DeGrazia Adobe Gallery -Part II

Shirley really was drawn to this large stone mosaic piece. It is about 12 feet long and 8 feet high.

There are thousands of tiny pieces of rock cut to less than 1/2 inch by one inch and set in cement to tell the story. Very beautiful work.

This close up shot shows the variety of size and colors the artist used to create this beautiful piece.

Ted DeGrazia was a versatile artist, capable of producing works in a variety of mediums. He did several stained glass pieces.

I love the colours and the action of this simple stained glass work.

You can feel the movement of these wild horses as they run free.

The roundup... you can feel the dust and the sweat as the cowboys bring in the cattle.

Picking a horse and making a deal.

Can you feel the action at this cock fight? The feathers are flying!

There were two rooms dedicated to the "Stations of the Cross." Both were done in different styles... but I really liked the colors and the mood that were captured in this one of Jesus carrying the cross.

In several places flowers made from pop cans decorate archways both inside and out.

DeGrazia loved children and he taught them this simple craft project. There is no end of possible designs and color combinations.

Here at the front entrance of the gallery pop can flowers add cheer and invite you into this creative environment.

These heavy metal doors combine colorful glass marbles that fit into the design, so when you come out from the gallery on a sunny day, colorful "stars" are shining brightly in this door. Unfortunately we could not get a photo of this detail, but the creativity here never stops.

It took a lot of work to cut cactus into blocks and set them in concrete to create this design in the main walkway to the rooms that had the stations of the cross.

Everywhere you look one can see where Ted DeGrazia left his creative touch. Even in this counter where we stopped to pay for the few items we purchased, he made an interesting design on the front.

A Little Chuckle
Artist Pablo Picasso surprised a burglar at work in his new chateau. The intruder got away, but Picasso told the police he could do a rough sketch of what he looked like. On the basis of his drawing, the police arrested a mother superior, the minister of finance, a washing machine, and the Eiffel tower.

DeGrazia Adobe Gallery -Part I

We spent a very enjoyable three hours at the "DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun"... a ten acre estate of the artist Ted DeGrazia. During his 68 years on this planet he built all the adobe buildings on this property and did a ton of art... paintings, sculptures, ceramics and mosaics.

We were attracted to this place because of the old original adobe buildings built by an artist. From this modest entrance to the gallery you would have no idea that inside you could wander from room to room... likely more than 5-6,000 sq. ft. of perpetual added-on rooms with hundreds of paintings displayed.

The mostly horizontal buttress along the front is similar to the famous adobe church in Taos. It was as a result of seeing the old adobe buildings in Santa Fe and Taos that we added the corner buttresses to the orphanage in Mexico.

The artist was obviously a good Catholic and built this small chapel on the property. Note the little holes (windows) in the wall.

These similar size holes on a nearby small gallery building have coloured glass without any frame at all They are just put directly into the wall and stuccoed in place.

Another angle of the chapel with its modest bell tower... again note the tiny windows that have coloured glass.

Inside the chapel this central skylight was open to the sky... very necessary to bring in enough light to be able to enjoy all the paintings done directly on the wall.

This painting filled the entire wall on one side of the chapel.

The simplicity of his paintings reminded me of another of my favourite artists, Marc Chagall.

Although DeGrazia never achieved the fame like Chagall, the longer we spent in the Gallery of the Sun the more I came to enjoy his style.

He often said that his paintings we completed, but never finished. He left the finishing to be done by the viewer... to put in the missing parts like the eyes, nose and mouth, etc.

I don't think most people appreciate the beauty of adobe as much as Shirley and I. We spent a lot of time building the orphanage in Mexico with adobe and we like the design of this chapel.

Ted DeGrazia (1914-1982)
What could be better than to be buried next to the chapel on the property where you have worked a major part of your life?

Beside the grave is this six foot stone cone. Shirley thinks that it may be like a shrine in honour of the dead artist.

Maybe the coins that are placed here are to ward away the evil spirits. If you have any insights on this please share... since we don't know anything... we are only guessing.