A tribute to my father

I can't say that my father and I always had an easy relationship. Later in his life, things got difficult between us. But when I was a child, there was no better father I could have had. Edward Chavez was an adventurer, an artist, a home-builder, a folk singer, and a bit of a cowboy. He also played a mean flamenco guitar. He made my world beautiful, and my life full of excitement, travel and all the wonders of the world. I was not raised as a princess of a girl (although I had my princess moments). Our life was, for the most part, more rough-and-tumble. We rode horseback together and drove rough terrain in an open jeep, made mud pies and slept under the stars. We drove through Spain and France in an old British Land Rover, visited the Al Hambra and the Louvre. We drove cattle together on the ranch, caught snakes, stalked coyotes. Once, he brought me home a wild tarantula in a box full of nails. We kept it for a while and then set it free. Nothing was out of the ordinary in our world, and anything was possible. I have a lot to be thankful for, and although we had some difficult times near the end of his life, the best of him is always with me.

My father, reading to me in our hammock in Woodstock.

Skiing in the alps.

Edward Arcenio Chavez as a young WPA artist.

His abstract work.

An early painting of ranching life.

His posthumous portrait of Billy the Kid.