Santa Fe New Mexico is a hidden gem all on its own. The adobe architecture blends perfectly with the high desert landscape and the sunsets radiate colors one rarely gets to see.

We stopped in Santa Fe to meet up with Alexandra Eldridge, one of the many artists that make up the essence of this capital city. Did you know that Santa Fe has the third largest art community in the world?

I have to be honest by saying that I wasn’t extremely thrilled about doing this webisode -- I am the guy who got the “C” in art class while everyone else breezed by with an “A”! And I never really understood the artist culture: how can people stand around and look at a painting or sculpture for hours talking about what it means to them? And how can people spend big bucks on something that doesn’t look like anything? These real questions of mine before today. But after having a chance to spend the day living in Alexandra’s world, my attitude for art took a complete 180-degree turn.

Alexandra had this aura that is tough to put into words. Her passion, talent, and knowledge of art were second to none, but she talked about it in a very down to earth and practical way. Her art comes from her dreams and deals with the inner struggles that she goes through on a daily basis. There were the common themes that you could see within all her work, such as ladders, which is something each one of us can relate to -- some of the ladders were there to escape, while others were there for personal growth. And it didn’t take long before I found myself staring at her paintings while my mind went wild with the inner meanings. So here I was doing the one thing just hours ago I never understood -- standing around staring at paintings.

Alexandra and I worked on one together. I tried to depict the feeling and backdrop of a very memorable surfing experience in the country of Panama. I can still remember it like it was yeterday; just a couple buddies surfing this beautiful wave with no one in sight for miles and miles. The sun was setting, lighting up the sky with a deep red color. This sharp green mountain jungle came crashing to the deep blue water of the Pacific Ocean. Ever since then, I have been chasing the freedom I felt at that moment. And trying to take that feeling and make it apparent with a painting was simply pretty cool.

Thank you Alexandra for opening my eyes to something I was blind to.

And onwards we go…

Cheers and never stop traveling,

Alex Boylan