Books GUEST REVIEW BY PETER BG SHOEMAKER

PABLITA VELARDE: In Her Own Words BY SHELBY J. TISDALE : A Straight Line Curved BY KATE NELSON TEACHING MY SPIRIT TO FLY BY MARGARETE BAGSHAW (Little Standing Spruce Publishing, 2012)

Margarete Bagshaw is the granddaughter relationship with her daughter, Helen Har- little to do with that world. Of course, the of Pablita Velarde and the daughter of din, and made things difficult when Helen, colorful geometries of Hardin’s greatest Helen Hardin—two of ’s too, began to paint. As Tisdale shows, in works demonstrate the futility of that best-known women painters. After years the end what mattered most was family— position. Awards and honors followed, as of doing other things, Bagshaw took up not the traditional family of disapproving well as exhibitions around the world—but, the brush and is now a well-respected cousins and spouses, and tribal members again, not without cost. Despite Hardin’s painter in her own right. Of the opinion locked forever in the way things were and present reputation as a fearless and outspo- that all three women have been ill served ought to be, but rather the much smaller ken artist, woman, and critic, Nelson shows by biographers, Bagshaw seeks to set the family of those who understood what was also the woman who found solace from her record straight by publishing this three- at stake, and what was important. hidden fears in alcohol and drugs. Hardin volume set by three authors. Kate Nelson, a former journalist and died in 1984, of cancer, leaving a legacy Shelby Tisdale, former director of the now marketing director at the New Mexico that continues to find new appreciation New Mexico Museum of Indian Arts and Museum of History, takes up the story of among artists and collectors. Culture, traces Pablita Velarde’s life and the second of this trio of extraordinary Bagshaw’s memoir is as much about her work from her early days on Santa Clara women. It is a superb read. Relying on mother and grandmother as seen through Pueblo to the , and scrapbooks, photos, recollections of friends, the eyes of a close, careful, and deeply through her evolution as an artist, from published material, as well as lengthy invested observer, as it is about herself. Bag- the Bandelier murals through her famous interviews conducted in the early 1970s, shaw grew up amid the work of Hardin and earth paintings. Throughout, the story Nelson draws an unflinching and powerful Velarde. The small family, though troubled, Tisdale tells is essentially one of rebellion portrait of Helen Hardin. She writes of the held together. But Bagshaw had no real and resistance. As a young woman, Velarde early days, and the complications Velarde’s interest in following in their footsteps until had to create the opportunity for a Santa choices brought to Hardin’s life in psycho- her second pregnancy, when a few sketches Claran woman to paint, and to paint full- logical and physical spaces far from the soon grew into strong pieces reminiscent time. It cost her, as did her traveling, lec- Pueblo. Hardin inherited her mother’s sense of the outré approaches of her mother and turing, and marriage to a non-Indian. This of rebelliousness, and despite winning some grandmother. Bagshaw pulls few punches trailblazing independence complicated her art contests as a child, thought she wanted in talking about the challenges she faced,

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of her own making and otherwise. But her story is one of the redemptive power of embracing who she is, in the company of those who supported her. These books will appeal to both collec- tors and fans of these artists, and the oeu- vres they’ve created over the past 80 years. They will be useful for those interested in how the age-old tension between tradition and innovation in art is resolved—or not. The writing and editing across the three volumes is radically uneven; there is an enormous amount of overlap of material. This can make for a disorienting reading experience. It’s best to space the books, giving each its due before moving on to the next. The result will be a much deeper appreciation for the story each writer is trying to tell, and the collective story that emerges. The books are available exclusively through Bagshaw’s Golden Dawn Gallery in Santa Fe. (505) 988-2024; the3books.com

Peter BG Shoemaker is a frequent contributor to New Mexico Magazine.

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