Today I drove the back roads back to the hospital after visiting one of my patients in Pima.
I often enjoy doing that because it helps me scout out new locations for my cowboy and indian icon art pieces. Since I happened to be nearby, I went on a brief exploration of the Pima Cemetery which was established in 1879.
The most interesting grave site I came across was that of Sandoval family. Not only was a an image of a John Deere tractor engraved on the headstone, there were at least a hundred toy pick-up trucks, tractors, cars and trailers lined up in neat rows next to a dozen vases of silk flowers. Most of the toys emulated the John Deere name brand.
Since I am working with toys in this art project and a few others, of course the grave site beckoned me to leave one of my cowboy and indian icon art pieces there. I placed, photographed and documented #72 between the last row of silk flowers and the first row of farm toys. It appeared to be at home next to the rows of other toys.
Then I wondered, are the toys a part of a collection of the deceased or had other folks placed them there in homage to the deceased? I envisioned my future grave site. A pair of old cowboy boots filled with flowers and HUNDREDS of plastic cowboy, cowgirl and indian figures - new and vintage, large and small - all over and around my grave site. Pounds and pounds of colorful plastic molded into action figures of the Old West. At least it wouldn’t be difficult to find. The plastic images would exist longer in the universe than my flesh and bones ever would. Long live, art. Long live, art.
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