THE MOJAVE DESERT…time change

I am back in the desert right now… in this unknown familiar territory. The high winds are stirring and lifting up the sand into a gray curtain of dust obscuring the low hills that I can see outside my window, creating a feeling of desolation.

Wrapped up in a language spoken entirely in colors, shadows and textures. I think I might never fully understand it. The sand still bears divots of rain that fell last week? Months ago? Juniper trees take purchase on rocky ledges with a faith that holds mountains… and illusive black cardinals chatter and fly onto the tops of the Jojoba trees.

Dusk in this arid land brings on a kind of sweet sorrow that comes right into you…

My studio here is small. It’s one room with a bed and a decent-sized window, through which I can see the western edge of the Great Monument. Being constantly on the road (which I love) means working in small segments of time and in spaces that don’t always do what you would like them to do. I have two small tables that seem to accommodate me quite nicely as long as my art supplies remain simple. Pencils, old brushes that I have carried with me forever one good water container, small tubes of gauche, watercolours, acrylic and oils. And a stack of 8 x 10” canvases.

Struggling with the colors of the sand, creosote, ocotillo, cholla and the Joshua Trees. The Cobalt blue of the sky is the easy part. Today I painted nonsense. But I painted.

In 1998 Crayola made a color called Desert Sand along with Earth Yellow, Sandy Brown, Desert, Sand dune drab and Field Drab.