Margarido Tree Project

I used to live in a crazy 5 bedroom 4 story duplex on a hill. The structure of the house made it so that there were storage rooms on the lower levels against the hill. While my roommates found these storage rooms to be a bit creepy, they were where I found my solitude. I used one of them as my art studio and workout room. The walls were a little too plain so I decided to add some color. And then it turned into a full blown art project... which is quite normal with me.

From Tree

From Tree

From Tree

From Tree

From Tree

From Tree

From Tree

From Tree

From Tree

Finished

From Tree

Too bad I moved right after I finished. Wish I could have taken it with me.

My Latest Project - Painted furniture

I love painting furniture. I am not very good at painting, but I love the feeling. It is very relaxing to paint for hours... to see your image come alive in front of you. Or maybe I am just a hippie.

The first piece of furniture I painted was in high school. It was a stripped end table that I bought at a garage sale for $5. I spent many insomniac nights painting in my parents garage. Then in college I decided to fix the one imperfection on the design and I repainted the whole thing. I ended up getting a piece of glass cut to put on the top since the wood was uneven and warped. I thought it turned out pretty good and I still use it till this day.

From Table

From Table

This latest project was a hand-me-down dresser that my boyfriend uses. It was white and very used. We decided that the color scheme should match my comforter and I tried to stick with a simple design. What started out as simple turned into an art project.

From Recently Updated

From Recently Updated

From Recently Updated

From Recently Updated

RIP Shoe Tree

One of my favorite places to vacation is "the river." My family goes camping every Oct and June on a 13 mile strip of the Colorado River south of Lake Havasu. There we jet ski, drink, play poker, float… what ever we want.

On my way home from the river, I make one stop on Highway 62 before I get to "civilization." In the middle of the desert alongside the highway, there is a lone tree covered in shoes. I have made a tradition of stopping at "The Shoe Tree" and taking a few photos. This is a way of bringing an end to a refreshing vacation of relaxation, water sports and partying. I planned on doing this for the rest of my life.

The first photo I took was on my way home from an Oct trip in 2001 with my roommate and close friend Jake.

From Shoe Tree proj

He was barefoot because he was looking for shoes to replace his worn out pair… he was successful in finding a pair better than his!

In 2002 I stopped by myself and decided to try to frame the tree the same each time.

From Shoe Tree proj

Obviously people thought that just shoes wasn't enough, I've even donated a bikini top.

The next year, Kelly and I stopped to find a surprise. Someone had burnt all of the shoes off the tree. But that wasn't enough to stop dedicated river rats. It was starting up again in June of 2003.

From Shoe Tree proj

A year later, in June of 2004, it was full blown again.

From Shoe Tree proj

So this October trip I had my camera ready and prepared to stop even though I was in the middle of a lighting and thunder storm. My jaw dropped and I almost cried when I saw what was left.

From Shoe Tree proj

Just a pile and a few burnt shoes.

From Shoe Tree proj

From Shoe Tree proj

I, like many other river rats have been enjoying this tree for a long time and am very sad to see this. I have been stopping there for 5 years and have been able to share it with some close friends.

From Shoe Tree proj

From Shoe Tree proj

From Shoe Tree proj

When I got home, I decided to do some research and find out why. On uslitter.org, there are a few reports of litter being a problem near the tree beginning in 2002.

"Although 5 bags of litter were picked-up over the span of 90 minutes, lots of litter remains. There are numerous spots along CA Hwy-62 that require a visit from the Litter Patrol."

In a report in March of 2004 it states "USLitter.org re-visted the Tamarisk Shoe Tree to see how it look after experiencing a on fire. It was sad to the see the hearty tree in such a sorry state. It may be best for the Tamarisk Shoe Tree to go away because the desert around it is full of litter." (I left the spelling mistakes in the quote)

This is the only clue I could find that leads to the reason the Shoe Tree was destroyed. Where the tree was remains a pile that was clearly bulldozed. Someone put a lot of effort into the death of a creative communal outlet.

Upon first reading this, one might think "well, if it was causing a litter problem, then good." But for those who have traveled this Highway, we see litter the entire 57 mile stretch. It may be a bit more near the tree, but a nice first step in preventing it would be to but up a sign near the tree and a trash can or two. I have personally never thrown trash out of my car on Highway 62 and I don't see why a stop at the shoe tree would make you want to clean out your car. There is a gas station right before you get to I-10.

Regardless of why or how, I am very sad to see the end of such a strange phenomenon.

Some Links:

Life Cycle of a Shoe Tree
Brief; a fellow river rat's appreciation
Nov 2002 Liter report
Nov 2002 Liter report which I quoted
March 2004 Liter report which I quoted

an oldie, but a goodie

These pictures were taken from my webcam one minute apart while I was at work.

All my clean clothes are always covered in cat hair!!