Humboldt

Roll your mouse over the photo below
to see the other side of this gourd.

Friends -
Bob and I were lucky enough to get invited to spend New Year weekend at a friend's cabin located on the Chetco River, just across the border in Oregon. It is nestled in a gorgeous part of the country with the roaring ocean on one side, the river gorge on another, and Humboldt redwoods nearby. It was amazing! The giant redwood forest smells of home to me and each tree presents itself like a long lost relative, each with it's own personal life story that is displayed in it's shape -- be it straight or tortured.

It is a little bizarre to me that this is not the first time that I was half way through creating a gourd about a specific place when a natural disaster struck the very subject of my art. Last weekend, half way through the process of applying leather dye to this Humboldt gourd, a significant earthquake struck just off the coast. Gratefully, no lives were lost and although there was damage to Arcata and some of the other coastal communities, the devastation was not vast.

It is available for a donation to a worthwhile cause of your choice, although please consider some of the local social service non-profits that are having a hard time with California's budget woes. If not sold before February, this gourd will likely find itself at The Art Place (EDAC Gallery) on Main Street Placerville.

Best to you -

margie lopez read

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