether and no two of them are at all alike. They are truly amazing!
 
One of my dreams is to be ablle to meet her and photograph her hands working the clay. I have thus far shied away from requesting such a meeting because her work is almost magical and I am concerned that she would deny the request. I know from experience that the greatest creativity comes when the artist is quiet, contemplative...and alone. If our meeting is meant to happen, it will. Otherwise, I will just dream of her skilled hands working the raw earth into something exquisitely beautiful.
 
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