Maria Paints the Hills

Real-life Santa Fe painter Maria Hesch (1909-1994) painted innocent narratives of her life as a young girl growing up along the river and next to her grandfather's alfalfa field that linked the family to the nearby church. In Maria Paints the Hills, acclaimed writer Pat Mora imagines the story of the young Maria revealed in the paintings. She is a sensitive child, alive to the colors and shapes of her world, a child who makes of her solitary playtime the companionship of her budding artful imagination.

"Look, Tia," Maria says excitedly. "See the caballitos galloping in the fire? The flames look like little horses." Pat Mora reminds us that children are the original artists.