A LITTLE MORE OF DESERT LIFE ...

O.K. LET'S SEE HOW MANY OF YOU CAN GUESS WHAT THIS IS ..

I'll give you the answer at the end of the Blog.  I'm going to guess most of you will figure it out.  :)

Here are are a few more 'Ghost Figures of Ajo'  that I thought you might enjoy seeing. These first three are along the highway coming in to Ajo. 

These next three are actually posts from a backyard patio that I happened to spot. They are holding up the roof over the patio.  :)

   

And, for the unusual, how's this for a house ... !

This is two EXTRA LARGE culverts, connected by one smaller culvert, (you can't see it in this photo) to form  a 'house'. This definitely has to be a winter only home because there is no way you could survive in this during a normal Arizona desert summer! :-)

'THE LAST DRIVE-IN'

 (Wood and metal pieces used are from an actual old drive-in!)

12 x 12" Mixed Media Collage

And, yes, I just did give you the answer to the photo at the top of this page!  :-)  The metal post was used to hold an old drive-in movie theatre speaker.  We take morning walks with our dogs through a field, long ago over-run with cactus, mesquite trees and a surplus of weeds, near the RV park we are staying at.  There is a shell of an old pink Adobe building in the middle of this field and for several days we tried to figure out what it could have been. It wasn't until we stumbled across one of these posts that we finally figured out what the building was ... the popcorn, candy, soda fountain , and ... the bathrooms for the drive-in!  And, as life normally is, once your eyes are opened to one thing, its amazing what else you see.  Once we found the one post and looked around us, we realized we were surrounded by these rusted old soldiers who were hiding behind, and under, all the surrounding greenery. It was an eerie feeling actually.   A call from the past begging not to be forgotten.

The authentic 'Last drive-in'

For more information on this Piece Please visit my Website at

www.charleenmartin.com

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ...

These were all from the same evening so I thought I would share them all together.  Sunrises and Sunsets are all beautiful here. Living in the mountains as we do back in Idaho, we don't see the Sunrises and Sunsets very often. They are obscured by the, uhhh ... Mountains.  :)

So, in the first photo I see the silhouette of a sleeping woman and the face of an old woman.

In the second one I see Oscar and The Cookie Monster after they've had one too many  'spiced' cookies. :/

And in the third photo I see a baby wind cloud trying his best to look adorably ferocious.

Your turn ...

"I had a dream about you last night ... I think I've realized why drive-in theatres are going extinct; you can't yell at the guy in front of you to sit down."
       Marshall Ramsay, Dreaming is for lovers

                Charleen

WELCOME TO AJO, ARIZONA ...

We have been on the road traveling and reached our destination of Ajo, Arizona last week.  We have friends who moved here two years ago and have been talking it up ever since so we decided to come down and see what all the hoopla was about.  :-)   Turns out they were right ... Ajo is a little gem out in the middle of the Sonoran desert.  A small town, Ajo was originally a copper mining community and, like so many mining towns, it is still suffering the economics of a long ago closed down mine.  A lot of empty homes sit abandoned and for sale. 

 But, places like this seem to be having a little resurgence these days.   A lot of people want a slower paced lifestyle, like our friends (and we've already met a lot more people down here like them).  Then you still have a spirit within the people who remained here to keep what they have going.  And, speaking of 'Spirit' these Ghost Figures of Ajo are all over town ... street corners, incorporated into landscaping, empty lots.  They are done by a local Artist, Val Uschuk.  It's my understanding that there are about 85 of them around town.  So far we've found about 20 so I guess we have a lot more exploring to do.  :-)

As you can see, she uses a lot of recycled materials in her work.  Not an uncommon theme here as you can see by this wall below ..

 

Since we are going to be on the road for an extended time (3 months) I needed to make a workplace for myself.  So ... out went the sofa that came with the RV, which I never did like it ~ it was really just plain ugly. One of those things that seem to be a right of passage for most RVs. (To my RVer friends please note that I did not say all)  We then put in this toolbox which holds just about all my must haves.  When working I set up a small table right next to it and off I go.  It actually works very well.  And, just in case you're wondering, we have still have 3 very comfy chairs left to sit on!

And yes, I did manage to get some work finished while we were on the road.  I have to admit, not much has been done since we got here though. We've been too busy exploring!   :-)  This Piece was done with thanks, once again,  to my friend Indy and her Dad who supplied almost all the stamps used here.  It was another fun Piece to do.

 

'WRAP YOUR DAYDREAMS IN A BOX AND GO!'

12 x 12" Mixed Media Collage on Canvas Board

For more information Please Click below

    www.charleenmartin.com

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ....

 

How about some Sunshine for a change!

Night comes to the desert all at once, as if someone turned out the light.

~ Joyce Carol Oates

See you soon ...

Charleen