Desert Abstract

“Desert Abstract”

The Mojave wind blows a burnt sienna, 

It seethes, Undulating in reptilian waves,

Caressing golden sand and sagebrush, 

Devouring red rock with its el Ninian gusts.

Cal-Nevadan sunlight, a silver-yellow deluge,

Flooding the fallow playas with liquid heat,

Softly Drowning the fringe-toed lizards, 

In a sweet, heady nectar devoid of moisture. 

Taste the acrid tones of the Singing Dunes,

As prickly as the underground Amargosa, 

As bitter as the western sky’s dying breath,

Barely audible over the hyena’s laughter.  

Sierran granite walls like steel gray velvet,

Pushed skyward by unseen molten fingers, 

Indefatigable guardians of an alien world,

Whose hale arms embrace their belligerent child.

The silent crashing of the coarse gray waves, 

The lonely arid music of the Devil’s Golf Course,

Little Hebe’s bulging, black blister rings out

A noteless, silent “Reveille” from its ebony bugle.

Dante arisen, presiding on his lofty throne,

Shines his rainbow gaze on the Artists Palette,

Conducting a symphony of  pink sand and gypsum, 

To the deaf, iridescent Devil’s Hole pupfish.

I am always amazed at nature’s ability to slowly transform and eventually destroy even the most hardened substances created by man. This is especially true in the environs of the American deserts where the extremes in temperature, wind and sunlight gnaw away at an item with relentless precision creating beautifully rusty, pitted abstractions that are usually more compelling than their original incarnation

“Desert Abstract“ was created with repurposed antique found objects that were all found objects sourced from the Mojave Desert around Las Vegas, NV . The sculptural components are supported on an antique apple wood mill roller that was cut in half, hand painted and airbrushed with pearlized acrylics and sealed with satin clear. The fabulously textured, rusted patina of the metal parts was highlighted with a copper pearl and then finished with clear acrylic allowing most of the original richness of the distressed metal to show through.

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