Sometimes finding interesting things in the middle of nowhere provides an experience that somebody wanted to share. There is always wonder in exploration even though it is not new to anyone else but you. That is the Sermonette.
The sculpture below of the priest and his loyal dog reminded me – just in metaphor – of fellow blogger, LSP, and his faithful dog, Blue Guardian.
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| Palm Sunday |
Roaming around in the Desert Southwest, sometimes you happen onto sculpture. There are a lot of sculptures in Death Valley (teakettle junction, crankshaft junction, etc). Some along the Mojave Road, near “the mailbox” – though the rangers destroy and take those down all of the time. There’s not much the BLM hates worse than sculpture. These are in the Anza Borrego Desert, inland of San Diego, California.
The more time you spend out in the Mojave Desert, the more often you run onto interesting things in odd places. If you’re interested in an interesting drive across the desert, I recommend the Mojave Road. Here is the guide book The Mojave Road Guide: An Adventure Through Time. While Mojave Road is interesting, there are lots of detours that make it more interesting. The Mojave Road is far north of Anza Borrego, which occupies the Sermonette today.
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The details shows two baby birds in the nest. The mother has a snake in its talon – lunch for the chicks.
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| Great Horned Lizard – not a sculpture |
There are a lot of dinosaur sculptures, maybe forty or so total. These are simply representative of what’s out there.
The Dragon (below) spans the highway
A Prospector panning for dirt
A Flower Blooms
I wonder at the motivation behind each of those works.
Certainly no commercial remuneration.
What stories lie behind them?
Interesting sculptures. There are a couple of large cow sculptures and a dragon or two here in N Calif. They are along I5 so easily seen by those who care to see.
The BLM hates cowmen more than anything.
Are you going to have sculptures on the WWM&T?
Rangers? Are you talking about the loathed 'revenooers' of Snuffy Smith fame? I hate those guys. Government workers with attitude.
Of course that's akin to saying a fat sumo wrestler, or a tall basketball player.
All told, there must be a hundred sculptures out in the same general area. Maybe six or seven saber tooth tigers alone. I have no idea why or how, but somebody, somewhere wanted to share something. That's true of all of the desert sculpture out there. You take away what they are from your own perspective. Nobody does it for money.
The purest art is that which we all share with each other without hope of a pay-back.
There will be sculptures if I can weld them up – but don't hold your breath.
My interest turns more to wind chimes and wind-driven sculpture.
You nailed it.
I have some stories about BLM types who attempted to screw with me while I was about my lawful business, but they will have to wait for another day. Usually, I avoid them. Last time I was in Teakettle Junction in Death Valley (It's up on the north end by Scotty's Castle, etc.), I left a teakettle…
The dinosaurs are interesting, but wasn't that bit of land part of the inland sea back in the dino days? I do like the prospector and his companion, though.
What fun to come across those.
When you consider how long the dino days were – yes and no. There is a place called the Latham Shale (in the Desert near Amboy) which is one of the oldest exposed pieces of land in the Southwest. I've found trilobites there, definitely under water at that point.
Paton and the Third Army trained in that area before Operation Torch (Invasion of Africa) in WW2. Sometimes you come across items that date back to that point as well.
Those are all wonderful. I love the one of LSP and Blue Snapper. It reminds me of the wild horse scupture along I-90 by Vantage, WA. I know you've probably seen them.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_Cuts_Loose_the_Ponies
Of all of the variety of art: painting, sketching, sculpture, pottery, writing, poetry, etc. I don't know which is the highest. Perhaps the purest is the best – and I don't know how to define that except to say, the most uplifting.
It took a while for the sculptor to capture the scene but I was happy with the likeness.
Very powerful sculpture! I like the T Rex and the faithful priest and his dog, obviously.
Amazing sculptures! Thanks for sharing those.
The BLM has no sense of art. No more than their more trouble making part – the BLM movement.
If I could take the heat, I'd love to see them some day.
Be safe and have a blessed week.
The nice thing about this art is that it's there, free, in nature, for all to see. Maybe even appreciate. Art well done.
The sculpture made me think of Palm Sunday in a Jerusalem-like climate.
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