Windmills,
Outside Palm Springs
Robert Winter, 2008 

Acrylic on  Stretched Canvas
36" x 36"

Giclee Print:   $600
30" x 30"
On Sheet Canvas, Unframed

Framed Original:  Not currently for sale

Artist's Notes

This scene embodies a lot about California for me.

These aren't exactly classic Dutch windmills.  Not only do they look like something a crew of space aliens might have left behind;   in actuality, they're  very forward-looking attempts to harness the most basic forces of nature for human needs, in a way that mimimizes the adverse effects of our needs on nature.  

These windmills have been in operation since long before the term "global warming" entered our vocabulary.  In fact, they're the old geezers of wind farming.   (The newer generation of windmills are much more compact.)

The landscape in which they appear says something about  the essence of California, where it's possible to go from the bright heat of a desert floor to the cloud-covered peak of a snow-capped mountain within the space of just a few miles.

The way the natural and the man-made interact in this scene is also significant to me.  The windmills have boldly added something to our world, and they now very much belong where they are.    

In fact, they're almost totemic objects, seeming to mediate between the powerful forces of earth below and firmament above.

 

© COPYRIGHT 2008 ROBERT WINTER.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.