October 10, 2016. It is an honor to announce my acceptance as an Artist in Residence for the Mojave National Preserve Artists Foundation, a National Park Service Group. I was selected to create artwork for the Mojave National Preserve as a member of the Artist in Residence program. The artwork will have a consistent theme and will represent Mojave National Preserve in ways that generate public understanding and appreciation of the desert environment. Exhibit information: Art will be available for viewing and for sale (with 40% of the proceeds to benefit the National Park Service) at: – Desert Light Gallery from September 1, 2017, through October 31, 2017. and – Desert Light Gallery from March 3, 2018, through May 3rd, 2018. You may also CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ART created for the Mojave National Preserve Artists Foundation.
You may also purchase the book “Elements of Mojave” from the National Park Photography Expeditions” here.
ELEMENTS OF MOJAVE The intrinsic beauty of the desert often goes unseen, as the forces of nature and erosion responsible for carving such alluring formations in the Mojave National Preserve span eons. Expressed through the design elements of lines, shapes, texture, and color, I will illustrate my vision of how the beauty found in the 1.6 million acre Mojave National Preserve has been transformed by the four elements of nature: earth, fire, wind, and water. Specifically, I will use representational photography and abstraction to convey shapes crafted by erosion on a dry lakebed, exquisite lines and curves formed by wind-blown dunes, and unique textures created by the solidification and cooling of molten rock. With each element of nature came the unique, and often violent, transformation of the Mojave National Preserve into an oasis of peace. As lava rose to the crust through the earth movement, or subduction, granite formations created the core of the Granite Mountains and the New York Mountains, both being sculpted by erosion throughout time. Violent volcanic eruptions gave way to fire as hot lava created rock fragments of tuff and cinder cones. Now left exposed, these volcanic rock formations are known as the Hole in the Wall and The Cinder Cones. Sand dunes formed by furious winds that blew fine sand from the Mojave River sink (Soda Lake) created the Kelso Dunes that rise more than 600 feet above the desert floor. Marine creatures fossilized in limestone, indicative of a time when seas covered the Mojave National Preserve, and the salt pans from an evaporating Soda Lake demonstrate the vast expanse and change of the Preserve’s ecosystem through water. What once covered most of eastern Mojave, both Lake Mojave and Mojave River, which fed Soda Lake, now form startling dry lakes and dry riverbeds known as playas and arroyos. As rainfall evaporated, the remaining alkaline deposits formed a startling white surface against the dry, brown background at the playas of Soda Lake. As an artist, I see the beauty and result that these elements left behind, and I wish to explore, study, and tell the story of how the Mojave National Preserve came to be. |
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