I can’t be within 100 miles of Rhyolite without making a visit to one of my favorite ghost towns. One of the highlights is Tom Kelly’s Bottle House. Built in 1906 with mortar and bottles, mostly beer bottles, instead of bricks. I am pleased that some effort is really being put in to preserving the structure. It really encompasses so many things I love in my own art – repurposing and recycling and loosely structured grid-like patterns with circles. And it sparkles out there in the desert.
Sadly, the old caretaker passed away about a year ago. He was right out of central casting as the gold miner with the big bushy beard. You’d barely be out of your car and he’d appear out of nowhere and begin to tell you the history of the house, etc.
This piece is more or less a study for some upcoming bottle house paintings.
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