Last Posting of Leftovers From Florida - Moving On

This will be our last left-over-from-Florida newsletter. We have moved on, and hope each of you will follow us with your thoughts, communications and in person with a visit. Mi Casa Tu Casa. After nearly 30 years working in and loving the Everglades ecosystem and the art inspired by that unique environment and the powerful and de-voted individuals dedicating their lives to a robust, sustainable sub-tropical wetland unique in the US, we have adopted the mountain west as our home and our hope for the future. Connie was born and reared in this multicultural Land of Enchantment, and Nicholas has a New Mexico heart.

Guardians of the Everglades® has been closed. Our individual art and photography web sites remain open and active for direct sales for now. I identify myself now as an actor. Evolve with us.

We wish you peace and prosperity in the coming New Year and each one after. We wish you courage and strength to do your part, as we are doing ours, to maintain a habitable planet for our progeny. And to wish you the message of the season, whether Christian or not - peace on earth and goodwill toward all.

We conclude with some images and some contact points for both of us. Please keep in touch.

Nicholas and Connie

NicholasandConnie@gmail.com
ConnieBarrow42@gmail.com
NicholasPetrucci.com
ConnieBransilver.com
ConnieBarrowActor.com (coming soon)
Facebook: ConnieBarrowActor
Instagram: @ConnieBarrowActor
Twitter: @Connie_Barrow

Guardians of the Everglades Trailer (video).

The Rio Grande from a hot air balloon (video).

Bucket List Balloon Ride.

Summer at our casa in the Land of Enchantment.

Yellowstone National Park with Nicholas and Old Faithful.

Montana, somewhere, from cousins’ home.

Los Ranchos, somewhere, at another cousin’s home.

Our acequias, life of the community.

Like a look back at my roots; like Casey.

This is one way up to Sandia Crest.

Thanksgiving Day Feast.

Casa Cacatua in the snow, Thanksgiving Day.

The model, Bud E. Cockatoo Bird, inside of course.

My fellow actors in my first full length feature movie, with lines and all. Lady of Guadalupe, scheduled for release summer 2020.

Actors have to have head shots.

Work, Recovery & Pleasure

ILCP - International League of Conservation Photographers - WILDSpeak West in Jackson, WY, in September was the first gathering for western US based Fellows and affiliates, sharing our work and learning - oral communication skills from Steve Mandel, a full day of workshops and presentations in the Museum of Wildlife Art, a stimulating day of learning about new technologies at R Lazy S Ranch adjoining Tetons National Park, and lots of relaxed social time for both of us. Although I am rotating off the Board and away from professional wildlife and conservation photography, I am so grateful and proud to be a Founding Fellow and enthusiastic supporter of iLCP, dedicated to “Ethical Environmental and Cultural Conservation Photography.”

Steve Mandel’s Oceans 360 viewing at iLCP WILDSpeak.

Nicholas, new friend George Nicol & a drone demo at R Lazy S Ranch. Executive Director Susan Norton is in the background.

From the ranch, new snow overnight in the Tetons.

The Great Western US, New to Both of Us, and Much Needed R&R.

Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO, near Alamosa, was our first stop. Did you know something so spectacular and unusual could hide among the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the fertile San Luis Valley?

North America’s tallest dunes. Who knew?

There are little, tiny humans hiking down in the canyon. Most of the park is only for hiking or camping. Canyonlands National Park, UT.

After a night in Moab, outdoorsy-ville, we visited Arches National Park, UT. The paved roads stop at numerous trail heads, some short and easy, some more arduous, but all reminding us humans of our insignificant place in the universe.

Nicholas and camera at an Arches trailhead.

Same man; new trail. Arches National Park.

How could we not have visited Yellowstone National Park in our lives? Everyone else has, but it is no less spectacular than everyone says. September is a great time to visit - way fewer tourists, still excellent weather, sunny and temperate. We saw all the iconic animals of Yellowstone, with a few special events such as amorous bison and elk (wapiti), and way more Pronghorns than I anticipated. Our four days were not enough.

Tourists from many countries watching Old Faithful do her thing.

Paint pots — what else? — a bubbling geyser.

More geyser abstracts.

Young lovers skirting the front of our car.

New National Geographic television film on Yellowstone National Park in production.

We also spent three fantastic days visiting my cousin’s ranch just north of Yellowstone, renewed those familial bonds, but no photos. It’s all about privacy these days.

Film News

Connie will appear in the Hollywood production of Lady of Guadalupe which is scheduled to be released in theaters mid 2020. As you know, actors sign non-disclosure agreements so that is all we can tell you now. You can check out the officially published information at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10886702/

This is my screen family, Mary (Kimberley Aria Peterson) and John (Guillermo Ivan) after we wrapped the scene.

Nicholas and Connie continue acting classes at Sol Acting Academy. Perpetual Grace, Ltd, and Chambers are both available to download now, and while we were in both, we did not have speaking roles. Same for Better Call Saul, Episodes 501 & 504, for Connie.

We hope you enjoyed this taste of our glorious west. Most of our visits were in national parks or other protected lands. We must protect them as our national heritage.

Course Correction - Filmmaking For Now

Serendipity? Why else would we change course, at least for now, and focus on filmmaking? Partly because it’s fun, partly because it’s a challenge, partly because we have not geared up for a full scale change in art direction, and partly because the movie industry is so active here it’s hard not to be involved. We have few photos because we have to sign non-disclosure agreements until the films are released, and cell phones are not allowed on set.

So here are some previews:

CHAMBERS - A woman survives a heart transplant and begins to develop different personality traits. Stars Uma Thurman and Tony Goldwyn. Netflix is headquartered in Albuquerque. It is available on-line now.

https://www.imdb.com/videoplayer/vi942128409 - Trailer
We are both in Episode 8, an equinox party scene.

PERPETUAL GRACE, LTD, stars Ben Kingsley, Jimmi Simpson, and the New Mexico landscapes which lend a biblical feel to the series. Epix/MGM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VYvE0mcByM

For the New Mexico POV - point of view - read the local press:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1321654/nm-landscapes-lend-biblical-feel-to-perpetual-grace-ltd.html

We were residents in the town in several scenes shot over two brutally cold days in Las Vegas, NM.

Perpetual Grace - Freezing in Base Camp

Others are coming. Better Call Saul is in production now. Connie is a Court Clerk in Episode 501 and 504. They are aiming for release this Fall.

Better Call Saul - Court Clerk

Connie is also in two movies, one, Voices, is a short nearly ready for release. The other, an A-list full length movie, is just beginning shooting. Connie has been in one scene so far.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/ConnieBarrowActor/community/?ref=page_internal

Scary Old Lady . . . did not really have to act. Just be myself.

Three smaller productions are in post-production and will be available on-line. Connie plays “Jamie”, a transgender woman in Green Solutions, Inc., an office comedy. Hands of the Refugee, is a CNM student film where Connie plays a Bar Keep.

Green Solutions production team

Hands of the Refugee - CNM Student Film

Saving the best for last, Nicholas plays a cop stopping a speeding driver. This, too, is in post-production but will be available online.

Cowboy Cop - In Production

But I can’t help trying to capture beauty and joy and the perfect moment.

Light!

Artists Evolve - Art Sales Evolve - Galleries Evolve - Collectors Evolve - and so have we.

La Femme en Bleu 2, 36x30 inch Oil on Canvas, ©Nicholas Petrucci, has gone to live happily ever after in a warm and welcoming home in Fort Lauderdale. May she always make everyone around her happy. Femme 1 is still for sale. She is the last of the Mystery of a Woman series which also includes Original Sin, 36x30 inch Oil on Canvas, ©Nicholas Petrucci. Original Sin also resides in a Florida home.

La Femme en Bleu 2, 36”x30” Oil on Canvas ©Nicholas Petrucci

La Femme en Bleu 1, 36”x30” Oil on Canvas ©Nicholas Petrucci

Original Sin, 36”x30” Oil on Canvas ©Nicholas Petrucci

Artists Evolve - Art Sales Evolve - Galleries Evolve - Collectors Evolve - and so have we. Newly southwestern - Nicholas - or southwestern again - Connie - our art and creative expression is infused with the Land of Enchantment. We love our mountain, Sandia (watermelon) pink at sunset, and holding onto its biggest snows at the crest even into mid-March.

Sandia Peak Tram with Man on Top ©Connie Bransilver

Trees and Snow in Infrared ©Connie Bransilver

My precious Sandhill Cranes have flocked and flown north, as have most of the Canada geese. Finches have returned but the hummingbirds, not yet. Roadrunners are running again, and our skunks, raccoons and coyotes are getting fatter.

Sandhill Crane on the Wing ©Connie Bransilver

The acting bug bit us both. We have taken several classes at Sol Acting Academy in anticipation of even more films being made in New Mexico since Netflix HQ will now be in Albuquerque. My current class is a 6 month intensive on all phases of production. Watch this space for a short office comedy. Even better, friend me at facebook.com/Connie-Barrow-Actor-622356901546397 as well as on Twitter, Linked-In and Instagram. Use my legal, acting name, Connie Barrow. Watch for both of us on Chambers, with Uma Thurman, Netflix in 2019, and on Perpetual Grace, Ltd., with Ben Kingsley, MGM/Epix in 2019. A short film is yet to be released with Connie in a fun, small part.

Nicholas Napping on Set ©Connie Bransilver

Sol Acting Academy is hosting several pieces of artwork. All are for sale. Thank you.

Everglades Guardian, 72”x42” Oil on Board ©Nicholas Petrucci

Movements, 30”x25” Ink on Paper ©Nicholas Petrucci

Pink Tutu, 40”x54” Canvas ©Connie Bransilver

Preening Egret, 54”x40” ©Connie Bransilver

Panther Kitten, 24”x36” Gloss on Aluminum ©Connie Bransilver

Peeking Fox, 16”x30” Gloss on Aluminum ©Connie Bransilver

Come visit us in the Land of Enchantment. No passport needed. Mi casa tu casa.

-Connie

A Daily Joy - Our Year in the Land of Enchantment

A year ago we left Florida saying, in our year end newsletter:

“We began the Guardians of the Everglades® multi-media project with great hopes of reaching and educating a broad range of individuals in the benefits of Everglades conservation. . .” But forces of destruction were overwhelming. and clear-eyed, we had to move on.

Over the past year news on climate change has shifted from threatened species or habitats to one of international concern for the ecosystem of the entire planet. Yet Nero continues to fiddle.

Our year in the Land of Enchantment has proven to be the right move. New Mexicans understand that we share the planet with all creatures, threatened or thriving, and it is a daily joy. Share some of our beauty.

We wish you and yours and all creatures here below beauty and peace.

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo.

Nicholas and Connie

View from Sandia Crest over Albuquerque

Viga shadows on adobe

Young buck in velvet

Balloon dip in the Rio Grande

Rio Grande in summer

International Hot Air Balloon Festival - When Pigs Fly

Acoma valley

Valles Caldera National Preserve

Jemez River bosque in the fall

Buddy the Cockatoo in his favorite cottonwood

NM State Fair Rodeo grand entry

Maximilian sunflowers

Acequia looking west

Acequia east

Ladder-backed woodpecker

Our garden in snow

Fireplace in the living room

Giving Tuesday - Please Join Us

Dear Friends,

As you know, I’ve devoted my life to creating impactful images to protect the places and species I love. Through visual storytelling, I attempt to connect people to these issues and inspire action. I am a part of a global Fellowship of visual storytellers with similar missions, goals, and ethics.

I know first-hand the power of visuals. These are recent images from the western New Mexico mesa land, semi-arid yet supporting some of our most ancient American civilizations - Acoma, Laguna, Zuni, Navajo and before that, the Puebloan civilizations at Chaco Canyon just north of these spots.

Giving Tuesday is November 27th, I’m thankful to be a part of this group of passionate visual storytellers, and in fact, a Senior Founding Fellow. A donation to iLCP is an investment in conservation images to protect the pristine and diverse places on this Earth. Please consider donating here.

Any amount will go a long way and will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support.

Wishing you a great holiday season,

Connie Bransilver, Senior Founding Fellow
https://conservationphotographers.org