Earlier this week I published an article on the artist commune in East Jesus California. It was the third in a series of our day trip through some California Weirdness. The sculpture garden at the artist commune in East Jesus is open to the public and contains literally hundreds of art installations. One of my favorites was this wall of bottles.
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Wall of Bottles
We left Salvation Mountain and headed down the dirt road towards East Jesus. This was ultimately the destination for our off the grid day trip from our cushy digs in the Palm Desert. We had read about an artist community in East Jesus and were eager to see their outdoor sculpture garden.
The road leading there was beyond bizarre. More rusted out trailers, twenty or so washing machines lined up in a row in the middle of the desert. We then saw a sign that said Slab City. Slab City was a collection of tents and rusted out trailers, broken down buses. One large tent had a sign that said “Martini Lounge, Live Music Nightly” another said “Furniture and Crystals for Sale”. In front of the tents people sat on lawn chairs and waved at us as we drove by. It looked like a movie set from Mad Max or A Boy and His Dog.
I thought about stopping but I had my sister and wife with me. I have another friend who attempted to go to East Jesus but turned back after seeing Slab City saying they were too scared to go on. Another musician friend went into the Martini Lounge but seeing the dark layout of couches and chairs went backed to the Salton Sea and played around a campfire for an audience of one. He said he could have played there but would have been scared to have his spouse sitting in the audience alone on one of the couches.
We came to a fork in the road. The fork was about six feet high and had a sign pointing right to East Jesus and left to West Satan. We finally arrived at the artists commune. A nice young man was there with a cute friendly dog. He gave us some information on the artist group and you can find out more about them at their website. . All in all it was a unique day trip from the Palm Desert and well worth the drive.
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East Jesus California
The nice thing about being retired is that you decide your own photo assignments. No art directors,no clients, no schedules, just you and your camera. In October we went on assignment in Europe and I have been publishing pictures from that trip ever since. Now we are headed West so watch out California and Arizona here we come. Tune back in a month for new images until then please explore the other 1200 previous posts. Thanks for following us, see you soon.
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Joshua Tree National Park
For the last month we have been touring Europe to celebrate our 45th Wedding Anniversary. Our journey through Europe covered 1600 kilometers and five countries. I took about 2000 images and videos and surely will be busy editing and publishing for a while. Like most good European journeys we started in Amsterdam. Our flight on Lufthansa had been canceled and we were forced to ride in middle seats on United so when we hit the ground we were hungry, bitchy, and jet lagged. On our way to find food and a coffee shop I stopped for a second to take this image.
Fortunately we have been to Amsterdam before because the next day we would board our ship and sail down the Rhine. We didn’t have too much time for sight seeing. This was taken facing the city from the central train station.
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Amsterdam
I will not be posting on this blog for the next five weeks. We are off on an adventure and photographic chataqua. Hopefully when I return I will have new images, videos and stories to share. Until then I wish you all well and hope you have success in surviving the hideous political barrage that has become our national discussion. I am thrilled to be leaving that behind as we leave the country.
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On Hiatus
A lot of people visiting Florida think these birds are Flamingos when they see them in flight. Flamingos are not as common in Florida as many may think and are more native to South America and Central America. The spoonbill though is common in the southern United States. Mostly you will see them wading in wetlands but when they fly they truly look strange. These were photographed on Captiva Island in Florida.
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Roseate Spoonbills in Flight
I am going to be posting images that I may have posted before with a candidate # thereby collecting a list of what I feel would be likely candidates to print for a gallery show of new images of only digital photography. Right now I am focusing on images that are scenic in nature. This is Schloss Schwangau located in the Bavarian town of Schwangau as seen from the balcony of Neuschwanstein.
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Candiate #1–Schloss Schwangau
In 1981 we traveled to Nova Scotia. Those were the days of film photography and although I did some monochrome, mostly I shot 35mm color transparency film. I don’t have too many of the slides left. I either lost or had two trays of slides stolen some time in the 1980’s. I have shared some of the survivors; High Tide in Bay Of Fundy and Peggy’s Cove. This is one of the monochrome images from that trip.
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Peggy’s Cove
I always wanted to have a motor boat. One that you could cruise in at sunset across a calm bay or gulf. People have told me that a boat is like having a hole in the water that you throw your money into. Maybe I will rent one instead. This picture taken in Mexico at the blue docks in La Islas outside Cancnún,
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Sunset Cruise
You could easily visit Giverny and miss the water garden. The house is a fun tour and the gardens are quite large. Then in the back of the gardens you will a little sign which reads Jardin de l’eau and a little tunnel that leads across a stream and to a path through the Water Garden.
Monet’s water garden in Giverny is located just outside of Vernon France. It is a short day trip from Paris and worth the train and bus ride. The house and gardens are unique and stunning and kept in the same way that they were during the time of Claude Monet. If you have the time it is worth spending a night since the entire area is really a tribute to nature and art.
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Jardin-de-leau
Imagery Photography 