Raven and Scrub Jay in our little canyon in Santa Barbara

Acorn Woodpeckers… desert to the sea

Back in Santa Barbara after a lovely weekend in the desert for the Homestead Cabin  Festival at The Palms. The Sibley’s were great. They played a new song… Shari Elf was jam-packed fun and The Hafler Duo sang their desert songs. Many of us got to create Homestead Cabins out of Graham Crackers and other sweets. Another swell idea from Ellie. This was indeed an interactive event. Thank you Chris for bringing us all together.
Taking the dogs for a walk in The Wilcox property above the ocean, with my new lens, I spotted an Acorn Woodpecker. Nice to be by the ocean.

 

The Road to Wonder Valley

WOW. Thank you to Massif Pictures for a beautiful clip of a beautiful place with so many beautiful people… REALLY… To view the trailer click on the Road to Wonder Valley Trailer. For those who don’t know, I was interviewed last year for a film, about the artists that are living in the high desert. Still my home… some of us just need an ocean too. The desert is the place for the spirit to connect and will always be a special place.

New Book, Eight Years in Wonder Valley

MagentaRaven is publishing a new book, printed on semi matte paper, entitled 8 Years in Wonder Valley.

38 of the best photographs from eight years of documentation by yours truly,  Perry Hoffman

 

Images of wild birds, owls, coyotes, scorpions, snakes and rusty metal… and fire.

 

I have just emailed friends with a special first publication price of $25 (includes shipping)

So fellow bloggers, mail artists, kindred spirits I am also offering the same discounted

price here on the internet. If you’d like to order the FORTY page book

of desert imagery from Wonder Valley, please paypal $25 to raven9@cox.net or send a

check to the Santa Barbara address in my left sidebar. Please include your shipping address.

Thank you. – Perry 

 

Art Cars

Soooo the following day after the big gala at Fi-Lox-See, Bonnie Kopp of True World Gallery in Joshua Tree, brought a fleet of art cars to my abode in Wonder Valley. What a treat !!! I did not get everybody’s names. Kate Pearson was from Bisbee. Joy Johnson from Berkeley (boots on top of car and manican heads upside down in the interior.Jensue and Rev Chili… Emily Duffy with the fabulous Vain Van… and Scott with the little alien bug and cute wiener dog.

Wonder Valley Homestead Cabin Festival

Let me say that I truly do not know where to begin… Shall I just start backtracking… kd lang has created an amazing cd and the more I listen to it the more amazing it becomes. Jazz great,Herbie Hancock just won album of the year at the Grammy’s with his cd River, The Joni Letters.  Speaking of… Joni MItchell picked up a grammy for best instrumental “One Week Last Summer” !!! And what does this have to do with the Wonder Valley Cabin Festival ? EVERYTHING. Music is always an inspiring factor for artists. Did I say kd lang’s cd is just gorgeously delicious ? Also Amy Winehouse made it to the stage and received her 5 awards !!! Love ya !!! One of her back up singers, Omotayo said “She was her usual funny self, making a joke a second. She’s a lot healthier at the minute, she’s a lot happier.” What a great day for music. Is the commercial world finally catching up???

SO… the Cabin Festival kickoff at Fi-Lox-See (gallery) still with no directions printed anywhere, managed to have a fabulous event with a huge turnout. One of my mosaics got a red dot as it sold to one of my collectors, Terry T. Presentations by Ellie Dozier and Cathy Allen were inspiring and wonderful. Kim Stringfellow explained the Jack Rabbit Homesteads. Bob Arnett’s painting rang true again in color and light. Scott Monteith had a beautiful new series of postcards and I saw one his framed pieces fly off the wall into a collectors hands… Chris Carraher’s minimal paintings were exquisite. Her new sculpture which resembled a cats cradle suspended was elegant and perfect.

Did I mention synchronicity ??? I’ll just start with this little story… Just a few weeks ago I got a tip and directions to take some pictures of a cabin, that was no longer inhabited as the resident, Roland, had passed away. He was a bit of a recluse and a rattlesnake handler. On the 5 acres were a couple of cars deep in the sand, rusting and basking in the desert air. I photographed the cars. Three days before the opening at Fi-Lox-Si (still with no website) I printed the photos of the cars. At the opening I spied a woman holding three of the cards I had printed, including the cars. Then she proceeded to tell me, “That’s my car!” It was her brother Roland who had a passed away. OK, I couldn’t have been more surprised. If you’d ever been to Wonder Valley, (the middle of nowhere) you’d understand my utter surprise. Yet as my friend Allen Barter always says, “It’s not unusual, it always like this.” (referring to the synchronicity)

There’s more. A Mexican devil mask was burned on a piece of picket fence at the bonfire at my homestead after the Fi-Lox-See show. Pretty nonchalant group. Jane Maru did the honors of placing the mask upon the fire. Ben Bottoms was there… (his brother’s ex-wife sold us her house in Santa Barbara) … Vickie Waite, Gretchen…Richard and Terry and of course the Arnetts. Jeanette Arnett made her way into the slivered moon, starlit night holding a photograph she had to have, of Ed the water-man’s Burro. I was glad to see the burros were going to a good home, down the road on Allen.

New Buddha Heads

 

kd lang has created another beautiful record

 She definitely used the right color on her new cd… Magenta Raven is pleased. And of course the music is divine. Thank you kd !!!  I must add that this recording is just getting better and better as I listen to it. It’s blowing my mind.  Snip of lyrics from the song Coming Home, “My eyes no longer weak amongst the clarity that you pronounce in me”  OK, that’s heavy!  but it’s also exquizitly stated with the one and only voice… thank you very much! WOW love her… “Happily indifferent to the ones that have consistently been wrong”… 

Paintbrush with the Santa Cruz Island on the horizon.

wonder valley record player