*all photos by Elaine A. Russell

The other day, frankly, I was lost in Barelas. I am not familiar with the area at all, but it is such a photo op of an area... that I just had to drive around for a bit. It was pretty much a perfect afternoon. I went to my jewelry class, then went for a drive around town... got a coke... and went exploring.

To my delight, I came across this wonderful grouping of buildings, known as the Our Lady of Kazan Skete. "The monastic community of Our Lady of Kazan began roughly 25 years ago south of Downtown Albuquerque as a skete - defined as a small community made up of 2-3 monks.....

The community has grown over the years to offer a counseling center, and works to pass on its skills and training to the surrounding community at large - including gardening, herbalism, bee-keeping, honey production, beeswax candle-making and iconography classes with our iconographer. " (http://www.kazanmonastery.org/)

Works of profoundly awesome art from the community are available at ORO Fine Art Gallery (http://gallery.orogallery.com/)