Beyond the Wall, San Miguel Mission

On a trip to California to visit family this past summer we visited the old San Miguel Mission.   Although I'd been to old New Mexico missions and churches, this one was a new experience for me.  The old churches in New Mexico are picturesque while the walls and/or buildings around them are usually not much to look at.  At San Miguel I found the opposite to be true.  The church itself wasn't striking to see except as part of the mission complex.  Taken as a whole, though, it is a magical place.  

Beyond the Wall, 23" x 30"

The first thing that struck me was the outer wall.  Gates, doors and windows always catch my eye anyway, and these were like portals into another time and place.  The gates in the wall around the mission would have kept my attention till sundown if my party hadn't been anxious to keep going.  I've been obsessed with them since.  

Still used for Mass today, the San Miguel Mission is part museum and part operating church.

One of the things that I love the most about these old missions is that most of them are still used today.  They aren't part of a state museum or owned by rich foundations, rather they are shabby and their upkeep is a constant drain on the people who worship there.  It would seem they feel lucky to go to church in them and have constant fundraisers for repairs.  The worn appearance and peeling paint make them homey and more personal to me.   

There are places in the stucco that don't match the worn and shabby bits; almost as though someone had tried a little bit too hard to make repairs appear as worn spots.  

One can feel the march of history while walking down the corridors.  I think of Patsy Cline's old song "South of the Border" and the mysterious and romantic appeal of exotic places and long ago times.  I realize mission life was far from romantic in the early days, but time has a way of softening the edges of history.    

The portico along the front

To my occasional embarrassment, I get to old places and have an irresistible itch to climb stairs, open doors and tiptoe through passages.  I want to smell the age of the walls and floors and sit in the rooms to see what the people of long ago saw as they sat there.  I have a long-dormant desire to find a hidden passage someday and be the first to explore it.  Probably too many Nancy Drew mysteries as a kid!  

The doorway in the rock wall drew me like a magnet.  However, it had an old iron gate locked against trespassers like me. I so wanted those bells to ring!  

For the next day or so I'll be working on a painting taken from this visit.  Partly from photo reference and partly from imagination, I can hardly wait to get going.  

I hope you'll pop back in to check on progress!  Alice