When you hear the term, “living on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert” you may conjure up a picture of a herd of small dogs, some barking in Spanish, across a line drawn in the sand. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Chihuahuan Desert (photo by Beverly Hughes)
Living on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert is really about living on part of a 140,000 square mile desert that jags from Mexico to Texas. And although we are almost 100 miles from the Mexico border, and summer heat often reaches over 100 degrees, I feel very creative here.
Perhaps it’s the solitude… or perhaps it’s the simple fact that when I go camping, I get to spend a good portion of the day being still, in the shade, drinking water and working on sketches… or perhaps it’s because I get to enjoy the creative pursuits of working on small clay pieces that dry so quickly I am able to fire them in a mesquite fire pit by evening.
But even with all its beauty and solitude, there’s danger here in the desert. Danger that requires obeying the laws of the desert. And I am sad to say, I lost a long-time friend this July to the heat of the desert. I truly miss him.
Whether I am dealing with a loss, or the stress of everyday life, I am grateful to be here in the Chihuahuan Desert… where, when I go “down south”, I can find shade overlooking the Rio Grande as it dips water from a metate (a stone Indians once used to ground corn). With hundreds of years of change, I am still viewing the same magnificent canyons and working in a beautiful spot chosen by someone else; someone who saw the same magnificence.
Chihuahuan Desert Ocean
Before I leave you today, I wanted to tell you that my ceramic piece, “Chihuahuan Desert Ocean”, is a 2012 NICHE Award finalist. The winners will be announced at the annual Buyers Market of American Craft tradeshow in Philadelphia during their 30 year anniversary celebration February 18, 19, and 20th.
The piece itself, sans cactus, is chocked full of imaginary sea life all contained in a perfect spherical shape–which isn’t a far stretch since anyone venturing out into this broken terrain can find sharks teeth at their feet.
