Category: Featured

Finding Freda, Part Two

The forgotten desert artist Freda Marshall, recently rediscovered, was a central figure among the Coachella Valley resident painters. For a dozen years or more she lived in her own house on the Indio estate of the late Jackie Cochran.  Freda…

Finding Freda Marshall, Part One

I was looking for decorative paintings at a seasonal flea market in Sonoma County when I found this desert painting by Freda Marshall. I thought that I would be able to resell it for my monthly “nut”, the amount of…

David Greene: Mojave Noir

Moving from Ohio to the alien landscape of Wonder Valley, David Greene encountered many wonders—not the least being the desert night. Greene had been working in a toilet factory in Ohio (hand-painting ceramic bath ware), and had never traveled east…

Agnes Pelton Revival in Cathedral City

The first-annual Agnes Pelton Birthday Tea–on August 22, 2011–was hosted by Peter Palladino and Simeon Den, the new owners of Pelton’s former home in Cathedral City. Though Pelton died in 1961, her presence at the gathering was as strong as…

Glenda Nordmeyer: Stone Diaries

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Since founding this website I can now attest: The world is not really going to Twitter. People are still going deeper and deeper into the land, abandoning their glowing screens to seek beauty. The ranks of contemporary desert painters are…

Smoketree Trio: New Books on Desert Artists

Scholarship on The Smoketree School made big strides in the spring of 2011  with the release of three new books covering unexplored corners of desert art. California Art Club California Light: A Century of Landscapes is the long-anticipated history of…