Taos, New Mexico

Taos, New Mexico

The next exploration for my yellow station wagon was to take Pat Quinn and her two sons to Taos, New Mexico.  Pat was an actress that played the part of Alice Brock in Arlo Gutherie’s movie “Alice’s Restaurant.”

Pat was good friends with Marlon Brando and he wanted her to go to Taos and find him a house to buy.  Marlon thought that the west coast would fall off into the ocean at some future date but that Taos would be safe because it was so sacred.  He financed our trip.

We spent the first couple of weeks staying at Marlon’s house on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles.  Marlon was in the hospital at the time losing weight for his next acting roll during our stay.  There were numerous telephone calls between his secretary at the house and his hospital room.  I drew a nice picture of a desert scene and had it sent to him which he said was peaceful and that he liked it.

Marlon had a large den that overlooked the San Fernando Valley.  It was filled with Indian memorabilia.  When we were there an animal control agent came by and said that there were too many wolves living on the property.  

Russell Means came by with a group of Indians and wanted to come in.  Marlon said to tell him to go back to the reservation and start getting ready for winter.  Marlon had let Russell and his friends in before and they made a mess of the house, leaving banana peels under the couch cushions, etc. 

Harry Dean Stanton came to visit us there.  Harry Dean liked to play the guitar and was very good although he is known for being an actor.

We eventually took off for Taos and stayed at the Sagebrush Inn.  It is such an incredible hotel.  We had fire places in our rooms and we were treated very well as Marlon was paying for our stay.  We stayed for about a month and then rented a house on the outskirts of town.  Marlon bought a house from the owner of the hotel.

I stayed in Taos for about four months, learning ceramics from a local artist named Fred and going on a large circuit of craft fairs to surrounding states with him as an assistant.  I sold my wind chimes, which were glazed with Fred’s special turquoise glaze that his pieces were known for.   I even got to condition the clay that was used to make a chalice for the San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church. 

I met many artists there and also viewed some exquisite ceramics collections but winter was coming and my money was getting low so I returned safely to Hollywood in my yellow station wagon.