back in the desert   11 comments

Posted at 8:47 pm in Uncategorized

view across a small section of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum on the east side of Tucson, Arizona

I’m feeling like quite the delinquent as my rate of posting has dropped off so much over the past few months. I know I’ve said this before, but I hope to do some catch up over the next couple of weeks.

As reported in my last post, the dogs and I made it to Bisbee around October 24th. If you’ve been following our travels over the past three years, you’ll know that our arrival in town was about a month earlier than usual. Generally, I stretch out our time on the road to several weeks as we cross Canada and then meander down through the western states. However, as described in the last couple of posts, I took a fairly direct route intended to land us in southeast Arizona far earlier in the season. There were several reasons for the change in routes, the most important being that I felt Sabrina might be getting too old for endless weeks of camping, but the others had to do with events which I did not want to miss. The first event was the exhibit Biodiversity in the Art of Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson — see more about this below. The second event was the Cochise College Pit Fire party. There will be more about the Pit Fire in a coming post.

Abnormal formation called a “crest” on a Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

For as long as I’ve read Carel’s blog, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding, I have wished to visit an exhibit where I could view his paintings. However, as luck would have it, I’m always in the wrong place at the wrong time. When I read about Carel’s solo exhibit at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM), I decided to try to get down to southeast Arizona before the closing date on October 30th. I had to push along at a pretty quick clip in order to get to Bisbee and rest up a little in preparation for the drive to Tucson. I sent a message to Carel to let him know that I was planning to visit the exhibit, but due to his travels, he did not see my note. I was a little disappointed in not being able to set up a brief meeting, but decided to go to the exhibit regardless.

For those who have never been to the ASDM, here is a description from their website:

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place! Exhibits re-create the natural landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region so realistically you find yourself eye-to-eye with mountain lions, prairie dogs, Gila monsters, and more. Within the Museum grounds, you will see more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds of plants. There are almost 2 miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert.

It’s a good place to go to see specimens of a number of cacti and other desert plants. Near the entrance, you will be greeted by the above Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) which sports an unusual “crest”. For most first time visitors to the Sonoran Desert, the Saguaro is probably the most recognizable cactus, but few have seen a specimen with a crest formation unless they have walked among dozens of these giants. A sign describes the formation:

This unusual young saguaro is just beginning to form a crest, which may eventually grow to more than six feet wide. A crest can develop when the growing point, or meristem (which produces new stems and spines or leaves), elongates into a line. In time, the growing line may become greatly convoluted, like a brain. This phenomenon has been observed in nearly all plant species. Its cause is generally not known.

Organpipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

The above Organpipe cactus is found in the southernmost region of the Sonoran Desert. Its flowers open only at night and its chief pollinator is nectar-feeding bats.

Don and I made several trips to Arizona before his death in 2008. During each visit, we always tried to spend time at one or more of botanical gardens. Our favorites were the Desert Botanical Garden in Tempe, and Boyce-Thompson Arboretum near Superior. We also liked to hike at both the east and west districts of Saguaro National Park on the outer boundaries of Tucson. Visitors to Arizona will find a trip to one of these botanical gardens worthwhile as not all species of cacti and other desert plants grow in every part of Arizona. Some species are more or less cold-tolerant, so will only be found at certain elevations, or more to the north or the south of the state.

cover of Carel Brest van Kempen’s book, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding.

As mentioned above, the object of my visit to the ASDM was to view Carel Brest van Kempen’s exhibit. I made my way to the Ironwood Gallery and began studying the many wonderful paintings on display. As a longtime admirer of Carel’s work, I’ve always been fascinated by his complex compositions and meticulous attention to detail. However, I had only ever seen his paintings online, so could only speculate on whether they were as exquisite as I imagined them to be. I was not to be disappointed. Each of them blew me away! Of course, as I wandered from painting to painting, I felt some regret that I couldn’t have met up with Carel and expressed my appreciation for his work.

A few minutes after my arrival, a small group of people entered the gallery. I recognized Carel from photos on his blog and facebook. He was at the ASDM giving a nature painting course, but I did not expect to see him as I thought he would be engaged elsewhere. However, as luck would have it, several of the students had requested a walk around through the exhibit so that they could learn more about Carel’s works and techniques. I felt rather like a very happy fly on the wall as I wandered around the gallery, eavesdropping a bit as I studied nearby paintings. What a terrific case of being in the right place at the right time! At the conclusion of the gallery tour, I had a brief moment to introduce myself before the class departed. It was quite a thrill to finally get the chance to meet Carel after so many years of reading his blog.

For those who are unfamiliar with Carel’s work, I’ve posted the above and below photos of the cover and pages from his book, RIGOR VITAE: Life Unyielding – The Art of Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen [Eagle Mountain Publishing, 2006]. Click on both images for a closer view! I can’t say enough other than that the book contains a mind-boggling 137 color plates of his beautiful paintings accompanied by text describing everything from wildlife encounters to conservation issues affecting endangered species.

If you weren’t lucky enough to visit the exhibit at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, it’s not too late to see it if you are on the east coast this winter. It is currently on at the HIRAM BLAUVELT ART MUSEUM in Oradell, New Jersey from December 5, 2011 until March 31, 2012. If you get the chance, please go! You won’t be disappointed!

a page from Carel Brest van Kempen’s book, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding.

Written by bev wigney on December 14th, 2011

11 Responses to 'back in the desert'

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  1. Good one, Bev! I hope to be down there soon.

    Larry Ayers

    14 Dec 11 at 9:41 pm

  2. I am sooooooooooo incredibly jealous. Last December I was in Tucson although it was a lot for work; so not as much time for visiting the Desert Museum as usually I like. It is such a wonderful place and we have been members for over twenty years, even in the years we didn’t make it to Tucson purely because we believe in their purpose and how well the fulfill it. I love the Ironwood Gallery and the little cafe near it. I can almost feel I was there from your post.

    Rain

    14 Dec 11 at 9:42 pm

  3. …one day!

    Sky

    15 Dec 11 at 5:05 am

  4. I love being reminded of Carel’s incredibly beautiful artwork. How lucky that you did get to cross paths with him. The museum and botanical gardens sound like a wonderful place to explore. Love the crested saguaro cactus. What an amazing sight. Beautiful.

    robin andrea

    15 Dec 11 at 11:01 am

  5. Larry – Arizona is the place to be – that is, until summer cranks up the heat!

    Rain – I love visiting the ASDM too – and seeing the raptor free flight show. The art exhibits at the Ironwood Gallery are always so worth seeing. I don’t think that many visitors to the ASDM know that is also has this great art venue!

    Sky – I hope you make it there someday. It is such a neat place.

    Robin – It was quite a thrill to meet Carel and see so many of his paintings at the gallery. Well worth altering my usual autumn plans so that I could get down to Arizona before the exhibit closed.

    bev wigney

    15 Dec 11 at 11:58 am

  6. Thanks so much for the links to slideshows and panoramas! I feel as if I have spent the last hour or so in Arizona, seeing some familiar plants, reptiles, insects, and landscape. Loved being able to see so many of Carel’s paintings, too.

    Way back in 1974, I visited the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. I can still feel what it felt like to look into the greenish eyes of a mountain lion and deeply respect its wild nature. That was what made the strongest impression on me during that visit.

    am

    16 Dec 11 at 6:05 pm

  7. Hi am – I’m glad that you enjoyed exploring the links in this post. I know just what you mean about looking into the eyes of the mountain lion. I felt the same way. Glad you also enjoyed seeing some of Carel’s work. So beautiful!

    bev wigney

    16 Dec 11 at 7:13 pm

  8. My precious Aunt Ann introduced me to the Desert Museum years ago. She’s gone now, but I will always be grateful to her and the way she shared her love of the desert. On my first trip to Tuscon she helped this midwesterner shed her notion that a desert was an arid lifeless place. “Cathy! It’s alive! Listen!” How I miss her.

    As for Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen! Thank you Bev! How have I missed this man and his brilliant, beautiful work?

    Happy Solstice, my friend! It won’t mean as much to you in sunny Brisbee, but oh honey! How we need the notion of the sun looking back over his shoulder, shrugging, doing a 180 and slowly trudging back towards us ๐Ÿ™‚

    Cathy

    17 Dec 11 at 11:20 am

  9. Cathy – You were very lucky to have an Aunt Ann to introduce you to the desert. Many years ago, on my first day in the desert, I thought it such a dry and hostile place. The second day, I rose before dawn and sat out in a place where I could observe the birds, lizards and mammals as they moved about through the cacti, agave and other plants. Within minutes I realized that there was actually far more visible life than could be found in almost any other habitat. By it’s very nature, the desert exposes and also shelters life in a way that is not seen elsewhere. As the years pass, I learn a little more each season spent here. It is such a wonderfully complex place.

    Glad you have learned of Carel’s work. The paintings are just so exquisite. If you ever have a chance to visit an exhibit somewhere, do take it in. His book is wonderful too.

    Happy Solstice to you too, Cathy. You’re right – it doesn’t have quite the same impact down here, but it is still nice to see the daylight hours begin to lengthen as the desert sunsets of late winter are just so incredible.

    bev wigney

    17 Dec 11 at 12:28 pm

  10. ” . . . By itโ€™s very nature, the desert exposes and also shelters life in a way that is not seen elsewhere . . ”

    Yes. That’s it.

    Cathy

    17 Dec 11 at 1:19 pm

  11. Hi Bev

    You are right Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding is a great blog with wonderful art and facinating articles. I also love your photos of the cactus. I have seen some good sized cactus in the Galapagos but for someone used to the relatively small Prickly Pear of Southern Alberta the massive cactus of the Southwest are so novel I cannot help but be impressed with the variety and somewhat grotesque shapes of these giants. They are just such iconic plants.

    Regards
    Guy

    Guy

    22 Dec 11 at 10:40 pm

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