Cacti Faces Rock Wall Photos taken March 6, 2006 Longhorns The entire (unless someone stayed behind) herd. Watched for about 15 minutes. "M's" Rock Wall The snow only nipped the yucca a bit. Spuds Overlooking His Zinfandel Vineyard It was the first time in his whole life (13 years) that he saw snow. He loved rummaging around through the deeper drifts smelling things. We walked around for a couple hours. Agave Wall Love how it piles up on the agave. Started to snow hard at this point. Wheels on Wall Maybe a painting some day... Entire Rock Wall with Wheels As it says... Mom's Snowman #1 Nice hat! Snow on the Cactus Wall Ooh, looks like it hurt the cacti, but no! The Many Headed Cactus (-ti...) Many of the heads are missing that were carved long ago, but that's okay. Loook for the square hole in one... Open That Mouth! Yarr... V Cut Head and Little Lips Face Hmm... Simply Happy with my Big Teeth Yay! Forlorn on Its Side Umm... V Cut Head Again Pokey... Four Faces Four... Top Face Yes... Mom Face Mom! Wow Face Wow! Triangle Mouth Mmm... Square Hole Look inside and see the future! Good Snow Hair Day Yes... Chunk out of my Cheek Hungry? Cold Bird Any little bit of green must not be as cold? Eagle Rock in Snow A bouleder I painted on years ago -- silhouette of a hawk in front of mountains that go along a fissure in the rock. Viewer facing NNE. Old Vine 1 The sky has cleared up for the time being... Old Vine 2 How many snows has this vine seen? Mom's Snowman #2 This one made the best snowballs! Offsite - More Snow Photos on CSW Site Six or seven wallpapers for your desktop are on here - enjoy! Offsite - More Snow Photos on SFV Site Look through the different varieties... The cactus were carved years ago by everyon in J's family and me. Fun stuff. So, until "Snow, the Next Generation" debuts in 20 or so years, no va a nevar en la "Valley." The snow melted by midafternoon. Most of it, anyway -- not the snowmen, who made it into the next day, and then became the object of a snowball fight! Down to the muddy ones at the bottom of the snowmen! M.'s Wall in the Snow, March 2006 1980's 1990's 2000's In Progress This will be the subject of my next series of rock wall paintings on canvas using spraypaint, acrylics, chalk, Pencil, Lacquer, and other media mixed in. The yuccas, poppies, cornflowers, and 5 other var. of cactus, various wildflowers, buckeye, narcissus, daffodils, unfinished wall and as of June 2006, completed main form of rock wall connecting all the way around on the top level, which spills down to ten separate beds, including: a seven step spiral boulder staircase (with future rungs - that will extend to a chicken wire fenced wall a creeping vine (jasmine?) will grow up.) Posts sunk into entry of lower stair level - door is hung on frontmost, larger post - will swing in towards fence. Used to be J.'s adobe/rocks/boulder blind for hunting. A dripline will water the plants on topmost level and spill down into this level and likely the buckeye tree bed level at the bottom of the front 5 step rock staircase. Poppies and cornflower dominantly and other wildflowers are spread on all levels - including thrown into the rocks' crevices with mud. and some colored mortar on corners. A two sided, opposingly seated bench on a foundation with human ond other figures integrated, constructed of small mesh wire frames, rebar, cloth, glass bricks, colored mortars and concretes, paint, and matching stepping stones is under construction. This will alow the seated to view to sunset (or lack thereof) or the mountains and northern sky. A large whiteish boulder on the west side that rests on the perimeter's pathway of the wall...is a great place to see sunsets, so a sculpture will appear on this level, too. This boulder is the right side boundary of three larger consecutive spilling beds that all pour into a tiny gallon size "bed" in the lowest crevice of the boulder. The other side of the beds has a little less tiny surprise bed that creeps over four feet long and one foot deep with wildflowers in it. Wheels, Wall, & Iris More close up than the next photo. Rustoleum makes some nice spraypaint to touch up antique wheels with - use cardboard to protect plants. WWaI 2 Now it's covered in poppies around the top of the rocks and in barrel rings, too. Yellow Iris Dont's know the taxonomy of it, but I should, and I got it from a former farm advisor for help planting his garden one year. I should have kept them all sorted out, but we learn... Pictured above are the rock walls without snow -- how they usually look... Update -- "M's" rock wall - June 2006 - Big rocks all finished, little filler rocks and some support mortar on freestanding corners (no dirt on any side - just down the center) and seven stair spiral staircase (more glamourous than it sounds, and twice as heavy) coming next! That's bad sentence structure, but a strong wall. Bench foundation next, wire frame after that, fiber reinforced concrete, facing Sierra Nevadas one direction and facinf the sunset the other. Glass bricks and quartz to be built into it. Carving cactus into diamonds and squares. Going to use dowels to sculpt cactus into cubes - it should grow together and live! That will look neat. This is the rock wall used on the Spuds on a Rock Wall painting. Update -- "J's" rock wall Castle - June 2006 - Foundation poured -- 15 bags concrete. Big blue granite rocks all dug out and being formed each night. Photos soon. 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