Pedernal is the mountain the dominates the Piedra Lumbre, Valley of Shining Stone

Georgia O’Keeffe painted Pedernal many times.

Her presence dominates this valley, just as the the mountain itself oversees her home of many years at the Ghost Ranch.

Ms. O’Keeffe is quoted as saying:
“God said if I painted it enough, I could have it.—Georgia O’Keeffe. She was talking about Pedernal. Her ashes were scattered on the top of the mesa when she died.

A quiet evening at the Ghost Ranch, watching the clouds over Pedernal.

At this very moment I am sitting on a bench in the evening coolness. Here is a photo I just took of the view in front of me:
The serenity is palpable.
The vista inspiring.

My days are quite hectic with a group of 19 students.
They are  learning about sustainable building, making adobe bricks, building an adobe horno (a wood-fired, dome-shaped oven), studying Spanish and Anthropology, and Art.

For this week we are walking in the footsteps of O’Keeffe. We’ll see many mountains and vistas that she painted.

The valley of the Piedra Lumbre as seen from the top of the Chimney Rock. Pedernal is in the middle. We’re 1000 feet above the valley floor.

The Ghost Ranch is the perfect place to begin our semester.
Spacious and peaceful, the starkness of the desert is softened by the stunning terrain. We are surrounded by  cliffs of many colors: ochres, reds, browns, greys and whites. They tower thousands of feet above the valley floor.
There is water. We are in an oasis of cottonwoods and green grass.
It provides an easy transition from Vermont to New Mexico.

O’Keeffe thought it was a perfect place to begin a new life.