Todos Santos
Day 13 – Albuquerque to Santa Fe
All planning has been tossed aside, even the plans we made 30 minutes earlier. Leaving Albuquerque, we were heading to Beulah, CO for Bishops Castle…but got to talking about Santa Fe. Laura has a good friend, Judy, who has been giving us smoke updates and lives in Santa Fe – so, of course we should visit.
Museum of International Folk Art
Heaven and Hell (at the museum)
Entry to the Girard collection
Detail from Alexander Girard's collection of milagros
After dropping Laura off at a Nia class, I headed straight for the International Folk Art Museum. The centerpiece here is a collection of folk art from all over the world donated by Alexander Girard. (He was a graphic designer that also collected folk art – a man after my own heart.) After donating it, he demanded to do the installation himself as well. Hey, why not? The result is an idiosyncratic, quirky layout that’s a work of art in itself. Teamed up with the various rotating exhibitions, it makes quite clear that self-expression knows no national boundaries.
My version of heaven at Todos Santos
Continuing on with my folk art obsession du jour, I headed in search of to my new favorite chocolate shop/folk art extravaganza – Todos Santos. Folk art dealer, Hank Lee in San Antonio, TX has always raved about the shop with it’s Day of the Dead decor and amazing handcrafted treats. He was right. Fancy chocolates and an over-the-top store to showcase the masterpieces.
A Michael Jackson Day of the Dead figure - so wonderfully wrong on so many levels...
While studying fashion design in Paris, New Orleans native Hayward Simoneaux began collecting antique chocolate molds. His tiny candy store, Todos Santos, is crammed with his signature shop-made dark chocolate milagros; palets d’ors, disks of dark chocolate flecked with gold; and candied orange peel-tarragon flavored chocolates and rose-scented marzipan from Vienna. Oh so good.
On to Judy’s house and we spent the evening with great food (thanks Judy!), wine and an incredible sunset, courtesy of those fires.
End to another great day
