Day 8 - Artwork by Jo Stodgle of UpCycle Santa Fe

In New Mexico, we are known for our chile but it might surprise some people to learn that we are also home to a vibrant art culture with prolific artists of all mediums. As I prepared for the “12 Days of New Mexican Christmas”, it was important for me to include artisans of food but also practicing artists that are working to make an impact on our communities. Today, we are focusing on a featured artist, Jo Stodgel. When Jo’s not painting, he’s on a mission to help communities, in particular Santa Fe, with waste management by Upcycling waste locally instead of recycling to reduce international waste. He founded the local company Upcycle Santa Fe that takes waste like an Ecobrick (explained later) and uses these materials to make modular furniture. Upcycle Santa Fe began in early 2014 after several years of exploring plastic waste upcycling practices and on the heels of a fellowship Jo did in Brooklyn with the DO School, a German organization focused on aiding young entrepreneurs.

Students of Monte Del Sol work on their ecobrick bench.

Jo explains further, “I got into the fellowship with my idea of setting up a new kind of waste management center that would focus on upcycling locally, rather than recycling internationally which is too often the case. We need a model of open source, decentralized, small-scale solutions for every common waste material in the world, and this is what Upcycle Santa Fe wants to be and become. In 2012, I started a festival of upcycling at the local dumpsite in the rural community of Greyton, South Africa, called the Trash to Treasure Festivals. Since then, I wanted to bring this work to my hometown of Santa Fe and anchor it here in some form, although I knew it would be quite different in our "more developed" context. It is my view that we don't necessarily have a better waste management system here in the USA; we are just so much better at sweeping trash under the carpet of landfill and shipping a ton of it overseas for "less developed" communities to deal with. Santa Fe is a rich place to be from and live in, and I am stoked to bring back all that I gathered in my travels and studies and share it here.”

Anyone can join in the upcycling revolution in a variety of ways. The simplest way to get involved is make an Ecobrick by densely stuffing a clean and dry plastic bottle with clean and dry plastic waste. Upcycle Santa Fe collects these at the wooden bin in front of 917 Don Juan Street and uses them as an alternative insulation material in constructions. Upcycle Santa Fe recently made a bench using Ecobricks with the help of students and volunteers at Monte Del Sol Charter School in Santa Fe. “Really our message is that anyone who sets their mind to it can deal responsibly with every material that enters into their hands or household,” Jo expresses.

For the 12 Days of New Mexican Christmas, Jo has created an original 8"x10" painting, made with oil paint pens on canvas and depicts a green and red chile holding hands in front of a Christmas tree and a farolito covered adobe building. Underneath can be read "Merry Christmas!" Jo explains, “It is an homage to the season, and to my favorite response to the question ’Red or green?’"

I asked Jo to tell me about his interest with art and how it developed. “I have always loved to draw since I was a wee one. By the time I was at Santa Fe High School, I was a proper oil paint snob who refused to go near acrylics. Only in the last few years have I gotten into acrylics, but have also incorporated a ton of random materials and mediums into my works, from plastic waste to coffee and paint pens. More recently, I have delved into drawing and painting on reclaimed wood with full respect for the grain - something that inspires me so much because it is inherently a conversation had with Nature.”

Old Boy & The Apple

Sacred Mountain

Solo Zozo

His art website can be found at spokeofsource.com - Anyone can contact Jo Stodgel directly if they are interested in a print of an existing artwork or in commissioning an original. 

To be eligible to win the #ChileChicaGiveaway - one item from each of the 12 Days of New Mexico Christmas (valued at over $200!) - you will need to do to the following:

1.       Repost any of the "12 Days" as they are posted now through December 23rd on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram - feel free to repost older days you have already read as well!

2.       Include the hashtag #ChileChicaGiveaway on all your reposts!

3.       Follow New Mexico Chiles; History, Legend and Lore on Facebook.

4.       Follow The Chile Film on Facebook.

Post everyday for your best chance to win. Each post will count as an additional entry; limit one per day per social media platform. We will announce the winner on Christmas Eve, and remember to have your privacy settings public so we can see your posts!

Day 7 - New Mexico Piñon Coffee

All About that Piñon
How do you piñon? #pinoncoffee #alldayeveryday #tistheseason
Posted by New Mexico Pinon Coffee on Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Around the Journal Center district of Albuquerque not too far from the Balloon Fiesta Fields the smell of sweet coffee permeates thought the crisp New Mexican air. That smell is coming from New Mexico's largest coffee roasting company. Let me share with you a little bit about New Mexico Piñon Coffee. 

Back in the early 1990s, James Franco and his business parter started to experiment with different blends of coffee at their bookstore and coffee house. The two knew they had a hit on their hands when they came across the perfect combination of piñon and coffee. Unfortunately, Franco's business partner passed away and Franco decided to sell the bookstore and coffee house. After the tragic loss, Franco held on to his memories of their perfect coffee blend. Using the blend as his inspiration, he then decided to open Piñon Coffee in 1994 in the back of an old red Chevrolet pick-up truck. In the beginning, Franco had a dog, named Decaf, that can be seen on some of the old labeling as he was once thought of as the company's mascot. The coffee quickly became popular throughout New Mexico and created the foundation for what is today the largest coffee roasting company, by volume, in New Mexico.

New Mexico Piñon Coffee is now on its third owner, but is still family owned and operated. Today, Cindy and Frank Bassett are the owners and two of their sons as well as their daughter-in-law operate the company. Including both the office crew and production staff, they employ about 20 New Mexicans.

All of the company's roasting is done in Albuquerque out of their roasting facility. They use 100% Arabica coffee coming from Peru, Brazil, Mexico and sometimes Honduras. Their roasting process is based on small-batch roasting, which means no more than 100 pounds in each batch. They roast on average 2,500 pounds of coffee beans per day and over 800,000 pounds per year using old-school flame based roasters without any fancy gadgets or mechanisms. Each batch is watched over by their house roaster who continually checks the beans throughout the process to make sure they roast to perfection. To put into perspective, about one coffee tree produces about a pound to a pound-and-a-half per year. For New Mexico Piñon Coffee to reach their demand, they are using beans from over one-million coffee bean trees. 

Today, the company has over 40 different coffee flavors that are tested and approved by a group of professional tasters. They also offer free coffee tasting classes twice a month throughout the year. You can check out their availability on their website. One coffee factoid that I learned while touring their roasting facility is that a light roast of coffee = more caffeine and a more acidic flavor, a darker roast = less caffeine and slightly biter flavor. 

This year in particular has been a very exciting year for the company as they are on their way to roasting over 1 million pounds of coffee. This was also the first year New Mexico Piñon Coffee was the official coffee sponsor of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. In previous years Folgers held this title, but 2015 was the first year that a local company was selected for the position. 

For our grand giveaway we are including one of the New Mexico Piñon Coffee Traditional Gift Sampler sets, as featured in the photograph above. 

Bags of Coffee arrive in the warehouse from Peru, Brazil and Mexico.

You can find New Mexico Piñon Coffee is most New Mexican super markets, on their website or by stopping into their retail store off Jefferson street NE in Albuquerque.

To be eligible to win the #ChileChicaGiveaway - one item from each of the 12 Days of New Mexico Christmas (valued at over $200!) - you will need to do to the following:

1. Repost your favorite of the "12 Days" as they are posted now through December 23rd on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram - feel free to repost older days you have already read as well!

2. Include the hashtag #ChileChicaGiveaway on all your reposts!

3. Follow New Mexico Chiles; History, Legend and Lore on Facebook.

4. Follow The Chile Film on Facebook.

Post everyday for your best chance to win. Each post will count as an additional entry, limit one per day per social media platform. We will announce the winner on Christmas Eve, and remember to have your privacy settings public so we can see your posts! Happy holidays!

Day 6 - Kei and Molly Textiles, LLC

Photo courtesy of Kei and Molly: Idalia Road Market

Today we share a story about two super-moms and how their creative ideas lead to an industrious vibrant textile company in the heart of the international district of Albuquerque. Kei and Molly met through their children, who were both at Bandelier Elementary School. The two developed a tight friendship with many similar interests and decided to enter the Bandelier Holiday Bazaar in 2010 with the idea of creating an economic development project in the international district. Within two hours of the bazaar, all of their products had sold out...they knew they were on to something. "We both have backgrounds working with immigrants and wanted to start a business that would create good jobs in our community," Kei and Molly reflect. Five years later, they now employ five New Mexican women, most of whom are immigrants and artists based in the International District, working to create artisan-quality, hand-printed fabric goods. Since 2010, their business has steadily grown gaining local and national attention. Their textile products, mostly flour-sack kitchen towels, can be found in over 27 states and over two-dozen stores here in New Mexico. 

Photo courtesy of Kei & Molly

The two women express their efforts in bringing industry to Albuquerque, "The International District is one of the poorest areas in Albuquerque, but we see it as a vibrant community with recent immigrants and refugees. Our kids went to school here, Kei's husband teaches in the community, and we see so much positive energy being created in the area. We don't see poverty as a detriment to business, but rather an opportunity to train and work with people who want to contribute to the success of what we are trying to do!"

Each year, the women create two different lines of designs; one in the spring and the other in the fall. They start individually and then collaborate together as they get stuck or need to refine a design. "This is the great part of having a design partner - we have each other to bounce off ideas!" When I met the women, I could see that they both are inspired by one another and encourage each other throughout the creative process. Kei brings printing experience, having shown products at the New York International Gift Fair and worked for designers such as Jonathan Adler and Denyse Schmidt. Molly brings and international and global perspective to the designs being able to speak five languages (wow!) and was a dedicated educator for over 20 years (double wow!). The two would make any business envious of their savvy and creative talents.

A sampling of some of their designs

Although the two are undoubtedly talented, the sweetest part about Kei and Molly is they actively choose to be proactive members of their community as well as environmentally aware business owners. Their studio uses only water-based, non-toxic inks to minimize the impact on the environment. They filter their waste water to 20 microns to keep pigment out of the water system. Their product line is made using only 100% natural fibers. Waste fabric from their production is often recycled into community projects through schools and community groups. 

Their designs have quickly found homes all around the country. Some of the most popular designs include the "Red or Green" chile roaster kitchen towels that are featured in our grand giveaway (giveaway instructions below).
  

You can find their products on their website, in many local stores or catch them this coming weekend December 13th at the Rail Yards Holiday Market.

To be eligible to win the #ChileChicaGiveaway - one item from each of the 12 Days of New Mexico Christmas (valued at over $200!) - you will need to do to the following:

1. Repost your favorite of the "12 Days" as they are posted now through December 23rd on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram - feel free to repost older days you have already read as well!

2. Include the hashtag #ChileChicaGiveaway on all your reposts!

3. Follow New Mexico Chiles; History, Legend and Lore on Facebook.

4. Follow The Chile Film on Facebook.

Post everyday for your best chance to win. Each post will count as an additional entry, limit one per day per social media platform. We will announce the winner on Christmas Eve, and remember to have your privacy settings public so we can see your posts! Happy holidays!