Desert Rats & Folk Art: Things that Make Life Worth Living

Cross-posted on my blog.

Photo © 2008 Emily Duffy

I just returned from a week-long trip to Joshua Tree, California. It was my fourth trip to this lovely area in the past few years. I went, as I did last October, with a group of fellow ArtCar artists. We went to attend Kate Pearson's art opening. The reception was held at True World Gallery run by the fabulous Bonnie & George Kopp. Last October ArtCar Fest co-founder Philo Northrup had a show at the same place.

Joshua Tree is a National Preserve, a geologist's dream landscape, and a haven for many artists. Each time I've visited, Bonnie and George have taken our group of ArtCar artists on a tour of cool and funky art sites. This time we visited Shari Elf's Art Queen Gallery and Crochet Museum...

Photo © 2008 Emily Duffy

And Perry Hoffman's Tile House...

Photo © 2008 Emily Duffy

Plus Jeff Hafler's Beauty Bubble.

Photo © 2008 Emily Duffy

Enroute to and from Joshua Tree our caravan visited Martin Sanchez's restaurant Tio's Tacos with its own homemade chapel and lavish folk environment in Riverside, CA...

Photo © 2008 Emily Duffy

We revisited Elmer Long's Bottle Tree Forest in Oro Grande, CA...

http://i98.photobucket.com/...

Photo © 2008 Emily Duffy

And stopped for a photo shoot at the Wigwam Motel in Rialto, CA...

Photo © 2008 Emily Duffy

You can see a bunch of photos from our trip HERE!. Take a little time out for some fun and friendly art. I hope you  enjoy it.

•  Tips & Recommends

  are always welcome especially for some kookie, happy, silly art. Take a bit of time to rest your brain from politics and remember why we are fighting so hard to win back our country. These folk artists I've written about are the very reason American freedoms are so important. We reserve the right to go out into the desert and make unsalable, art from discards and recycled material merely because we feel like it!

  by EmilyD on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:06:56 PM PDT

  •  Missed the time limit for recs, so please just

    accept my compliments.  What fun!

    by lineatus on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 08:18:49 PM PDT

    •  Thanks

      compliments happily accepted!

      by EmilyD on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 09:36:27 PM PDT

  •  Love all the..

    pics.
    Roadtrips and photography. Two of lifes finest pleasures.
    Great job.

    by Canadian Green Card Alien on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 09:35:10 PM PDT

•  LUV IT!!!! Still going through the photos....

  Oh ...what a nice respite.....

  by la urracca on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:09:18 PM PDT

  •  Thanks for Visiting

    with my photos. :-)

    by EmilyD on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:27:40 PM PDT

•  We needed this today, some escape from politics..

  A whimsical vacation into a wonderous land whose boundries are the imagination.  The next stop ..The Twilight Zone.

  by crystal eyes on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:26:16 PM PDT

•  Indeed I feel Rested

  though I didn't actually rest much on this trip. It was sort of a business trip as I am working on my own exhibit in Joshua Tree for some very, VERY political artwork. It'll be shown in October just before the general election. I'm very excited about it because not only are there lots of supportive artists in the area, there's also a large military base. I hope my artwork can change some minds and help Joshua Tree go BLUE this November.

  Here's a sample:

  

  Detail of "With Us or Agin' Us" mixed media sculpture. The entire world is covered with maps of Texas. Photo © 2008 Emily Duffy

  by EmilyD on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 07:32:32 PM PDT

•  If that's your car and trailer

  in the wigwam photo, we met in Santa Barbara. I accosted you outside Muddy Waters coffee shop and you were visiting Julie I think.
   I foisted ideas about an awning for the trailer door, and you demonstrated that completely cool trailer.
   If that wasn't , you obviously know of whom I refer, and say hi and keep on keepin on.
    If that was you or not, thanks for the tour and the great photos, now I will not sleep without drugs, my mind is a hoppin.
    How fun, thanks again, all the best, Ken

  by KenBee on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 10:20:38 PM PDT

  •  Well HOWDY!

    Yes, it was me. Julie and I met working for MoveOn Support Corps though her current job keeps her too busy right now. I remember your excellent suggestions about the trailer awning. If I can ever finish painting it, I'll definitely get the awning thing going. In the meantime Hubby and I bought a screenroom to shade us when camping in Summer.

    Soooo, are the you amazing violin player guy? There were lots of folks around that night, it's rather a blur.

    Also, on this most recent trip the ArtCar caravan camped our first night out at El Capitan Beach campground in Goleta. PURDY!!! Julie recommended it because she couldn't put us up at her place. We'll definitely go there again, lovely camp.

    by EmilyD on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 11:07:15 PM PDT

    •  Howdy backatcha: El Capitan is the 2nd best

      after Refugio...my esposita and her sisters used to get parked  for summer's a week at a time when she was little..it's a perfect beach and cove. Refugio is just further 5 miles up, stay there next time! I'm trying to get a music campout and all night jam there sometime...it's like herding cats!
       I was one of the fiddle players, but not The Amazing One, heh, that would Gilles Apap, the best in the world by some opinions. As concertmaster and an active violinista:

      Iconoclastic violinist extraordinaire, described by the late Yehudi Menuhin as "The Violinist of the twenty-first century."

      He's one of the funniest and friendliest people ever....and a genius musician. Right place, right time, I get to play in the same room with him.
        Go to his my space page and listen to his 'Flight of the Bumblebee'. As an artist yerself, go to his own webpage for an idea of how goofy/funny he is.
       Is Bob deBris in your art car caravan? He'd have to be, heh.
        Have a good time out there in Joshua Tree, that's a great place, my last good trip with my late ma. Those big smooth rocks are really soulful.All the best, Ken
       

      by KenBee on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 11:46:56 PM PDT

      •  THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!!

        I love what Gilles did in that concert. Actually he wasn't there at the pub that night that I met you, but his reputation was. :-)

        by EmilyD on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 09:44:36 PM PDT

      •  Bob deBris

        Never met the fellow. If he has an ArtCar we'd love to have him join the ArtCar Fest in September. This year we'll probably be in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz. It is a mobile festival after all. :-)

        I checked out your link for him but it looks like he hasn't updated it in a long time. If you're in touch with him, and he has an ArtCar please send him our link:

        ArtCar Fest

        by EmilyD on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 10:09:23 AM PDT

        •  He has an Artcar

          and for a looong time...and he's a Mojave kind of guy.
              I'll ask around about him, but if you saw his pictures (in the little tab/drop down thing on his webpage...poor design imo) you'll see what  he's about. The photos are easy to miss: don't.
            Mobile fest in deed...everydays a festival with those cars, heh.

          by KenBee on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 11:36:15 AM PDT

•  I went to Joshua Tree in the spring of '97

  There was a full moon and comet Hale-Bopp in the sky. We slept under the stars. At the time it was the most magical thing I had ever seen.
  Later I learned that some cult had killed itself because of that comet, and wondered how anybody could kill themselves after seeing something as beautiful as that.

  by 2ajpuu on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 08:10:04 PM PDT

  •  WOW

    that sounds like a very special visit to one of the coolest places on earth. It turns out that Joshua Trees only grow in a few special places:

    The Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) is a monocotyledonous tree native to southwestern North America, in the states of California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. Confined mostly to the Mojave Desert between 400-1,800 m (2,000-6,000 feet), they thrive in the open grasslands of Queen Valley and Lost Horse Valley in Joshua Tree National Park. Wiki

    Here's a Joshua Tree I photographed in Pioneertown.

    

    by EmilyD on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 09:43:09 PM PDT

•  great diary!

  great pictures!  carry on with your art, and congrats on being rescued!

  by jlms qkw on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 08:16:32 PM PDT

  •  Thanks Very Much

    and it's great to be rescued. :-)

    by EmilyD on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 09:43:44 PM PDT

•  More good stuff in Rhyolite, NV

  My family and I just returned from a holiday weekend trip to Death Valley. We stopped at the ghost town of Rhyolite near the northeast (Beatty) entrance and were wowed by the cool art nearby. Here are some photos of my favorite pieces:

  http://www.goldwellmuseum.org/... (the sofa)

  http://www.mccullagh.org/... (the prospector and a penguin)

  I am glad your diary was rescued! Thanks for the photos.

  by Red State Rebel on Mon Feb 18, 2008 at 11:18:03 PM PDT

  •  COOOL

    Thanks for those links Rebel! My husband is heading out to the East Mojave in March and will check those two sites out. I don't know what it is about the desert but it makes folks want to set up sculptures. Maybe it's the feeling of open vistas, maybe it's the lax laws, maybe it's sun stroke...whatever it is, it's a blessing!

    by EmilyD on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 10:07:00 AM PDT