Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe: "When I got to New Mexico, that was mine. As soon as I saw it, that was my country. I'd never seen anything like it before but it fitted to me exactly. It's something that's in the air. It's different. The sky is different. The stars are different. The wind is different. I shouldn't say too much about this, 'cause other people may get interested and I don't want them interested.

"I don't go out like that now, but I used to get right up in the morning and start out and stay out all day. I'd start off around seven and not get back until around five.

"Hot? Well, of course it was hot. It was terribly hot. And in the afternoon at about four o'clock, the bees would try to get in the car, so you'd have to close the windows. Of course it was hot.

"But a Model-A was wonderful. You could take the back seat out. I could sit on the driver's seat when I turned it around and I could work on the back seat. The windows were large enough that it was very good and I could use a great big canvas..."

Roxanne Swentzell

"I tell a story because my art comes from me being a little child and not being able to speak...

When my mother was making pottery, I would take the clay and I started making these figures that were basically me, trying to show how I felt. Then I would show the little figurine to my mother. And that's how she would know how I felt.

"I found out really early that I could communicate things through sculpting. It wasn't like 'I'm making art' or 'I'm going to make a drawing'. It was pure communication.

"I love my clay that I buy, from a box. And it saves me a lot of time processing it. I think it's important to experience digging clay and mixing your own clay and I grew up doing that. My mother used to dig her own clay..."

Frida Kahlo

She did not originally plan to become an artist. A polio survivor, at 15 Kahlo entered the premedical program at the National Preparatory School in Mexico City. However, this training ended three years later when Kahlo was gravely hurt in a bus accident. She spent over a year in bed, recovering from fractures of her back, collarbone, and ribs, as well as a shattered pelvis and shoulder and foot injuries. Despite more than 30 subsequent operations, Kahlo spent the rest of her life in constant pain, finally succumbing to related complications at age 47.

Biggest Art Show

Many wanted to see the newest addition to this annual expo: The Taos Living Masters section, a group of artworks by several well known artists chosen by their peers and acknowledged "masters" themselves.

The Taos Invites Taos and Taos Open shows, regular features of the festival were also perused by the eager crowd. The festival is an occasion that brings out many local artists and art patrons who can't wait to see what others have been up to over the past year.

Awards were indicated by ribbons on several pieces, all of which are for sale. The festival takes 40 percent and artists get 60 percent from sales.