New Mexico Sun and Sky

One of the questions I have been asked more than once since I moved to New Mexico is how or if I think the local landscape will change my work. It’s honestly a very fair question. After all, it is a huge contrast to the weather and landscape of Seattle, Washington. Gray, glowing green, rain-covered moss of the Pacific Northwest has been replaced with the wind, dust, and extreme temperatures of the Southwest desert.

Especially the incredible skyline.

I have seen beautiful skies in my life, of all kinds. I remember when I worked in the apparel industry and flew into Hong Kong, before they built their airport that was finished around 2000. Flying into Hong Kong was like a scene from the movie Blade Runner- we descended between skyscrapers and even though we knew (hoped!) it was safe, we would collectively hold their breath as we looked out at the incredible sky. Buildings upon buildings, lights, activity. It was so very futuristic to me, and became a highlight of every trip.

When we visited my in-laws at their house off the coast of Florida. You could sit on the beach and watch a storm move in slowly from miles away. My mother-in-law knew how much time we had before that cloud moved over us, and a good guess at how long the storm would last.

And now, here in New Mexico, we have these incredible skies that leave me at a loss for words. Even after living here over a year now, I can look at the kitchen window while making dinner (or breakfast), and have to drop everything, put on shoes, and go outside just to witness how incredible the sky looks.

Lilac hues appear in the evenings just after fiery orange glowy sunset. The mornings can start with a gorgeous pink hue that can change into the clearest blue. I’ve never seen rainbows more vivid than the ones I’ve seen here. One day I saw the most beautiful rainbow directly pointing down on one end, right over my neighbor’s house. It was magical. After my usual dropping of everything so I could take a picture, I called her and SHE ran outside to see if she could see it and took a picture.

You see, the sky here is news! It’s just that incredible.

 

I think if anything changes my work at all, it might be how I notice the changes in the sky and the many different colors it shows me throughout a single day. A soft yellow can intensify into a deep orange, and then within minutes becomes almost coral red. There’s no way it couldn’t affect my work in some way.

I feel so grateful to see it, to be able to stop and notice it every day. To be moved by it.