| Mentor Huebner: One Artist Show | |
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Twelve
Paintings, with Commentary by Louise Huebner Painting #2: Mojave Gold |
Mentor Huebner
Mojave Gold, 1953
Oil on Masonite
24 X 20 inches
© Louise Huebner
Mojave Gold was one of the many landscapes Mentor painted during our six month honeymoon camping trip through the United States. Mentor's plan was to travel coast to coast in a sweeping wide circle intended to favor weather conditions. The idea: Camp out in the North and East when it wasn't freezing, and in the South and West when it wasn't sizzling. The plan failed.
Everywhere we went the 'natives' told us the weather was ‘unseasonable,' but we shouldn't worry and it would "soon pass." We experienced freezing temperatures, heat waves, deluges, floods, hurricanes, electrical storms and blizzards. For us, bad weather was 'the' weather, until it 'passed.'
Death Valley was no exception. Its weather is ordinarily extreme and for our trip it pulled out all its stops. We witnessed all of it. It rained. Hard. We got stuck in the mud. Deep. There was a heavy wind and we were blasted with little rocks and stones. Then it got very, very, very hot. I couldn't take it. Mentor just tanned all the more.
Lives lost in the Mojave during the 1849 Gold Rush, and those lost ever since, have generated powerful warnings about traveling alone. Like who would?
You can't tell from the painting. It represents a moment in time. It's not a movie.
Mentor’s Monet-like painting is said by all who view it to be restful. Soothing. Comforting. That's a testimony to his talent. Never daunted by flash floods and mudslides, a tiny ray of sunlight was enough to trigger Mentor's artistic juices. "Lets do it."
For him, sun and inspiration were inseparable. He had a 'feel' for when the skies would clear. We'd wait and drink coffee. He'd scan the horizon, glancing around knowingly, and reassure me, "Pretty soon." No doubt this weather ESP was inherited from his great-grandfather who worked on a 20-mule team in a borax mine. Or maybe he got the ability from his uncle who was a 'water dowser'. Whatever, Mentor could always read the signs.
For our patience, the day of this painting, the Cosmos sent a blessing: In the midst of Death Valley's lava rocks ~ it sent a Sign. A Meteorite. Mentor had an Eagle Eye. I don't know which came first. Did painting 'fine-tune' his 'seeing?' Or did 'seeing' cause him to paint? Anyway, he spotted this unusual rock, many yards away. "That's a Meteorite!"
I said, "It must be a sign of Good Luck."
It's now the family's touchstone.
Mentor Huebner's One Artist Show
- Mentor (Self Portrait)
Mojave Gold
Palace of Fun
The Bistro - Paris
Sexi Beach Bar
Saint Mark's in Venice
The Grand Canal in Venice
The Foreigner
Henry Ford Bridge
Mortal Wound
Bourbon Street
California Gold
From Your Guide: Mentor’s widow, Louise Huebner, is a writer, and the author of over 11 books about the Occult. She has the dubious honor of being the only officially appointed Official Witch in the world. She was designated Official Witch of Los Angeles during a Spell Cast at the Hollywood Bowl, where she had been 'booked' to increase the 'sexual vitality' of Los Angeles County's 78 cities. This event took place on "Folklore Day," during a concert in a series of Hollywood Bowl Concerts: "Twelve Summer Sundays at the Bowl." The 'Official Certificate' was inadvertently legal, having been signed by the Chairman of the Board of the Los Angeles County Supervisors and affixed with the County Seal.
Mentor and Louise are the parents of three children (a son, and twins: a son and a daughter) and the grandparents of six (four boys and two girls). Louise is quick to say,
"All the kids are very good looking, intelligent and talented," and adds,
"But then, why not?"
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The Mentor Huebner Art Gallery is located in the Medford International Airport, Medford, Oregon.
The Mentor Huebner Official Website: http://www.MentorHuebnerArt.com
Louise Huebner - Curator: LouiseHuebner@MentorHuebnerArt.com
Sale or Exhibition Information regarding Paintings and Drawings (Originals, Giclées or Prints), Fine Art or Film Production Art can be obtained by emailing Louise Huebner.
