She stays too busy to talk about herself, so I'll give you a quick introduction to Roxa Robison, artist. (To find out more, you must wait until she settles down long enough to visit.) Any factual errors are mine--Lindy's--and I'm sure I'll hear about them. Meanwhile, I'll share a sense of her that isn't too far off course.

Roxa is a fourth generation rancher in Jeff Davis County, Texas. Her great-grandfather settled in Far West Texas in the 1880's, joining a handful of bold and resourceful pioneers who saw grass and sky and mountains, then added cattle. Crow's Nest Ranch, just up the road from that first piece of land, has been worked by her family since 1905. So to understand Roxa, you must understand ranching in the Davis Mountains. It's a wild, remote region where folks take care of themselves but never hesitate to help a neighbor. People who whine don't make it out here. Neither do people too busy or self-absorbed to admire the sunset--even though it sets out here daily. Nature is to a rancher as Starbucks is to a commuter.

With husband Tom, she's raised a daughter and a son. They proudly nurture three granddaughters and two step-granddaughters. I don't know how many heifers they've branded or how many bulls they've---well, suffice to say a lot of bull has passed through ranch headquarters. But Roxa is more than a rancher. At heart, she's an artist. A bold, daring, tenacious artist. Her first kiln survived the lightning strike that burned down their house, back in the seventies. She and son Bill Max have built two authentic horno ovens from adobe brick, in which she bakes pizza and Indian bread for family gatherings. Around here, she's known for the lovely cakes she bakes and decorates for special friends. She's painted china, painted a mural, and painted the terracotta luminarias she sculpts as if she's an architect building a legacy dwelling. She probably sculpts soapsuds as she washes dishes. When she isn't creating, she's brainstorming about creating.


She'll have to tell you about her yoga. Ask her about the hiking club that's taken her to the top of most of    the peaks around these parts, including Mt. Livermore, about the bridge club that's spanned half a century, about recently rafting through the Grand Canyon, about cowboys and Indians and the rich area history her family helped shape. But first, you must catch up with her.


The best way to find out more about Roxa Robison is to make reservations at her Crows' Nest Ranch, a mountain retreat and home of OLD SPANISH TRAIL STUDIO. Maybe then she'll introduce herself!l