The first trip Anthony Quartuccio made to the Baja California peninsula took place in October 1974. He returned in both October 1975 and 1976. In this new section of Tendencia, we will share notes, sketches and paintings that were inspired by his travels to Baja California.
The following recollections come from the book “Rambling through Baja California with Pen and Brush.” Thank you Lupita Aceves for letting us make it part of Tendencia.
“I fell in love with Baja California, a desolate place with a unique and awesome beauty, that appears to present a paradox of nature. I succumbed to its charm, its lonely emptiness and the seemingly formidable desert wilderness. I could wander off the main road and discover land untouched for centuries.
Traveling along the thousand miles of the transpeninsular highway with my friends Bill and Hazel Fox, I enjoyed the solitude and endless stretches of an austere desert fringed with successive mountain ranges. Certain exhilaration overwhelmed me, and I experienced a fantastic freedom of spirit.
I loved the secluded coves, the sundrenched beaches with their seas, as well as the infinitely blue skies. Most of all, I developed a special love and reverence for the Baja California missions and their ruins that drowse in the warm sun. Painting and sketching the missions has been a time of joy and tranquility.” Anthony Quartuccio
