Desert Lady Diaries

In this final episode of the Desert Lady Diaries podcast, Susan Henry (Ep 146) steps in as host and queries Dawn about her first experience with desert, the inspiration for Desert Lady Diaries and her shoppe, Soul Connection.   Born & raised in New Jersey, Dawn Davis was drawn to the desert after lengthy careers in banking, project management and media. After 14 years in the corporate scene, she spent more than 20 years as an actor, voiceover and producer.   Dawn moved to the Mojave in the summer of 2016.   Dawn is an award-winning actor and for the last four years has hosted and produced the 'Desert Lady Diaries' podcast. This month she will celebrate two years as the owner of Soul Connection, a gift shop in Joshua Tree.

Raised on the east coast, Kathy didn't see a desert until she'd moved to San Francisco in her college years. Taking bus trips down to beaches in Mexico, the desert felt like something to 'get through' in order to get to the beach.   Back-packing in the Sierras brought Kathy closer to the Mojave. One day, driving through Darwin in search of a friend's place, she felt 'eyes were on her' from behind curtains as she drove through the town. Kathy passed broken down shacks and cars and wondered how anyone could live in such a place. The town was so unnerving, she decided not to even get out of her car to walk around. Over time she came back to Darwin to visit those friends and began a serious quest for a vacation home there. With such a small population, property for sale was not easy to come by.   Through a series of events – some tragic and some disappointing – Kathy finally got a lead a few Darwin properties and purchased one. When the work/live space she was hoping for in San Francisco did not materialize, Kathy decided to make Darwin home.   In this episode Kathy describes what it's like to live in a desert town with no stores or government, with the nearest gas or grocery 50 miles away. The only real social scene is the daily 11:30 a.m. trip to the Post Office for mail – the Postmaster has the only job in town.   We also talk about life in the desert as one ages; Kathy calls Darwin 'a great place to die'.   These days, Kathy splits time between Darwin and Taos, New Mexico. She describes the property in Taos as even more primitive and off grid than Darwin. It's at an elevation of 7200 feet where she hauls water and handles other manual living activities daily.   Find Kathy's writing, music and art at: kathygoss.com

Anne Lear's first experience with desert was a a young girl. Growing up in Los Angeles, Anne and her family made many trips to 29 Palms to visit her uncle, Bob Lear, a homesteader in the 1930's. If Lear Avenue rings a bell, that road was named after Uncle Bob. This photo shows Anne, left, with Uncle Bob.   In this episode we'll first learn how it was that Anne's uncle came to be living in 29 Palms, which resulted in Anne coming to retire in the desert. Anne says as a child, there was nothing really interesting to do on these trips other than looking for rocks with one of the neighbor boys.   Anne credits two ladies for inspiring her to be an artist. Her mother – a teacher and artist herself – who would bribe Anne to finish homework or house chores with the reward of some kind of art-making equipment. Another inspiration was the Catholic school teacher who held up the students artwork for the entire class to see.   Anne shares the background of her teaching education, her learning the art of collage and serving as a chaperone for one her students on a trip to NYC.   In 1993, after 43 years of teaching – it was time to decide where she would retire. Having access to property with a prepared art studio, Anne decided she would retire in 29 Palms, on her uncle's property.   Anne participated in two of the very first Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours and has also participated in the last three most recent tours. It wasn't until she went on the tours herself that she realized how many artists are in the Morongo Basin. She notes desert artists are very quiet about their work and the lack of criticism leads to enhanced freedom and experimentation in their work.   Anne feels there is no reason to be isolated in the desert. If folks are feeling lonely, Anne recommends volunteering, stating, "Everyone needs a volunteer". Not long after moving to the desert, Anne began volunteering at the 29 Palms Art Gallery and has been a member for over 26 years.   You can see Anne's work at her website: http://www.annelearartist.com/

Jenny was 10-years old when she first experienced the desert. Jenny's best friends mother was a Girl Scout leader who brought the girls out to Joshua Tree National Park to camp. Jennifer says, "I remember the wind – it was like a person, taking up space."   As an adult, Jennifer would visit the park to climb. In 2017 she wrote a dispatch about the history of the Joshua Tree National Park climbing community as part of The Mojave Project, a documentary and curatorial project led by artist Kim Stringfellow.   After spending two and half years with the Peace Corps in Southern Thailand, Jennifer returned to Joshua Tree and began leading hikes and kids camping groups. She became part of JT Lab and worked on developing what is now known as the 'Artists Tea' program.   A student of art, Jenny initially worked in acrylics, sculpture and recycled materials. Before leaving for the Peace Corps, Jennifer received a watercolor set from a friend. With only six months left out of country, Jennifer brought the set out and began to experiment. Watercolor is now her medium of choice and she finds it a bit ironic to be painting desert landscapes with water. Her paintings are held in private collections around the world.   While continuing to work as a guide and outdoor educator, Jennifer also serves as the Executive Director of Arts Connection, The Arts Council of San Bernardino County. In this role, Jennifer's multidisciplinary practice approaches community engagement as a dynamic form of art: creating space and opportunities for people to gather in unexpected environments through diverse methods and mediums to promote broader understanding and connection to self, others, and place.   Full Episode Find Jenny's art on Instagram: @jennykan Donate, join or find out more about Arts Connection here: www.artsconnectionnetwork.org  

Barbara Gothard, artist and educator, was born and raised in the landlocked agricultural community of Springfield, Illinois.   Growing up in the middle of lush, green farmland, Barbara says she first experienced the desert while turning the pages of National Geographic. Barbara's first visit to a desert came through a cultural exchange program. Barbara recalls flying from the UK to Israel and the image of the blue green waters of the Mediterranean Sea giving way to the oranges and yellows of the sand. Through corporate travels, Barbara often visited the west coast of Africa – Namibia - where she experienced some of the largest sand dunes in the world, as well as the turbulence of flying over the Sahara.   Barbara's experiences with a stateside desert were on work trips to Palm Springs. Being work trips, there wasn't much opportunity to be 'in' the desert and really experience it.   Barbara was in second grade when her artistic abilities surfaced. The teacher invited Barbara's mother in for a conversation about Barbara's artwork and a few weeks later, Barbara was enrolled in a Saturday art class. Barbara continued developing her art through high school and college, majoring in art, as well as earning a master's in art and a PhD in Educational Administration.   As Barbara became a wife and mother, she decided to set aside the exhibiting side of her art to focus on her family, while continuing to draw or paint in her spare time – or on plane rides. A chance introduction at a conference in Florida found Barbara interviewing for a corporate job, for which she was hired. Barbara left the world of education behind and had an amazing corporate career which has taken her around the world.   After the global whirlwind came to an end, Barbara landed in Southern California and found herself visiting her two best friends in Palm Springs - often. They convinced her to move closer – she's been in Palm Springs since 2012. As Barbara was finding her way in her new community, she met Peggy Vermeer , the first employee of the Palm Springs Art Museum. Peggy immediately invited Barbara to join the museum and the Artists Council.   Barbara's involvement in these organizations found her wondering about other African American artists – or other African American female artists - living and working in the desert. Three years of research will culminate with a residency at BOXOHouse in Joshua Tree in October. Barbara will use her time and research to create interpretive works of the African American homesteader experience in 'African American Homesteaders of Lanfair Valley'.   Upcoming events (2021-2022) featuring Barbara's work and discussions are as follows:   October 8, at the Old Schoolhouse Lecture Series, presented by the Desert Institute at Joshua Tree National Park October 16, at Copper Mountain College October 23, 24 at BOXOHouse January 10 to April 10, 2022 at San Bernardino County Museum   More about Barbara and her work: On the web: Barbaragothard.com Instagram: @barbaragothardart and #barbaragothard Blog: Mojave Contradictions

Laurel Seidl's first experience with desert was hitch hiking from Carson City to Las Vegas in 1966. In this episode we learn Laurel has quite a bit of hitch hiking experience.         Laurel moved to the desert in 1982. Her parents lived in a homestead cabin on property at the edge of Twentynine Palms, near Wonder Valley. Laurel and her future husband at the time decided they would purchase a piece of desert property in the same area – ten acres off Amboy Road - as a wedding gift to themselves. It wasn't until they came to Twentynine Palms for their wedding that Laurel learned her parents' property was up for sale. She and her new husband bought it.   The property has been a farm, where Laurel and her husband raised rabbits commercially, as well as housing goats, livestock, chickens, geese, ducks, cats and dogs. After a few years, a rabbit disease made its way through the rabbit sheds, then an earthquake came and Laurel decided the animals weren't doing well, so her husband picked up gun smithing for the local Sheriffs and California Highway Patrol officers.   Laurel held a number of jobs in the area: as a cook on the base and local nursing home, school bus driver, and bartender. After a few years of this, Laurel found her health was declining and she was no longer able to work. This is when she decided to return to her art. Laurel painted saw blades, feathers, rocks, spoons… none of which had a desert theme. She felt there were plenty of other artists in the desert that were doing that well. She says, "They could even paint the air pink." Laurel became a member of a local gallery, but because her work did not depict desert scenes for tourists, her work was not shown. Looking starting thinking about the buildings on her own property and hired a cowboy who was renting a trailer on her property to start making the buildings into art galleries and after 18 months, Laurel had her first gallery room.   Laurel suggested a gentlemen who'd helped with the construction – and created art – be the first show at the gallery. Eventually, Laurel started asking artists if they'd like to have a show and many were surprised to learn there would be no gallery fee or commission on their work. Laurel had only three requirements of the artists: advertise the show, furnish food for the opening reception and gallery sit on the weekends. These days, there are only two requirements: the artist's do their own advertisement and furnish the food – Laurel sits the gallery, welcoming visitors and talking with them about the artists and their work.   The gallery has also had its ­ share of mentions as 'odd' places to visit in California – most of the time Laurel discovers this by word of mouth or by talking with visitors, as she does not have a computer or cell phone.   We also learn the inspiration behind the actual glass outhouses – there are now two.   In addition to showing the work of artists from the Morongo Basin, work has been shown from artists as far away as Chicago and Kentucky.   Prior to beginning the renovation and creation of the new gallery rooms, the list of artists booked to show in the space ran all the way to 2024. After a messy encounter with someone she'd hired to do the concrete work for the new galleries, Laurel found herself deep in a financial pit and ended up taking a loan and using a credit card to get the galleries completed. Laurel makes it clear, "The gallery is not a non-profit, nor is it 'for profit'. If after hearing Laurel's story, you are so moved, please go to the fundraiser on Go Fund me and make a donation. Here is the link: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/keep-the-arts-alive-in-wonder-valley Join eight artists alongside Laurel and Frank as the new galleries open on Saturday, September 11, 2021 from 5 to 9 p.m.

Sandy Smith of West Allis, Wisconsin arrived to 29 Palms as a young Marine wife and mother in December 1987. Knowing they had orders to Camp Pendleton soon, Sandy didn't concern herself with setting up household here in the desert. – she didn't think she'd be staying that long.   Sandy found herself back in 29 Palms in June 1994 for about nine months. On Valentines Day 1995, Sandy received a call that her Marine husband would be shipping out to Okinawa, but the family wouldn't be joining him- for a year. Sandy was pretty devastated. She hadn't yet made peace with the desert and would now be here for a year, alone, raising two young children.   Rather than sit home, complain and feel sorry for herself, Sandy got out and started volunteering again for Navy Marine Corps Relief Society. Her daughter was also now of school age and Sandy got involved in all the 'parent' things. As Sandy got out in the community, her attitude began to change. Shortly after that, her husband called to say his orders had been amended to include Sandy and the kids. Sandy wasn't ready to leave, but, packed her bags and the kids and off to Okinawa they went - for six years.   As the Okinawa tour wound down, the family realized they would only be in one more duty station – they chose to return to 29 Palms in 2001 – and it's been home ever since.   Sandy enjoys her community involvement – first with Reach Out Morongo where she started as a part time Executive Director and grew the organization in the ten years she was with them.   Now, as the Executive Director of Copper Mountain College Foundation since 2011 – Sandy's main focus is fundraising to support the scholarships and other programming the Foundation provides for the students.   In this episode, Sandy shares the history behind Copper Mountain College and how it became an accredited, stand-alone college.   Sandy is also a proud Rotarian, a member of 29 Palm Rotary and she serves on the Board of the Basin Wide Foundation In her spare time, Sandy enjoys bingo, bowling and spending time with her grandchildren.

Born and raised near the Catskills in NY State, Mary Helen Tuttle fell in love with a guy who had started building a place in the desert.   When Steve took a job on the west coast, they moved to Fontana. Thinking the desert home would just be a weekend retreat, the couple would make trips out on weekends to work on the dome home. They started working on their desert place in 1990 and made the move full-time in October of 2000.   Mary Helen believes when you move somewhere new, you need to reach out to find your people, "no one is going to come knocking on your door". Moving to California, Mary Helen learned, "You need to bloom where you're planted."   With that in mind, Mary Helen joined the JT Rotary. She likes the idea that her little bit of time and money, mixed with little bits of time and money from other Rotarians, makes a larger difference in the world. The JT Rotary team coordinates projects like restocking the shelves of local food pantries, providing new shoes to kids for the new school year and coordinating a summer camp for 275 local kids. If JT Rotary sounds like an organization you can get behind, send an email to [email protected] or check out their Facebook page to join.   In this episode, Mary Helen shares the rich history of Copper Mountain Mesa (North JT) and how the residents came to have electricity, water and a community center. The Center is locally famous for their 1st Saturday of the month pancake breakfast and is hoping to be able to serve everyone again Labor Day weekend (2021). Mary Helen explains that prior to being closed for Covid, the Community Center came up against some difficulties with the County citing the Community Center kitchen with infractions. While some grants have been secured to pay for the materials, the labor is all volunteer. If you can help, with labor, materials or financially, head to the Center's website and get in touch or make a donation. The website is: cmmcommunitycenter.org .          

Born in in Kingston Ontario Canada, near Syracuse NY, Robyn Lewis made her way to California with her first husband – he was moving back to family and Robyn was excited to be near LA to continue her acting career.   Robyn describes herself as a shy kid who took some acting classes in Canada to try it out, which lead to doing extra work on films when she moved to Los Angeles. On set, she enjoyed the camaraderie of the other actors and talks about some of the pitfalls of being a newbie in Hollywood.   While living in the Los Angeles area, Robyn had a friend with a place in Pioneertown. Robyn, and her then husband, would come up to visit for a change of scenery, wandering around Mane Street, which at the time was mostly residential. They'd wander into Pappy & Harriett's - with no reservations - and were wowed by a young lady who would stand near the jukebox and 'rocked the place' with her amazing voice.   Robyn and her then husband decided to purchase a place in Johnson Valley and moved to the desert. Robyn quickly realized this location was too remote for a young mother with two young children. To meet people and give the kids some social time, Robyn found the parks in Yucca Valley, picnicking with the kids several times a week, meeting other moms and kids. She also discovered a Mommy and Me group where she found herself teaching several classes. Eventually, Robyn rented out the Johnson Valley house and moved to Yucca Valley.   Robyn says at that time the Morongo Basin was a pretty quiet place. There was no Starbucks, no Applebee's. Just a Kmart and two grocery stores. Robyn confesses to not spending much time in the National Park until meeting her current partner.   If you've been to Crossroads Café in Joshua Tree, Robyn may have taken your order. She recently made the difficult decision to leave the Cafe after working there for over ten years. In this episode, Robyn says the crew she worked with was truly like a family and she met so many wonderful people, visitors and locals alike.   In all her years here in the Morongo Basin, she feels this is the largest and longest influx of people that she remembers moving to the desert. She's asks new residents and visitors respect the place, the silence and clean up after yourself.        

Born and raised in Philly, Kate McCabe made her way to California to study under former Disney animator Jules Engle (Fantasia), at CalArts.   Looking for a California sound for a film she was creating, Kate approached Brant Bjork from the southern California desert music scene. Once he saw her completed project, 'Milk and Honey', he asked her to come to the desert and make a visual album for him. Besides cross-country road trips, this would be Kate's first real experience with the desert.   Just prior to coming out to work on Brant's project ('Sabbia'), Kate was looking to purchase a home in her native Philadelphia. While she was here, Kate experienced a desert snow – and the Milky Way. Now she would be looking for a home in the desert – that was 2005.   Not long after settling into her new desert home, Kate took a financial hit from an employer who did not honor her contract. Needing to keep money coming in, she got jobs, started painting and created 'Kidnap Yourself' as an artist's collective at her home, providing space for other artists to flex their creativity in a desert setting.   In this episode, Kate talks about the ways she found to be creative during this time. With no funding for film making and limited supplies to create other art, Kate picked up a pen and began writing her observations of the desert and the weather, which lead to her create and publish 'Mojave Weather Diaries', a collection of desert observations and sketches.   Then she stumbled on a book by a female homesteader who lived in Yucca Valley in the 1930's. June LeMert Paxton's book, 'My Life on the Mojave' chronicles her life in the hi-desert. Reading the book, Kate felt a kinship with this woman who, for health reasons, left her family in Pasadena to make a life in the desert for her well-being. In her book, June describes the balance of self-reliance and required relationships with other homesteaders for survival. Kate compares the walkable communities of the east coast with the driving requirements of the desert and how that changes one's ability to connect with their neighbors.   Kate earned her MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts. She teaches film at UC San Diego and CalArts. Her current work includes painting, photography and diaries.   During the pandemic, Kate worked on a sunrise/sunset time lapse film that will be shown at the July 17, 2021, benefit concert for The Desert Institute. The film will open the evening, which features local desert rockers Yawning Man.   Connect with Kate and watch her films:   https://vimeo.com/katemccabekny/videos   https://www.kidnapyourself.com/