I was invited to submit a piece for a show about the Desert, for
El Museo del Desierto (MUDE), a nationally iconic museum that preserves the natural heritage of Mexico's desert.
My first response was, No deserts for me--I'm a Northern Easterner through and through. I love pine trees, the ocean, waves, the beach, WATER, but haven't I made a commitment to say yes to opportunity? So I thought about the desert. I've made several visits to Arizona and, while my favorite town was Flagstaff, because they have pine trees, there's a lot to be said for the dryer regions.
I've driven across the United States five times; from Vermont to San Francisco and back with a high school pal when I was 21, home from a summer in LA with Arthur and the kids when they were 7 and 10, from NYC to Colorado with Arthur and home with Jessie when she was 16. and if you haven't done it, I suggest you get in your car and go. This is an awesome country and you have to see it to get a sense of it's awesomeness.
So I looked through my collection of things that I haven't yet found a home for, like this etching of two views of Mother Earth and two hawks that I just don't know what to do with, although I love them. I posted them a while ago in a piece about the little hawk who sat on my head in Cuba.
the colors are kind of desert-y, aren't they. but how to put them together?
My beloved Arches Watercolor Block was just waiting for something new.
And so I began another frame like the one I made for my Turkish map of the world.
I started thinking about water, and that reminded me of the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul, which I visited with my Mom and Jessie back in 2002. Water under the city, like there's water under the desert.
So that's at the bottom. I take water for granted but in the desert there's a great focus on it--finding and preserving. So, although I initially thought about shades of sand and rock, the blue of the sky and water came into play.
And again, I'm playing with brown and blue!
Here's the latest.
As Casey Stengel said about the Mets, "It's coming along slow but fast."
January 20, 2022
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