It was 2010, in Terry Masters’ painting class at Palm Springs’ Desert Art Center. Terry walked to the front of the room and hoisted a large canvas onto an easel. He flipped open his portable plein air kit (battle-scarred from hundreds…
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…
I think of El Paseo art galleries as places people go to decorate the walls of their luxury homes. Having no luxury home (maybe my Dinah Shore-style pad was luxurious when it was first built 50 years ago), I rarely…
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…
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…
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…
