Busy Busy

This ant's nest is right outside my back door. I got a giggle from the little guys with sticks. They remind me of the dogs on America's Funniest Videos, holding a stick crosswise and trying to get through a door .

We artists got a good writeup last week in the Hi-Desert Star LINK HERE by Rebecca Unger, who had attended the Artist Presentations and interviewed each of us. As mentioned in the article, we will have a one-day art exhibit at the Joshua Tree Art Gallery (JTAG) on Saturday, August 20. It will open at 9:00 AM in conjunction with the Farmer's Market outside, and the artists reception will be that evening from 6-9 PM.

They Just Keep On Coming

So here's what came to visit last night! This scorpion came scuttling up to the screen door, right under the patio light. The shot of the nickel came this morning after he was long gone.

I was admittedly a little twitchy last night on the patio after dark, remembering the huge beetle that showed up the night before (see "Monster Attack"). I've since found some images online to suggest it was a Paloverde Root Borer, one of the largest beetles in North America. Adults can be 6-8 inches long, and may come out in the summer time, especially in the early evening when attracted by outside lighting.

Monster Attack!

Yee gawds. Suffice it to say, my foot, and the beetle shown above, were not taken in the same exposure! I recreated the shot later to demonstrate scale. And I did not plan to take a photo of the beetle about to take off, either! You should have heard the sounds I made when it elevated itself just as I depressed the camera button.

The saga started while I was sitting just outside my screen door on the side patio, watching a video. Loud rattling of wings in the bushes behind me, but I saw nothing when I turned around. Then I heard it over my head, but again, saw nothing when I looked up. I went inside to freshen my drink and just as I came back and opened the screen door, this rhino-type black monster beetled itself across my path on the cement steps.

Several stages ensued, me watching from inside through the screen door as he went back and forth, around and around, on the ground. I'd start to come out to take a photo and then he'd head my way and I'd slam the screen shut again. There are lots of unusable shots on my camera, but only one came out sterling... see above!

Here's what I'm calling the cave painting, close to completion.

Here are a number of canvases in progress, 12x24, that I expect to hang in triptychs, various combinations of rocks/lichen/desert plants and textures.

Hard at Work

I have no images for this post. Right now, I'm using all my energies composing paintings, throwing things on the canvas, and stretching new ones. It's going well, one big one and 3-4 smaller pieces are in various stages of layering. Since I use transparent colors, I work in a similar fashion to watercolors, except that I have a lot more leeway for errors (serendipitous discoveries, please!). But I love the way complementary colors build up to neutrals, while keeping the vibrancy and uniqueness of each color in the mix.

Cross-Park Expedition

Yesterday I drove entirely through the Park, from the NW area of Joshua Trees and boulders down to the SE areas of ocotilla, chollo cactus and Cottonwood Springs (above and below). The sky was almost entirely clouded over, and I drank a gallon of water, but the heat was still more than I could take for more than a mile or two of hiking.

This lizard has beautiful pale, delicate markings to blend in, and looks so silly when it runs, with hind end up in the air and tail curved overhead like a scorpion.

The Cholla Cactus Garden is one place you wouldn't want to run amok. Their dead lower parts are as beautiful as the creamy top spines.

Spiny balls fall off the cactus plants and spread about in the wind. It's Trouble with Tribbles in the desert.

Erosion does fascinating things, like this row of fossil teeth. No, it's all rock, but I do think of mastodon dentures...

This would be my first choice of campsites.

Pretty, but don't touch. Can you imagine being in charge of small children in this environment?

This morning two ground squirrels were darting about outside my bathroom window. This guy was ready to take me on.

Now it's back to the studio for me, try to do something brilliant today.

Painting and Designing

Current studio project: transparent color layers are being built up on this canvas, with many more to go.

This habitat restoration area, run by the Mojave Desert Land Trust, is at the end of my street here in Joshua Tree. It reminds me of the graphic design project I'm working on right now, with Sage Enviro, for Restore America's Estuaries. Nearly 50 percent of Americans live near estuaries, and millions visit coastal waters every year for relaxation, recreation and renewal. Over the past century, human use and development have severely stressed these natural resources. As a result, fish and shellfish have declined, and our coasts are more vulnerable to floods and storms. Restoration of coasts and estuaries provides many long-lasting benefits to local economies, including more jobs, increased property values, better water quality, sustainable fisheries and recreational tourism dollars.

I see another painting in my future, based on this Prickly Pear Cactus.

Daily Grind

A moth taking a breather on my cardboard mouse pad.

Natural Sisters -- here' s where I connect with the World at Large every day; free wifi with my iced coffee. Below are Christie Lopez, one of the owners, and Spencer Keizer.

The first stretched canvases from buried material, cleaned, sterilized and ready to paint.

Odds and Ends

The local newspaper, the Hi-Desert Star, has published an account of our residency, featuring each of us and what we plan to do while we're here.

I'm spending more time in the studio now, digitally editing my photos and creating draft compositions, preparing canvases and painting with soil. Some of the "planted" canvas has "bloomed" with mold and other soil/mineral markings, so they were harvested and are getting sterilized and prepared for painting as well.

Sunsets continue to be glorious; photographing them is like collecting beads. Maybe I'll figure a way to string them together while I'm here.

Two nights ago some of us artists gathered at Pappy and Harriet's Palace in Pioneertown, an historic town that started as a live-in Old West motion picture set, built in the 1940s. The tavern/bar held Monday's Open Mic, so we saw some great local and visiting musicians perform, including rizorkestra, a folk-roots-blues-band. Check them out at
http://www.myspace.com/rizorkestra

A Rocky Expedition

Here are some views from my sunset hike last night in Hidden Valley. I was collecting images I can use as a basis for abstracted paintings later. I plan to combine transparent acrylic color layers, recycled hand-made paper text, digital images of plants and other micro/macro objects, and mold, local soil and charcoal on canvas.

All sunsets are beautiful here, so far! Daily temperatures are around 90-95, and it cools down in the late evening to the low 80's, even cooler by morning. I hear that storms or rain are on the way, bringing high humidity into the mix. It's true about dry heat being easy to take, but the toll on the skin is serious. It will take some time back in Seattle before I am totally reconstituted.

I saw a second coyote last night, driving into the Park. Wish I had photographic vision. Quail families are ubiquitous across the landscape, little peepers scattering like waves on the sand. Jackrabbits are everywhere too, so little compared to the cottontails I'm used to, with enormous ears.

Meet the Gang

Last night was Meet and Greet to introduce resident artists to the community. Here are the directors of the program. Above is Frederick Fulmer, artist, and below, his partner Jim Berg, writer.

Not pictured are other artist hosts: Ruth and Steve Reiman, and Sarah and Steve Bardwell.

This is a small corner of the large gathering; so many local people supporting the arts! Everyone was interesting and friendly, enjoying the desert outdoors and later, the moonrise.

Here we are, from left to right: JoJo Luzhou Li, from Brooklyn; Lola Ramona Lanxinger, L.A.; Wendy Given, Portland; myself; and Cyrus Lemmon, Chico, CA. We've already planned to have at least one weekly gathering each, while we're here. I'll have more later this month about each of their unique approaches and creative progress.

Lola (above) and Wendy (below), are collaborating on their project, magical folklore and stories.

Wendy

JoJo, photography, drawing and other disciplines may come into play.

Cyrus, looking for places where the urban and wilderness meet.

The Intrepid Rebecca Unger, reporter for Hi Desert Publishing, who orchestrated interviews and photos.

Moonrise was a highlight of the evening.

Back at my house, the canvases start to grow around the landscape. Some mold is beginning to form; this may work yet. Below, the first canvas to get a layer of local soil.

Here are some more digital photo images for later use: