Messing about in boats

I have to say that this was one painting (or pair of paintings) executed under the most hostile of weathers.  No, not so much heat, but the desiccating wind.  I had to stop on the second morning and go back for a short session closer to dawn on the third day, and then it was a struggle.  The good news is that once I’d drawn up the letters, I could quickly go from one side to the other, painting layers, knowing full well that that my start point would be completely dry by the time I returned to it in about 25 minutes.  At the end of the second day I had to quit because the paint was drying on the brush.  The east side of the boat was too hot to work, and the west side, in the shade and wind, I was shivering.  And I still had to figure out how to spray with an acrylic glaze with the UV component – in a stiff breeze.

Nevertheless ‘Poseidon’ has its name on its sides and today will be test launched.  Eventually this boat will carry a solar powered pump which will pump water from the Salton Sea into the marina ‘fingers’ in Desert Shores, to maintain the water level and mitigate red agae.  Launch day is on Sunday.

Tales from the Field #7.

Sometimes the trip to or from the show is as eventful as the show itself.  The trip to the Phoenix area I particularly enjoy because there’s a short-cut from Mecca to the I10-eastbound up Box Canyon.  On the outbound trip, which is during the day, the geology is very scenic.  On the inbound trip, which is usually around 10pm, it’s one of those dark-sky zones where you can stop and enjoy stars without the interference of city lights.  The alternative is to go up to the I10 in Indio, but the Box Canyon cut-off is 25 miles shorter.

On the way to Carefree, I got to the top of Box Canyon, where it joins the freeway, only to find the on-ramp was coned off and blocked by several pieces of heavy machinery.  The next on-ramp to the east is at Chiriaco Summit, maybe 4 miles, and to the west, the Indio on-ramp.  Yes, a 50 mile round trip.  Aargh.

Just to complicate matters, I’d been having some slight thermostat problems with the truck.  Although it wasn’t overheating very much, from the last trip, it seemed that if I stopped to let it cool, it got hotter.  The plan had been to try to drive to Blythe to get a replacement thermostat, if necessary, doing the work in the parking lot.  I had not planned on stopping between home and Blythe – a 2 hour leg of the trip.  And it was starting to look like I was going to have to stop at Chiriaco anyway, that second cup of coffee was working overtime, and I didn’t think my bladder would make it another hour to Blythe.

I hopped out of the truck and talked to one of the workers who pointed me in the direction of the foreman.  He said that at the last bend in Box Canyon was a side-road, marked by two cones, which went up to Chiriaco Summit.  Perfect.

Desert definition of ‘road’.

However, when the foreman used the word ‘road’, he didn’t quite say how ‘roady’ this was.  At first there was a dirt stretch, followed by gravel and more dirt, and eventually panning out into ancient blacktop for a while, then changing between the three options before it joined I10 at Chiriaco Summit.   I had the ‘road’ to myself.  It passed little bridges where washes ran down, and these were inevitably full of trees and bushes.  Ah, if ever there was a road I could leave the truck running at the side of it and run behind a bush!

Ah, relief is in sight!

No need to stop at Chiriacco!  When I got to Blythe and bought the thermostat, I think the truck realized I was serious about doing this open-hood surgery myself in a parking lot without a mechanic in attendance. I’ve not had a problem with it since.

Collapse of an eco-system and the last superhero.

I’m not usually an openly political person – this is something of a political posting, but more of an ecological item, not party politics.  If you live anywhere in North or Central America, this could affect you.

Monthly Newsletter

 

A life-in-the-desert moment.

I thought for some time that the hole that was dug under the fence at the south corner of my yard was a jack-rabbit construction.  The cottontails can get through the chain fence, but not the jack-rabbits, so they would need a way of getting in if they wanted to get some water from the bottom half of the birdbath.  But I did begin to suspect that hole was rather larger than jack-rabbits needed.  I was right.

This morning I saw a coyote walking down the street outside my window. He glanced over at the birdbath and looked at the water level, then continued along the fence out of sight behind the plants. A moment later indeed he reappeared but did not initially go for a drink.

Maybe he’s curious about the movement of the blinds…

He turned and walked round the house to the west and I lost sight of him – there’s no window on that side of the house.  The pigeons, feeding at the back suddenly scattered so I knew he was close.  Went back hopefully to the bedroom window and was rewarded.  Looks like android movies upload seamlessly to Windows10, so I hope this works for you!  I wasn’t able to upload it into my post, but I was able to put it on my website: CoyoteInYard

 

Artwork at High Desert Medical Center

#583 Sea Crest Dawn #33. Refractured watercolor on panel, 24×18″. $540.

On Friday I attended the reception for the group show at the High Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree, California.  There are four other artists in the show, Charlie Schwartz, Sharon Matheson, Nichole Vikdal and Darlene H. Morris.  One of the interesting tidbits about this show is that they have an online store for this art, and you can click to purchase!  The downside is you cannot take the art away until the show is over at the end of July.  Oh well, anticipation can be a good thing!

We had a few snacks served and then Darlene gave the group the guided tour and we each gave a little talk about our work being shown, though Charlie wasn’t present.  Then we had an extra little celebration because Darlene is handing over the reins (no pun intended) to Raini who will be curating the shows for the foreseeable future.  This involved a cake, which had one of her paintings printed on the frosting!  Is there no limit to where you can put artwork?

If you’re in the area between now and the end of July, take a few minutes to walk through and see the work – there are brochures available throughout with information about it.

Update from Salton Sea

I wasn’t able to attend the fundraiser/celebration on Earth Day, being as I was in Menlo Park that weekend, about 10 hours drive northier. Here’s the report that Celeste (yes, I do know just about everyone mentioned) wrote about the event.

Salton Sea Earth Day

 

 

Newer Work #65

After the rain the sun….. but this it what it can look like before the rain.  A mixture of distant rain and haboob.  We have a storm forecast for today – just enough to wash the air and muddy the ground.  But it’s not here yet…. (oh please, oh please, one more storm this winter…..)

#1247 After the rain, the sun. Refractured watercolor 10×8″ matted to fit 14×11″ frame, $105.

This is for you

“The reflecting pool”, probably 2005. The posts seen below are entirely under water.

Supporting the restoration of the Salton Sea and making it stable and renewable is not just for the Sea, it’s not just for me and the sunrises that I paint, it’s for anyone in the US who eats vegetables.  Allowing the Salton Sea to dry up will destroy the most fertile farmland in the country.

“The reflection pool”, January 2015

I have not met the star in the movie, but I know some of the production crew!  Please support their goal to make a longer movie about Randy’s journey, in order to publicize the need to act now.

“The Reflecting Pool”, January 2016.  The posts seen above are to my left.

 

You can donate on Kickstarter to this project.   Please do so.

 

Finished product

In last month’s newsletter I reported on a local community art project….well…here’s the finished product…. the newly restored ‘Salton Sea Beach’ sign.

Primroses

Oh wow, just noticed it’s been so long since I’ve had time to blog.  It’s been a really** busy nine days.  But, in this I was able to write a poem when I was the art fair in Litchfield Park, AZ this weekend – about the primroses in bloom in the desert currently.  (Yes, I’ve been taking walks instead of blogging….)  And another sonnet towards beating Mr Shakespeare in his number of sonnets.

The one that got extra yellow…..

Desert Primroses

I never knew that primroses would grow
so close together through the desert dirt.
Amazing that from down there they will know
when one rain will be many, and they’ll spurt
up to the sun. Each little yellow face
so like their cousins from cool, wetter lands.
You would not think they’d grow in such a place
but there they are, amassing through the sands
wheat thick! I cannot walk around but tread
on primroses, most pale, but in between
one got some extra yellow for its head
to stand out from a crowd like none I’ve seen.
A wetter year has grown a primrose lawn,
but they’ll be battered down in the next storm.