Healing

I've quit carving giant trees for now and have gone back to making shrines.  Actually, I had already made the shrine but found an old chair in the garden and a piece of plywood in a ditch which I made into an altar, then glued semi-precious stones, old coins from around the world and amulets from my travels all over it.

More shrines in the works.

Thought I was finished with my paintings of children and animals, but I started these two.

My Bathroom Madonna, standing in what used to be a window.  On either side are reproductions of paintings done by Zapata's uncle who used to paint these for the tourist bureau in Mexico.

All summer long there are half naked men running around here.  I finally asked if I could photograph them.  Ivan is constantly moving so it was luck I got these two pictures of his "tattoos"  hehehe.

Jerry was covered in tattoos.

Hope Mountain, from my deck.

One day I decided to go check out the Oregon Caves, up the road.

Five weeks before I left for Arizona I saw Bob Wells from the RTR, Rubber Tramp Rondaveau, on Youtube.  I had instant wanderlust and fixed up my van with a bed, kitchen, bathroom, etc.  I signed up to be a speaker on how to travel around the world with bartering and doing work exchanges and got a great response the three times I spoke.  Below, Sueann and Bob talking to an early morning group.

Small groups splintered off to learn about various things.  I finally learned how to use a metal detector.

My van in my camping place in the parking lot of the La Paz County fairgrounds.

Tina, who I made friends with and will see again.

Jewels, from Homer, Alaska, whose father is a nuclear physicist, retired in Tucson.  She is holding Little Buddy.

Bob with Penny - he parked next to me.

Joan and her dog.

Lisa with Spot E. Chops.

In the evenings we brought our chairs and sat around a camp fire of propane in a ring.  How I got to know people.

Next to the Parker Library is a blue water tank, blue on blue.

Desert sunrise.  Chem-trails that look like bombs were dropped.

When I left the Quartzite/Parker area, after two weeks of camping out, I spent a well appreciated night in Scottsdale at my friend Kaya's place.  A nice shower, a good meal and a good friend - heaven.

In Tucson I had no plans where to stay so I just showed up at Terra Sante, a community that practices new and old building techniques, that I have stayed at several times over the years.  They allow me to make my art on their property.

Steam room and sound chamber built to look like a tortoise.

For some reason the only thing I felt like photographing at the Gem Show in Tucson was the dinosaurs below.  I bought a lot of beads and cool stuff.  Another form of heaven.

Inside the tortoise sound chamber at night when Bruce was practicing making sounds that changed the colors in the kaleidoscope above his head.

My curious neighbor where I was camping.

Driving home, I stopped in Weed to get gas and shot this picture of Mt. Shasta while I waited.  All in all, a very good trip.