Easter, Mom Frances and Sketches

I've been thinking about Mom Frances, Gene's Mom, all morning.  So has Gene.  She died a year ago today at 94 years of age.

Mom Frances making her daily rosary in the summer of 2010.

She was an amazing person.  She had art and talent to spare.  Frances is a real inspiration to me as she never gave up on anything or anyone.  She was determined to get educated and get ahead.  She tried so many things and was good at many things.  She was a strict mother raising nine children.  She still had three at home when Gene's Dad died in 1964.

She didn't finish high school because "girls were to marry and have a family".  She did finish and get a high school diploma when her youngest daughter graduated from high school.  She went on to be a teacher's aide in Magdalena and worked at it long enough to retire.  I can't think of anything that she tried and didn't do.  In her nineties she was living alone, climbing on the roof to uncover and turn on the evaporation type air conditioner.  She redid her kitchen cabinets and carpet about the same time.  She was a seamstress and made her living at that for a time.

Her father was a carpenter as were her brothers.  She took a great interest in that.  They bought an old historic home in Magdalena in the late fifties and she remodeled the upstairs making an open attic into several rooms and adding insulation.  She built the kitchen cabinets in that house.  She could crochet, needlepoint, plastics and made a rosary a day forever it seems.  She and Gene figured at one time a few years ago that she had made over 10,000 since she often made several a day.  She sent them to missions all over the world.  She repainted the statues and saints in the Magdalena church and for other people.  I posted about Frances her accomplishments before, so I won't keep on here. 

There are photos there, too.

Mom Frances always encouraged me to keep painting and told everyone that I was an artist.  We did many art and crafty things together including painting and tole painting.  We should all strive in our endeavors to do the best we can, never give up and continue to learn.

We miss Mom Frances.

I sat out on the porch this morning to sketch and think.  Looking at the remnants from the fire I saw things that reminded me of Mom, too.  The chile pot I sketched last was one she gave us.  The shoe anvil and the old irons for ironing clothes.  Sigh.....

I sketched for Scavenger Hunt 263 in the brown paper sketchbook with the Prismacolor Premier 08 pen/marker.

Number 1, ecology, the dam for the lake out from the house.  Number 2 ellipsis, some of the cups and a broken bowl on the edge of the porch.

Gene went to Magdalena the last few years for Easter week to take his Mom to church so his sisters wouldn't have to take off work.  He missed that this year.  I hope you have a Happy Easter.

Frances' Birthday

It is number 93 for Mom Frances today. Can you just imagine all the changes in her lifetime?

She carried water from a well to her house to cook, bathe, and wash clothes. They washed in tubs outside over a fire and hung them on a line. They cooked on wood cookstoves and hauled the wood for that. She was creative and did hand work like crochet and worked as a seamstress. She remodeled her house, building cabinets and moving walls and much more.

She and husband, Jesus, raised nine children. She worked for all those years. Jesus died in 1964 and she continued working with 3 kids still at home, finished high school and became a teacher's aide where she retired years later.

She lived on her own, driving and caring completely for herself until about 2 1/2 years ago. She moved into assisted living in Albuquerque to keep her independence and not have to live with a daughter.

I talked with her on iChat a few minutes ago. She is amazed at the technology and was figuring out what Gene's new computer has that her orange iMac doesn't. She still turns on the computer once in a while. She makes a rosary every day and has for many years. She and Gene figured out she has made well over 10,000. Wow! She is a walking history book, right.

Here she is in 2005 at a reception for the Queens of the Magdalena Old Timers Reunion.

Frances in 2008.

Frances in October 2009.


And Frances at last year's birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom Frances!

Mom Frances, RIP

Gene's mom, Frances M. Castillo, 94 years young, passed away yesterday.  She had a stroke last Saturday and her last hours were peaceful  with family nearby.

This photo is from the Magdalena Old Timers when she was Queen, 1986/7.  She worked with her hands doing everything from sewing/tailor to remodeling her house.  She was always busy, always.  She was an artist and repainted all the statues in the Mary Magdalene Church in Magdalena.  Gene's father, Jesus, died in 1964 and Frances took care of her young children and worked many jobs, including teachers aide for many years in Magdalena.  She spent her last 4 years in assisted living in Albuquerque where she was very active until last week!

You can read more about her on Joanna's page and see another beautiful photo.  I did a birthday post to her here.

Mom Frances was the complete opposite of the mother-in-law that you read about in comics.  She was very loving to me and took up for me. We had many fun times painting, making puzzles and cooking.

I cannot imagine all the changes she saw in her life.  She leaves a huge family of 9 children, 35 or so grandchildren, etc....... Joanna has an estimate on her page.  She was just as beautiful yesterday as always.  We will miss her dearly.  Love you, Mom.

Birds, Headstones and Cake

Eclectic sketches from the Scavenger Hunt #10. We were in Magdalena and on dial-up at 10 cents a minute, cost not as important as just taking too long. Ha.

The first is the birds out Mom Frances' kitchen window. She is 89 and just loves to watch and feed her birds. But, drat, they won't be still to sketch. Hummers, sparrows and house finches.



The second is headstones. Luckily we were in Magdalena so I sketched the headstones in the Knoblock family plot. There is such deep grass and wildflowers (weeds there) that I couldn't really see the headstones.





I had never noticed how pretty the fence is with the crosses on top. Always too busy looking for ghosts when I was a kid, I guess. Some of the weeds and prickly stickers are waist high. (Forgot to take a pic of the stickers I sketched so will post it next) It was pretty there, but hard to get around .. watching for rattlesnakes and such! Hard to concentrate as well. Not my favorite place to go, but I got the sketch .. very quickly I might add. Mom Frances was telling us that a few years ago, she and Velma, the oldest daughter, were cleaning their plots and decided to burn the weeds. The wind came up (very normal in Magdalena) and the fire got out of control. They were arguing about going for help. "You go", says Mom. "No, you go!", says Velma, etc. Finally Velma went. She got to Ambers, the volunteer fire chief and he said, "Let it burn, they are all dead so no one will get hurt!" "But my Mom is there!", says Velma. So he got the fire-truck and went to the cemetery and by the time they got there, Mom Frances working so hard had it almost out.

The third is coffee cake at Mom Frances' as well. Gene likes that before breakfast with coffee and she likes to eat it for dessert.



The sketches are in my generic sketchbook with one of the Micron 05 pens. As usual no erasing or correcting about 15 minutes each.

This is my exhibit at Peppers Gallery in Magdalena.

Magdalena Church, Acrylic Painting

I finished the painting of the church in Magdalena for my mother-in-law, Frances, ninety years old. It is a house warming present for her new apartment in assisted living. What a change for her, she will miss the church in Magdalena where she has attended mass most of her life. The church was never finished and this part was to be the basement. It hasn't changed too much in all the years. New windows, roof and paint over time. It still has the pews that Frances' father built. Frances also took care of the statues and has repaired and painted them several times. She played the organ on Sundays for many years.

She has lived alone for over thirty years. What will it be like living in the apartment? She has her own apartment, but will dine and be in the same building with many more of her peers .. strangers. Whew. Hopefully they will soon be friends. :)

The church is painted in acrylics on board painted and prepared with gesso. It is 8 x 10 inches. It is from photos I took in December of 2006 I think.

Albuquerque Photos

A few photos from yesterday.  It was cloudy and rained a little in the morning.  We got to Gene's mom's place and Gene went for a walk.  I went part of the way and came back.  Then after about 20 minutes it began to rain and I had to go rescue him.  Al told me to just honk and go by, but I didn't have the heart.  Ha.  I got wetter going to the car than he did as he took cover under an awning.  

The afternoon was all about Mom Frances and we went to Virginia's after we left Westwind House where Frances lived.   We thought of Mom as Gene drank some of her wine that she kept on hand for a little glass every night.  We smiled because she would say, "This is the first time it has rained since I've been here."  We remembered other good times.  Then we came back to the hotel and rested.

The morning traffic going west.

The volcanos at Petroglyph Park.

Mom Frances' perpetual calendar, EP on the Scavenger Hunts asked for a photo after I sketched it the other day.

Mom's little plant that I have sketched many times as well.  It droops, gets watered and peps up.  Always blooming.

The Sandia Mountains on the way back to the hotel.

Catching up ....sketch and photos

I haven't posted in several days. So much to say, and much that was on my mind will be forgotten. I will have to post more than once a day to catch up!

We went to Albuquerque. The drive on Highway 180 to Cliff, Buckhorn,Glenwood, and Reserve. Then Highway 12 to Datil through Aragon and Horse Springs on Highway 60 to Magdalena and Socorro is just beautiful. It is through the mountains and is green from the summer rains. You cross the Continental Divide twice. You drive along the Gila River, mountains and the St. Augustine plains. From Socorro to Albuquerque is along the Rio Grande.

Some doe and young elk by the road.

We saw some antelope and elk on the way back. We saw gorgeous clouds and thunderstorms and of course, cows and horses. There are abandoned windmills, working windmills and solar powered windmills for water all along the way. Typical adobe houses and old corrals dot the landscape. Some of the cliffs and bluffs are spectacular. It is faster to go south from here to Deming and then up through Hatch, but it is a bleak and flat landscape and a few miles further. From Socorro to Albuquerque is on I-25 with a speed limit of 75 mph. We travel at 60-65 and conserve gas -- we are in no hurry. We needed to go to Magdalena to trade out some glass on a painting. We had to get the glass in Albuquerque so it was tied in to a visit with my mother-in-law.

Castillo house in Aragon

She is another amazing person. She was one of 11 children. Seven boys and four girls. She was born in 1916 and lived in Aragon. Girls of that generation did not go to high school, they were to learn and do "women's" work. Frances talked her father into going on to high school. She didn't get to finish though, and married Jesus at a very young age. They raised 9 children, six girls and three boys. It was sort of an arranged marriage. They lived on a sheep ranch until her father- in-law died and they moved to Magdalena where they both worked. Frances was accomplished at many things, much like my parents. She did sewing, cooking, crocheting, carpentry, and whatever was required to take care of her family. She played the organ and led the choir at church. When her youngest was a senior in high school, Frances decided to get her diploma. She got a GED and graduated about the same time as her youngest daughter. She worked as a teacher's assistant and retired from the school system. Jesus died in 1964 so she raised the youngest four children on her own. At ninety, she was still living on her own, working in her yard and driving in the small town of Magdalena. She decided to move to assisted living in Albuquerque so she can still be a little independent. She quit driving on her own. She is forgetful, mostly short term memory, and that helped her decide on assisted living. It was hard at first, she had been on her own for almost 40 years. She is adapting, though. The hardest part is being on a schedule and eating with the other "old" people. :) She has made a rosary a day for many years. Sometimes several a day. She sends them to missions around the world and gives them to friends and family. She and Gene figured out that she had made about 10,000 rosaries last year. Whew... **Note: She and Gene figured out last year, that she had made about 10,000 rosaries. Not 10,000 last year! Sorry.... corrected 8/9/07, thanks, Gene.

We usually eat at some favorite restaurants in Albuquerque. This time we were remembering Mac's Drive-Ins. They were famous for Steak in the Rough (strips of steak, battered and deep fried) and green chile hamburgers. We went to what may be the original location, which is somewhat like a diner, no drive-in, on west Central. Gene had the Steak in the Rough and I had taquitos. We didn't read the menu well and Gene didn't get gravy. I guess over the years cole slaw and french fries have become the standard sides instead of gravy. You have to ask for the gravy now. They say you can never go home. Ah well. We did go to Villa di Capo at 7th and Central. It is still a quiet and great Italian food place. We have been going there for years, discovering it after we lived in South America, when we saw that they have tables outside in sort of a garden. Very nice.

I didn't have time for much sketching. I did take photos of cottonwoods for tree research and practice. I always take many photos.

As we left Magdalena to go to Socorro I pulled out the travel sketchbook that Sue gave me. It says, "Do you daydream in Color? A Journal for the imagination." It has a plaid cover and lines on half the page for writing. Four colored pencils on the cover, hardly used. As you know by now, I am impatient and colored pencil takes lots of time and coloring.

Ladron Mountains

I sketched the hills across the Flats, where the Ladron Mountains are to the left, you can see a couple of the hills on the right in the photo. About 10 minutes with a regular Pilot ball point pen.

Memories of Mom Frances

Today would be Mom Frances' birthday.  She was Gene's mom.  Thinking of her and how she always supported and loved me brings fond memories to mind.  You can read about her in this post from her birthday in 2009.  You can put "Frances" in the search box, top left, and read more about her.  She was beautiful and amazing.

She was an artist and always kept the statues in the Mary Magdalene church up to snuff.  She painted with acrylics for some time and I had a few of her paintings in my studio.  No photos of course.  Rats.  She had one framed and I guess one of the daughters has it.  I will try to get a photo sometime.  We did tole painting together.  She used to make replacements for pieces of jigsaw puzzles that were missing.  She would cut the piece from cardboard, paint the image it needed, varnish it and there it was.  When a puzzle was completed we could not tell which was the repaired or new piece.  Clever lady!

This is a fairly recent photo of the three of us, Gene, Mom and I. We miss her. 

Gene would have been in Albuquerque today to visit her, instead he is working hard in the garage trying to get it organized and all the boxes and packing material out of there.  Like his mom, he likes to stay busy.  This stuff is just a small part of our boxes.  I ordered ink for the printer and they sent the small box in a box that was about 12 x 16 x 16.  Crazy!

Sketches and Obituary

I sketched for Scavenger Hunt 217.  It is good for my mind to sketch.  Very calming and I don't think about anything else when I am sketching or painting.

Number 1, something from the bathroom counter, Number 2, something closed and Number 3, something open.

And for those of you that do not get the Albuquerque Journal, here is a link to the obituary for my mother-in-law, Frances.

Mom Frances and Gene, peeling chili.  She loved to be busy.

Sketching on the Deck and Memories

It is a great morning again, didn't get up as early so it was warm enough to sit out there .. comfortably.  I had my usual decaf and rice cake with peanut butter, cream cheese and raisins.  I alternated yesterday and had bananas instead of raisins, but must admit that I have grown fond of the raisin combo.

I picked up the brown sketchbook and a Prismacolor pen.  I thought I had the same pen but as you can see, the 05 was in the binding of the sketchbook and I was had picked up  an 03.

The difference in the pens is you have a finer line with the smaller number.  You can see the difference when compared with yesterday.  For me it means I have to do more lines to get coverage.  It also means finer detail and works well when you are trying for that.  For regular quick sketches either is fine, just a preference.  On the brown paper the 05 shows up better.

I sketched for Scavenger Hunt 235.

Number 3, nails and Number 4, all in a row.  The windows on the condos across the way.

I mentioned that things tend to lean to the left in my sketches .. like the condos above.  I looked it up on wetcanvas.com and urbansketchers.com and it is pretty common for a right handed person.  Some have to really concentrate and measure to keep things straight up and down. Sometimes it is the way you hold the paper .. I had it on my knee.  I don't feel so bad now. 

I think you all know that I do crosswords and jigsaw puzzles.  Gene's mom, Frances, used to do puzzles, too.

Gene's Mom, Frances

She really enjoyed that, especially jigsaw puzzles.  She would even make a new piece if one was missing.  She would carve it from cardboard, paint and varnish it so that you could not tell it was hand crafted.  The last few months, before she passed away at 94 years of age, dementia was creeping in.  We still did jigsaws, but she struggled a bit with color and light.  When we went to Albuquerque the other day I got a couple of her crossword puzzle books that she had been working in.  Even though her memory was leaving her, she was still a very clever lady.  Check out the clue (4 across) for a four letter word and her answer in the puzzle.  Gotta love it.

Magdalena Old Timers Show and photos

The time flies when you are having fun, they say. Well, it crawls when your internet is on the fritz. In Magdalena we had to use an internet cafe, Bear Mountain Coffee House and Gallery. It wasn't the fastest and when we are wireless I share Gene's computer so my time is limited a little there, too. The iPhone didn't work in Magdalena except at the internet cafe. We arrived here in Angel Fire on Wednesday to dial-up. I am trying to adapt, hard on us old folks. Hopefully we will be back on high speed by Wednesday.

The skies are the most beautiful in New Mexico, maybe because we are up higher. Whatever it is, I do love them.

The evening clouds from the motel.

One of the sunsets in Magdalena.

We went to the memorial service for Wendy Jones on Monday morning, July 6. It was very nice up in Water Canyon on a beautiful morning, too. There were many people there to celebrate her life. She was well loved and remembered.

Road to Water Canyon.

In Water Canyon.

Then we went to Albuquerque to visit Gene's Mom, Frances, for a couple of days.

Back to Magdalena on Wednesday night and put up my show on Thursday for the Old Timers Reunion and the show at Peppers for July 11 and 12.

The famous Ladron Mountains from I25 between Albuquerque and Socorro looking west. I usually show them from HWY60 looking north.


We went to Socorro on Friday to the doctor for me for my congestion (My congestion is finally clearing. It seems to be a combination of cold and sinus.) and to play golf with Roger, who came from Arizona. We only played nine holes on a beautiful day. No photos of golf again. Oh my.

I did get this old building which I thought was the Ice House, but it may not be. You can see the train coming up the tracks. The train runs to a perlite mill just west of Socorro.

As we were returning to Magdalena I got the train coming back from the mill. Not a telephoto shot, a regular through the windshield shot.

Old Timers in Magdalena was quieter than I remember in years past. It was quiet at Peppers. The parade had a great crowd. The parade is very good for a small town. They have a rodeo queen that has to be over 62, I think it is. My Mom was the second queen and Gene's Mom was queen in 1986. The rodeo performers have to be fifty years old. If it is a team category, they have to add up to 100 years -- you could have a 70 year old and a 30 year old. Then they have a barbecue with the meat cooked underground.

My show was from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. It was a really nice day for me as I had many visitors from our family and friends that always stop by. I did not get any photos and that is sad. It would have been fun to post photos with my sister, brothers-in-law, nieces, sisters-in-law and others. I won't mention all by name, I am sure I will forget someone.

Frances, Gene's Mom, in 2005 at a tea for the past queens and election of the new queen. She is ninety-two now. What a young face she has.

The outside at Peppers.

The top shelf with my paintings and some items from my Cafepress shop, link on the sidebar if you care to visit my shop.

The right hand corner for my show. It is high, so I put older paintings there with the exception of the little adobe house on the bottom left.

The left corner of my exhibit.

The main wall. It is difficult to have a flowing arrangement. The top row have permanent nails that can't be moved because of the thick adobe walls. The lower two rows are on some boards that held kitchen cabinets so you can't vary the height too much. I am thankful to have such a nice place to exhibit and Marky Bamert, owner of Peppers Art Gallery.

We served sandwiches and carrot cake from the Magdalena Cafe. That is an amazing place. They are open for breakfast and lunch except on Sunday and are open on Thursday and Friday for dinner. They have huge portions and excellent food. Excellent! We had wine, chips (Texas shaped tortilla chips from our HEB grocery at home.), cookies, candy, and soft drinks.

On Sunday, I painted outside Peppers. Lilly, Wendy's daughter, painted with me. She is a very grown up nine year old. She has been painting with me since I started the shows a Peppers, six years ago, so I was thinking she was going to be 12. She is great and will be an artist one day. She was a little distracted, of course, but did great anyway.

Lilly's greenhouse, 8 x 10 inches, acrylic on canvas board. Lilly paints with no fear and is not afraid to use her ideas and technique. I never touch her paintings. She is fun.

I painted on an eight inch square board. I painted the edges so it did not have to be framed. My demo is the door prize for my show. Mary Soliz from Albuquerque won the painting.

The door prize almost finished. It was a scene out of my memories. I would like to live in a house like that with poplar and cottonwood trees around.

The finished door prize. Acrylic on board, painted on the edges for no frame, 8 x 8 inches.

I did sell some paintings to my great collectors. I thank them so much for supporting this old artist. Next year I plan to have the demo on Friday when there are more people around. Sunday morning they have a pancake breakfast at the rodeo grounds and then people pack up and begin to leave. The food booths and the arts and crafts stay open but the crowd really dwindled.

Sketching Hunt 192

We are in Albuquerque now, and I sketched for Hunt 192 over a couple of days  in our hotel and when Mom Frances was playing Bingo.  All with a Micron 003 in the small sketchbook.  The first three are small and I added colored pencil.  These are all small as the pages are 4 x 6 inches.  Just a few minutes each, freehand.  Before all my sketches were leaning left, these seem to be leaning right.  Hmmm.

Number 1, something blue - water bottle, Number 2, something borrowed - Gene's exercise rubber band, and Number 3, something new - chamiso honey from Michael's Kitchen.

Number 4, seasonal - table decorations at Mom Frances' place.  They have a different scarecrow on each table.  Very colorful.

Number 5, from the kitchen - mustard.  Gene uses mustard for leg and hand cramps.  It works very well!

Number 6, something old - a lady at the assisted living.  She is in a chair, that is not her shoulders.  :)  I should have done a self portrait.  Oh well.

Nuimber 7, hand - my hand is fatter and my fingers are not wounded. 

Number 8, from the bathroom - hand lotion that is not crooked.  Sigh......