CORN MESA

18″ X 24″ CORN MESA. Acrylic on masonite board. The shapes and contours of Corn Mesa, or Corn Mountain, on the Zuni Indian reservation, invite the artist to find his own interpretation of the mesa’s natural beauty. Here, yellow ochre waves of sagebrush morph into red sandstone washes made up of red sand rich in iron oxide, giving the base of the mountain a rust-colored tint. Oxide green shrubs dot the landscape, following then contours of the ground. The red rock of the mesa is Entrada Sandstone, with white bands. The mesa’s white Zuni sandstone is used as baking stones for ‘hewe’, a paper thin corn bread used for special occasions. Meanwhile, as it is so common in New Mexico, the clouds are putting on a show of their own, as mesas in the background look on.