Upcoming Events

I might as well mention here four upcoming events I'll be involved in.

I have two photography shows scheduled in 2013, and I'll be involved in two poetry readings in the first five weeks of 2013.

There's a poetry reading 6-8 p.m. Friday, 18 January, at MVS Gallery on Main Street.  Featured reader is my friend Joe Somoza, whose poetry is a source of continual delight to us.  He asked three others of us to read as well.  The occasion is a small book Joe's coming out with, collaborating with an artist . . .
Then on 2 February, ten of us will be reading at the Branigan Cultural Center as part of "For Love of Art" month here.  Again Joe's a major part of that, but Dael and I will also be reading.  The reading will be from noon to 1:30, conveniently right after Farmers' Market.

By the way, if you're interested in poetry and don't know about the monthly readings at Palacio's in Mesilla, they're on the third Tuesday evening of each month, starting at around 7:45.  There's a small regular group.  Readings occur in a spacious back room of the bar, in a very relaxed atmosphere.  There's a small regular group, and new folks who want to read or just listen are always welcome.

The two photo shows will be in April and June.

During April's Friday evening's Art Ramble (5-7 p.m. on 5 April) I'll be at the Aralia Gallery at 224 North Campo Street for the show's opening.   These photographs are primarily from a visit to Japan, and some are accompanied by tanka poems.  The blog page "Ten Tanka" contains some of the same material, but there will be photos there that aren't on that blog page.  If you like that sort of thing, the opening will be a chance to see the photos blown up, talk about them or Japan or anything else, and have a glass of wine with us.  Aralia is a relatively new and relatively enjoyable gallery just South of the intersection of Campo and Las Cruces Avenue -- catty-corner to the main post office.  It's open Friday and Saturday afternoons, generally, or by appointment.

Then during 7-29 June the Branigan Cultural Center will be showing some of my 2008 photographs from Perú.  I wandered around Perú for more than six months that year.  I wanted to travel to remote areas, stopping at will, but obviously couldn't afford to rent a car.  Solution?  Scrounge up enough money to buy a used four-wheel-drive car, which held up wonderfully and which I eventually sold to my landlord and friend Aurelio in Arequipa just before returning to the U.S.

I can't say enough about Perú.  (Actually I have said probably more than enough, on the blog I kept during the journey, with photographs, reflections, and travel tips for visiting obscure villages.  There's no reason to read much of it unless you're planning a trip there, but the home-page has a slide show that's probably worth a look.  A few of those images will be in the show here.)  Again, the First Friday Art Ramble, 5-7 p.m., will be an opportunity not only to see those but to talk about Perú if you feel like it.  I'll be there, instead of wandering around from gallery to gallery as we usually do.

The show will be up the whole month.  The cultural center is open daily, Tuesday through Saturday, until 4:30 p.m.

For those who live in Las Cruces and haven't participated, I should mention that Dael and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Art Ramble the first Friday of each month.  There are several galleries, and it's interesting to wander through them looking at the work and sometimes talking with the artists.  It's also kind of a party.  We have a hard time making it to all the galleries, because we end up talking intensely with friends here or there, in galleries or on Main Street -- or meeting new friends.