The Cat and the Cuckoo

Literature & Fiction

TED HUGHES

Poetry

Sunstone Press

For almost three centuries, Old Town, Albuquerque has been the crossroads of the American Southwest. It was formed in the traditional Spanish pattern of a central plaza surrounded by a church, places of business and homes. This book gives a concise history of events that shaped this unusual village that was first settled in 1706.

Old Town Albuquerque: A History of the Ancient Town at the Crossroads of the American Southwest

History

Smith, James C.

Hertzog, Peter

Americas

During the 1950s and 1960s, the use of local building styles and traditional materials seemed to be on the wane. But shortly after that the historic architecture of the American Southwest rapidly began to win a new popularity. The turnaround was partly a product of the back-to-earth movement, the energy crises of the 1970s, and a reawakening of interest in regional history. But it received a boost, too, from advances in the use of solar energy--many of the new developments being especially adaptable to adobe structures. Individuals planning their dream house led the way, but many home builders and architects, taking note of the demand, followed the trend setters. At the same time, "how-to" books and articles on Southwestern traditional architecture began to find a large readership. Among those in the forefront of this small phenomenon was artist and writer Myrtle Stedman. A long-time resident of the Santa Fe, New Mexico area, she had been a champion of the old ways in building for much of her adult life. Indeed, her books "Adobe Architecture" and "Adobe Remodeling and Fireplaces" in significant measure helped spark the return to traditional construction. Mrs. Stedman has now added to her earlier accomplishments with the present sketchbook, focusing on the numerous fascinating and picturesque aspects of rural architecture, focusing on northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Her splendid pen and ink drawings, reminding one of Eric Sloane's work on rural America, have a three-fold value. In the first instance, they serve as an accurate documentary record of features and styles that comprise the unique architecture of this area. Secondly, the drawings will prove a boon to those wishing to restore buildings and improve rural properties along traditional lines. And finally, the artistic merit and natural charm of the sketchbook should appeal to all those who possess an aesthetic appreciation for the Southwestern landscape, be it natural or that part which is manmade.

Rural Architecture

Arts & Photography

Myrtle Stedman

Architecture

MEXICO: In 1974, frantic with family tragedy, romantic failure and a lost sense of history, John flees the University of Alabama, his dead father, unfaithful fiance, and fascination with his Confederate ancestors and steers his Mercury Capri south toward this country where he believes new myths can be created. In Mexico City, he encounters Tom, his ex-hippie artist mentor; Angie, a hedonistic child of the seventies who is Tom's lover and John's temptress; McNapp, the Mafia's manager in Mexico who professes knowledge of President Kennedy's assassination; and a host of burnt-out, dying of age characters from the sixties. This south-of-the-border mixture of violence, sex and pathos explodes into the violent enigma that is Mexico.

Border Crossings: A Novel

John Fairweather

United States

Many books about ceramics provide technique upon technique, tool upon tool, recipe upon recipe. Mastery of gadgets and quick, tricky how-to-do-it techniques may seem the way to go. But this leaves no place for adventure. This book has good recipes, of course, but it is really for those who will ultimately create their own new recipes and forms. The motivation is in the mind. Guideposts are necessary and they must be visualized. This book is written in the belief that the motivation will find the method.

The Potter's Odyssey

Willard Spence

History & Criticism

Maria : The Legend, the Legacy

Susan Brown McGreevy

Four hundred years ago, the pioneer men and women who first came to New Mexico were forced to make their life compatible with the earth and with their isolation. The beauty that surrounded them did not sustain them, but out of reverence for the land, there appeared the chosen ones--the curanderos who understood the medicinal uses of herbs; the veijitos, the old men who made folklore, history and tradition and recounted it to the younger generations. And from this same tradition came the Patrón, a man who had the ability to channel ambition and determination, and to make the land and its people yield to the law of common interest. He was a protector, a watcher of signs; he was a code maker, a fashioner of a way of life that is sadly missing in today's world. He was called the Patrón by those whom he loved and who returned that love with work, faith and personal devotion. They called him the Patrón, but they might just as well have called him the Godfather. José Ortiz y Pino has portrayed New Mexico, its characters and traditions with a sagacious wit and poignant keenness that could only have emanated from one who grew up in its midst. And he has narrated for us the story of a man whose visions had no limits, a man whose dedication to his goal was matched only by his sense of justice and compassion for all men--Don José Ortiz, The Last Patrón.

Don Jose, the Last Patron

Jose Ortiz Y Pino

Biographies & Memoirs

Four hundred years ago, the pioneer men and women who first came to New Mexico were forced to make their life compatible with the earth and with their isolation. The beauty that surrounded them did not sustain them, but out of reverence for the land, there appeared the chosen ones--the "curanderos" who understood the medicinal uses of herbs; the "veijitos," the old men who made folklore, history and tradition and recounted it to the younger generations. And from this same tradition came the Patrón, a man who had the ability to channel ambition and determination, and to make the land and its people yield to the law of common interest. He was a protector, a watcher of signs; he was a code maker, a fashioner of a way of life that is sadly missing in today's world. He was called the Patrón by those whom he loved and who returned that love with work, faith and personal devotion. They called him the Patrón, but they might just as well have called him the Godfather. José Ortiz y Pino has portrayed New Mexico, its characters and traditions with a sagacious wit and poignant keenness that could only have emanated from one who grew up in its midst. And he has narrated for us the story of a man whose visions had no limits, a man whose dedication to his goal was matched only by his sense of justice and compassion for all men--Don José Ortiz, The Last Patrón.

Don Jose, The Last Patron

Jose Ortiz y Pino III

Historical

Today the name Gene Kloss, NA, is synonymous with copperplate etchings and when this book was first published by Sunstone Press in the early 80s, it quickly became a collector's item. No wonder because her limited edition prints are now becoming priceless on the art market. This 20th anniversary edition, the sole complete source of information on this outstanding artist, contains 81 black and white reproductions on 192 pages and includes a text by Gene's husband, poet and noted author Phillips Kloss. When Gene and Phillips Kloss first arrived in Taos, New Mexico, her first etching press, a sixty-pound machine, was installed at their camp in Taos Canyon by cementing it to a large rock. That press was eventually replaced by a 1,084 pound Sturges etching press purchased from a defunct greeting card company. With the years and the continual dedication came honors, national and international. The Smithsonian, the National Gallery, The Corcoran Gallery of Fine Art, the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as many others, house the works of Gene Kloss in their permanent collections. From her spare life on the eastern edge of Taos with neither water nor electricity, but plenty of firewood, kerosene and inspiration, Gene Kloss informed the art world of the special beauty inherent in southwestern images: the churches, the Indian faces, the mountains and valleys, the dances and intricate rhythms of life in a part of the United States that remains essentially unchanged to this day.

Gene Kloss Etchings

Phillips Kloss

The mother ditch, or acequia madre, is the main water line that is dug by hand and feeds many of the smaller acequias that cover the fertile land of Northern New Mexico. The acequias, water ditches, were used to irrigate the fields of crops for many farmers in the early days of settlement in New Mexico. A unique technology, the acequia, especially the mother ditch, had to be taken care of by everyone in the community that benefited from its generosity. A governing body was established to watch over the utilization and maintenance of the ditch. The mayordomo was the top elected official to preside over the governing council, and he was also required to perform numerous responsibilities representative of the people of the community. The acequia was truly one of the last vestiges of a life where people depended on each other for survival. The life of the community revolved around the acequia. Cooperation was essential to ensure everyone's sustenance. Today, many of the acequias the early settlers of New Mexico depended on have dried up. Yet, when one stands in the footings of these sand pits, you can feel the presence of the power of water that was so significant to the development of human progress in this part of the continent. English and Spanish edition.

The Mother Ditch (English and Spanish Edition)

Children's Books

Oliver La Farge

Education & Reference

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