“Desert of My Heart”

I’m late in getting this up, but there’s still time to view the paintings of fine artist and serious homestead fan Mary-Austin Klein at True World Gallery in Joshua Tree.

Mary-Austin has a vintage cabin in Twentynine Palms and creates signature small-format desert-scapes that have been exhibited locally and in Los Angeles.  The current show, “Desert of My Heart”, features “miniature landscape paintings of Mojave Desert mountains.”

True World Gallery is at 61740 29 Palms Highway in Joshua Tree.  Hours:  Sunday, Monday, Friday 10-2, Saturday 10-4.    And if you miss this show stop by the gallery anyway; Bonnie always has something fun going on!

“Rusty Bit” show opens October 10

The “Shot to Shit & Rusty Bit Art Show” opens at the Glass Outhouse Art Gallery in Wonder Valley this Saturday, Oct. 10. 

The exhibition features oils and photographs by Adrian Field; metal constructs by Richard Grey; and mosaics by Olive Toscani.

Opening reception is Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m.  Regular hours are Tuesdays through Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.  The Gallery is 4-1/2 miles east of 29 Palms, at 77575 Highway 62 and Thunder Road, Wonder Valley.

Come out and see what your neighbors are up to!

“Wonder Valley Homestead”

Lisa Maher’s family has owned a cabin in my neighborhood for generations, but I’d never met her until a chance encounter last summer.  The image above is her pastel “Wonder Valley Homestead”, from 2009.  See more WV views here, and Lisa’s “Skeleton Village” MySpace page here.   The below is from her blog:

Hi, I wanted to share with some of you that I did go out twice this year to Wonder Valley Ca and work on our cabin.  The cabin is a homestead cabin from the 1950’s.  My Mother and Grandmother purchased the land 5 acres and had the cabin built.  My son went with my once this year to do some foundation work, I also did some roof work.  The cabin was originally Pink and when I decided to work on maintaining in in the 90’s I drove up and it was full of pigeons and crap.  The windows were all shot out from guns and the roof had blown off.  My plan is to maintain it so it wont fall apart.  The area is very unique and untouched.  Check out my pictures of the Wonder Valley Cabin for updated pictures.  I would like to go out a few more times this year to do some additional roof work.

…If you ever get a chance to visit the area it is a magical place and leaves you with a special feeling of freedom and wonder.  A great place to be inspired of a simpler time.

Homesteads in The Sun Runner

The August/September Sun Runner is out, and it’s the Third Annual Desert Writers Issue.   Our homestead lifestyle is the background for more than one story, so check it out!

“Don’t Fence Me In”

“Don’t Fence Me In:  Artists embrace harsh desert in creating their own wide open gallery spaces” is the title of a feature on the homestead cabins appearing in the Home section of the Saturday, August 1, 2009 edition of  The Desert Sun:

The homesteads, the result of the Small Tract Act of 1938, are a part of desert history that reminds us of the pioneering spirit of the post-World War II years when Americans yearned for the open spaces and freedoms of the Old West.

And the government yearned to populate the vast stretches of open land.

The article quotes Kim Stringfellow, the artist behind the “Jackrabbit Homesteads” project:

“I got interested in the hinterland fringe communities a long time ago,” she said by phone from Los Angeles. “They are so close to major cities, but they’re worlds apart from civilization.”

Also quoted is yours truly as an example of someone living on a homestead:

Today, some of the surviving homestead cabins are inhabited by artists like Chris Carraher, who see the openness of the high desert not as desolation, but as a place that encourages self-sufficiency and creativity.

“People here allow themselves to exercise their own unique creativity,” said Carraher. “On one level, they live a life of reduced resources, but that also allows them to come up with inventive solutions.”

There is a photo gallery attached to the Web version of the article with dozens of images, including photos of derelict cabins by Kim and more than you ever wanted to see of my own somewhat less derelict place.   (Image above of my studio cabin by Crystal Chatham for The Desert Sun.)

Thanks to writer Judith Salkin and photographer Crystal Chatham for their interest in our desert!

Coming up on August 1

Palm Springs daily The Desert Sun will have a feature on the homestead cabins in the Home section on Saturday, August 1.  Be sure to get you a copy! 

The Glass Outhouse Gallery: A Private View

The new Glass Outhouse Gallery in Wonder Valley had its premier opening yesterday, June 14, but you can still drop by and see the show every day until July 4.  Congratulations to the artists and the new gallery!

A Private View

A triangulation of emotional purpose.   3 artists-  3 radically different “private views” into the inner workings of creative minds.

Premier Opening Sun June 14th,  1 – 6pm, at 77575 Hwy 62  & Thunder Rd,  Wonder Valley  (4 1/2 miles east of 29).  Open every day 9am to 2pm until July 4th:

Suzanne Ross    Recent sculpture
SHADRI / BURKA  IV
Suzanne’s emotional reaction to Muslim women being forced to confine their identity within the traditional garments of a Shadri or Burka, profusely influenced her images.The sculpture is of handmade paper created by using paper pulp that is beaten and mixed with ash and dyes, water vacuumed to a shape, then adorned with found objects and pastel. Her copious yet subtle images evoke a “fear  of confinement ” and sadness in us all.

Regina Kirillov  Recent Photographs
 FOLKS LOVE TO DRIVE FAST
I started this project two years ago having in mind an inevitable clash between nature and civilization. Can we reduce somehow the damage we are responsible for? It is true we are living in a fast lane–our greed for immediacy overruns our compassion and common sense. Going local-  why don’t we slow down on our roads and become more mindful of other creatures living next to us. These little animals and birds can’t stand up for themselves and fight us. I am saying it for them- portraying their senseless death. So it is not only about compassion but also about justice. Besides, this this project  reflects on my general interest to how death is related to life and vise versa– I see them both as two sides of the same coin.

Robyn Goudy   Recent work
MOSAICS, PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS
What do you need to know at first glance? NOTHING. I thought I had something to say about keeping Art off the alter and out of the gutter; but now I’m not so sure. Like any other residue from idyllic metaphors, I guess something will come of it~  like sugar from sap!

Ratany Issue 2 – get it now!

 The Wonder?Valley Ratany Issue 2 is out, and Suzanne Ross tells me you can find it at the 29 Palms Library, the Creative Center, 29 Palms Gallery, the Inn, Wonder Garden,  and various Joshua Tree establishments.  And The Palms, of course.  It’s a jumbo edition at 8, count ‘em 8 pages, and, I must say, I’m impressed.   

This issue asks, ”What’s the strangest thing that happened to you in Wonder Valley?”  Personally, I didn’t know how to answer that question.  Everything in Wonder Valley seems, well, normal to me, to be honest.   But I must admit, the crack Ratany team came up with a couple of very interesting stories!

As well, there are some REALLY nice poems, including Oh, Lonesome Cabin In The Desert by Russ Kohn and some thoughtful verses from Dudley the Corgi Poet.  And, to whet your appetite, without permission I will reproduce the following unattributed anthem:

Wonder Valley Anthem

Wonder Valley we love you
Love your hills of dry blue hue
Wells of water, floods that flash
Rusty cars and trailer trash
Empty cabins dot the plain
Half the neighbors are insane
Lizards, bugs sing our refrain
Hang around & wait for rain.

“Jackrabbit Homestead” at Farmlab in Los Angeles

The Jackrabbit Homestead project pays a visit to downtown Los Angeles:

Kim Stringfellow along with Wonder Valley artist, Chris Carraher will present the Jackrabbit Homestead audio tour project at FARMLAB’s Salon, a noontime lunch & artist lecture series. The lecture will take place on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at noon. Kim and Chris will discuss the history and contemporary landscape of jackrabbit homesteading—including how the cabins resulting from the Small Tract Act of 1938 have helped to foster the thriving creative community located throughout the Morongo Basin region where Joshua Tree National Park is located. FARMLAB Salon provides free, healthy organic lunch for those who drop by for the weekly lecture series. For more info visit: http://farmlab.org/2009/05/farmlab-public-salon-kim-stringfellow.html. Visit & download the Jackrabbit Homestead audio tour at: www.jackrabbithomestead.com.

Image above:   Yellow Cabin by Chris Carraher.  Pastel on paper, 2009.

Jennifer Ruggiero in Public Places, 29 Palms

The homestead cabins move uptown!

Wonder Valley photographer Jennifer Ruggiero is the featured artist for May-June 2009 Art in Public Places at Twentynine Palms City Hall.   Jennifer has been doing some interesting “wall” images lately involving shadows cast on cabin walls; see this charming example, Little Pink Shadow.

Reception Tuesday, May 12, 5-6 p.m., at 6136 Adobe Road, Twentynine Palms.