Borrego Sun - Since 1949

Art Guild Luncheon Speaker Wade Beane – March 8, De Anza

Wade Beane, known as Borrego's favorite horticulturalist and director of ArtFarm gave a riveting, passionate, inspiring, presentation about his beloved ArtPark at the March Art Guild Luncheon.

Common lesson's taught in the Garden Education classes are, Dream Big, Taste Often, Eat Healthy, Share Kindly, Look closely, Cook Creatively, Smell Inquisitively. The ArtPark encourages environmental stewardship on many levels. We learned about the ArtPark's variety of bees, including Honey Bees , Leaf Cutter Bees, Digger Bees, Carpenter Bees. Wade has a taste for Nopales cacti that are grown all over the ArtPark an easy cacti to cultivate in the desert environment. Nopales have many health benefits including antiviral, protection for nerve cells, high antioxidant, regulate blood sugar, reduce cholesterol and eliminate hangovers. Wow I was impressed can't wait to start cooking Nopales.

ArtPark Community Compost Station creates rich compost used for creating healthy soil. Drop off compostable material at the ArtPark support the compost program that turns leftover vegetables peelings, bread, coffee grounds and other kitchen scraps directly into compost that goes back into the Community Gardens. Vermiculture is active at the ArtPark. Meaning hundreds of worms that are actively decompressing food in the garden compost creating microbe rich liquid. Worm casing are full of beneficial microorganisms which produce a nutrient rich compost teaming with life. Worm tea for gardens is available at the ArtPark. There are various garden classrooms for all ages to learn about organic growing and healthy eating. Bags of seasonal vegetables are available at the ArtPark on Fridays. Crops include squash, onions, salad green, Swiss chard, herbs, eggplant, orchard fruits.

The ArtPark is an inspiring place to hang out for everyone. Not to mention there are some fun sculptures although a couple took a wind beating recently. Wade encourages everyone to stop by and experience and explore the gardens.

Soi Yo – West Gallery House Of Borrego Springs – March 2023

Each self portrait starts with a act of submission. 'Soi Yo,' at the Gallery West is a captivating conversational show of self portraits by the Borrego artist JD Stowell. Using the pronoun, 'Soy Yo,' 'its me,' in part explains the self immediacy of the paintings. JD in his own words describes the paintings, 'there is the idea in this body of work that there is no one me, no one, 'Yo.'

The painted gaze is entirely concentrated on the life it knows it one day may lose. The portraits confirm life was and is a gift despite everything. JD said, 'there is the theme of dissolution and demise, of being on the verge of disappearance. This is on the mind of an old painter.'

I found myself caught in a spell of a special contractual intimacy looking at the portraits. JD paints with energized immediacy. The hand, of an artist that has painted for many years, effortlessly responding to the artist's creative impulses.

Hung at the center of the gallery is a stunning large single horizontal full body self portrait of the artist's body laying face down in it's final lifeless resting position. Inspired by the 1959 Otto Preminger movie poster by Saul Bass of 'Anatomy Of a Murder' the painting strikes a note about mortality's finality.

As usual curator Elizabeth Rodriguez brings us inspiring, innovative art to the West Gallery.