I was in El Paso to celebrate my Dad's 89th birthday and I talked my Mom into driving with me to the rural farming community we lived in until I was 7, Dell City Texas- I think the pop. topped off at 400 about 1964. My last visit to Dell city was in the late 60's. I have often thought that the lines and shapes that keep appearing in my art and that I find my self drawn to are lines from my childhood.
Half way between El Paso and Carlsbad NM you will see the cut off sign for Dell City.
There was not a pop. sign but I think it is about 200 now.
http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/DellCityTexas/DellCityTexas.
Dell city was established when an oil company was drilling for oil and instead discovered water. This discovery made the land farmable and attracted young families to settled and establish the community. My parents were among the young families. They started the school, raised money to build a community center where they would have parties and meetings.
The Dell City community building today.
My oldest brother remembers the adults having parties or meetings at the community center. Since all the families were young they did not have older kids to babysit. When they had meetings or parties the parents would take their children to the community center with blankets and make little palettes in the corner so they could keep an eye on them as they had their meetings or parties.
My brother also remembers his first dance in Junior high school. One of the girls had a twist dance party. He loved it and had so much fun. My Mom made a point to tell the other Mom how much fun the twist party was. The other mom replied that the town Baptist preacher told her that the kids should not be allowed to dance and that there would not be any more twist parties.
Below are some photos of some of the things I saw that I think have influence my sculpting and drawing palette.
gnarly bayling wire fence.
Tumble weeds
Hay stacks
These are much larger than we ever had when I was young.
The Guadalupe Mountains - view from the side of our old house.
We used to water the crops by a ditch system. The water was pumped out of the ground into the ditches then syphoned with big hoses into rows of crops in the fields. I remember many a time my Dad frustrated trying to fix the pump. Below is what is left of one of the pumps on what used to be our farm.
Out of commission water pump.
Now the only thing that flows out of the pump is the view of the Guadalupe's. ( Which is of course where the water comes from that fills the aquifer. )
Tumble weeds, wire and cracked old post
Tracks in the dust.
The lines and textures I remember in the summer were very different this winter. I will need to go back.