by Eric DiStefano

Chef Eric DiStefano

As an East coast guy, I spent most of my childhood and adolescence an inch or two above sea level. There were 100˚ summers and minus-20˚ wind-chill winters, with what felt like 99.9 per cent humidity year round. Now living in Santa Fe, more than a mile above sea level, I find the high desert country has spoiled me: I look forward to each season. I have never taken for granted the uniqueness and wonders of northern New Mexico’s seasons. And since I’m a restaurateur and chef, it’s no surprise that my favorite seasonal things in Santa Fe revolve around food and wine.

Santa Fe is a great place to live. If you're not fortunate enough to live here, then a visit is the next best thing.

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What’s it like to live in a small town? The folks of Madrid, New Mexico, have a pretty good idea. Once a vibrant mining town, Madrid was almost forgotten about until a group of artists-turned-business-people brought it back to life in the 1970’s. Today, Madrid is a funky little place with a cast of characters who work hard to keep the show going along the scenic Turquoise Trail.

Jill Shwaiko Bentz is the owner of Indigo Gallery which represents more than 20 artists, most of which are local. Jill was first introduced to Madrid about 18 years ago. She said, “The town was still a town of artists, and most of the miner shacks were shops or galleries of some kind. Back then I thought about having a gallery here—for me it seemed like a simpler life than I had been living.” She chose to open Indigo Gallery in Madrid because the town is affordable and the gallery could be the right size for people to come and enjoy art in a relaxing and comfortable space.

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New Mexico gallery patrons know the works of Georgia o’Keeffe, Fremont Ellis, and Nicholai Fechin, but how about Ken Dye Jr., Robert Trent Jones Jr., and Baxter Spann? They are, in fact, the artists who sculpted new Mexico’s desert and mountain terrain into some of the most memorable golf courses anywhere in the American Southwest. Here are their local portfolios:

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Eight acres of sculpture-studded grounds, a 14,000-squarefoot state-of-the-art foundry, the spacious Bronze Gallery, and the modern, solar Fine Art and Craft Gallery belie the humble origins of Shidoni Foundry and Galleries: a “chicken brooder house” on a defunct egg-farm-turned-art-colony! In 1971 Texan Tom Hicks packed up his family and moved to northern New Mexico to join others who shared the dream of creating an art colony. The defunct Williams Egg Ranch in the farming village of Tesuque offered the perfect setting: rustic barns, orchards, beautiful surroundings—and in a Santa Fe suburb just five miles north of the Santa Fe Plaza.

With partner Gil Beach, Hicks set up his foundry. A sociable man, Hicks welcomed everyone to watch his crew create sculptures by melting and pouring 2000° molten bronze into molds. Within a couple of years, Beach had moved on. To accommodate his growing business, Hicks added a larger, upto- the-minute building that featured overhead cranes, sand pits for use when pouring metal, exhaust fans, and gas lines. Eventually he purchased the land from the art colony. Later, through the beneficence of Ann Maytag, a longtime friend of Shidoni, he acquired another three acres that allowed him to display more outdoor sculpture.

Countless artists have called on Shidoni to cast their fine art bronzes. Shidoni’s galleries represent more than 150 artists, whose work is displayed in the buildings, courtyards, and in the expansive, open outdoor areas. On Saturdays the public is invited to watch foundry artisans pour molten bronze into high-tech ceramic-shell molds. Knowledgeable gallery staff can help visitors select the perfect piece for their collection, whether it is a limited edition bronze sculpture, or a work of painted silk, blown or fused glass, wood or metal furniture, or carved stone. Shidoni takes great pride and pleasure in demonstrating its craft and sharing the world of fine art and craft with its guests and clients. www.shidoni.com • 505-988-8001

By Jarrett Sasser, Owner, High Desert Angler

There’s a richness of experience that distinguishes fly-fishing from most other outdoor pursuits. That richness is sometimes difficult to define.

Perhaps it’s the beauty of the mountain setting, the sparkling clarity of the streams and rivers. Or perhaps it has to do with the sense of oneness with nature or the quiet calmness that can come with solitude. Or maybe it’s the adrenaline rush that most anglers feel when a big trout takes their fly and screams upstream stripping the line off their reel.

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