Red Willow Creek
Featured Photographer
Sharmagne Leland-St.John
“You don’t take a photo, you make a photo”
Ansel Adams b.1902~ d.1984
“Ranchos de Taos”
We love to come to Taos almost any time of the year, but I think winter has always been my favourite. I made this photo one December morning at sunrise.
“Sangre de Cristos”
This is one of the major mountain ranges in Taos. This photo was made in the late afternoon as the sun was setting.
“When All the World Was White”
The Quaking Aspen is a North American deciduous tree known for its shimmering leaves that "quake" in the slightest breeze due to their flattened stems. It is the most widely distributed tree in North America and can form massive, ancient clonal colonies from a single root system, with some estimated to be over 80,000 years old. The tree is valued for its fast growth, non-splintering wood, and vibrant fall color; but it spreads aggressively via root suckers.
I have several in my back garden/orchard. I love the starkness of them in winter!
“On the Way to Santa Fe”
Read my Ekphrastic poem in this issue to learn more about this tree!
“Winter Carnations”
Flowers have always been a great part of my life. In all my homes, you’ll generally find small bouquets in every room. Sometimes they’re just wildflowers gathered in the woods or by the roadside. In the springtime they’re fresh cut from my gardens. The scent of carnations filling a room is a beautiful memory of my childhood. .
“Frozen Sagebrush”
There is a sea of sagebrush separating my acreage from all the other close neighbours. My neighbour John‘s house is across the Arroyo from my Casita. Sometimes I find shards of pottery in the dry riverbed.
“Cow Herd in Winter”
I made this photo when I visited my friend Dan Goldman in Red Hook, New York. He was curating an exhibit “Smoke Signals” at a gallery in Dutchess County. My poem, “I Will Dance For You,” was honoured with a space on the wall of the Tivoli Artist’s Gallery in March and April 2017.
Photo credit: Dan Goldman
“Snow Ponies”
I made this photo at the Taos Pueblo. In my younger years, I was an equestrian. I have always had affinity with horses since my first experience at La Cienega Pony Rides.
Days Pants commercial c.1974
In the 1970s and 1980s we followed the Polo from Santa Barbara, California to Oakbrook, Illinois, Palm Beach, Florida to Hawaii to Smith’s Lawn in Great Windsor Park, Stowell Park and Cirencesterin the UK. Now we limit our forays into the Polo world to Will Rogers State Park in Los Angeles and George Dill’s farm in La Conner, Washington
“Onion Soup”
Not only did I make the photo I also made the soup. The logs you see burning in my wood stove fireplace in Arlington, Washington are from the maple tree my cousin Alice and I felled after it split and was in danger of falling on the roof of my flyfishing lodge on the Stillaguamish River. Best Steelhead River in the world!
Find the recipe here:
http://quillandparchment.com/archives/Nov2021/fren.html
“Here Comes the Sun”
Another winter, another sunrise at Ranchos de Taos. I never tire of photographing this view from my driveway.
“Red Umbrella”
In the spring and summer, I am “at home” on Thursdays when I serve high tea in the garden with the orchard as a backdrop. In the autumn it’s too windy…in the winter I admire the colourful contrast.
“Guanacos ~ Patagonia”
In 2015 my friend Grant and I ventured to Chile and Patagonia on a flyfishing expedition. Whilst there we visited two of Pablo Neruda’s homes—one in the city and the other in Valparaiso. I wrote the poem “Matilde” for our April “Poets on Poets” issue after visiting the latter.
http://www.quillandparchment.com/archives/April2015/mati.html
Grant Wasden was featured artist and photographer 2014,2017, 2023).
“In the Meadow We Will Build a Snowman”
My daughter, her husband and my grandchildren came to visit us one Christmas and I couldn’t resist making a snowman for the children. This visit still lives vividly in the now 7-year-old memory of my granddaughter Dylan!. She was only two at the time, and it was her first experience with snow!
Ski Valley Snags
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