Desert Dessert
These sculpted bookends depict the mountains found in Death Valley, called Artist’s Palette. While hiking through the foothills there, I was taken in by them because of their colors, but the real thing that got my attention was the top of the mountains, which appeared to be covered with chocolate sprinkles. To top it off, the mountains looked like a multi-flavored ice cream sundae. Maybe I’d been out hiking too long without lunch, but I named this sculpture Desert Dessert.
When I returned home from this trip, I couldn’t get the funky mountains out of my mind, and I just had to start sculpting them. The range’s official title is Artist’s Palette, and they are in the foothills of the Black Mountains. They are noted for having various colors of rock, much like those found in the famous Painted Desert in Arizona. The color variations are caused by the oxidation of different metals such as red, pink and yellow (from the iron salts); green from mica, while manganese produces the purple. Apparently a great deal of volcanic activity occurred here, which is why the mountain caps are sprinkled in black!
If you are interested in an estimate for creating a reproduction of this sculpture by hand please contact me.
