[Mottles]

Title: Bodie Ghost Town Door

Medium: Pyrography on birch panel

Size: 12� x 12�



Hi All:

My birch panels seem to be getting larger at first I thought yikkes that’s a lot of area to burn. I started about a week ago so it really didn’t take very long once I got started.

There is a place in the high Sierra Mountains of California called Bodie, which at one time was a thriving old Wild West town. My hubby and I have visited this wonderful old town many times for me to photograph. We never tired of visiting and seeing the old buildings and mine (placer). The old towns images I’ve taken over a period of time will make for some terrific pyrography as most of the images are already grayscale.

I’m attaching the original image, “Bodie Ghost Town Door� and a grayscale of my work. As my original image really didn’t fit the 12� x 12� format I had to add more boarding on each side of the door. I still felt there was something missing on the left side so I added ‘Grandpa’s Lantern’. I feel it fit the theme of the old abandoned home. After seeing the work in grayscale a couple of my fence posts could be lighter in value (right side).
Is it possible to lightly sand or scrape to recover the under side of the burned wood? I think I might give it a try….

As always I appreciate your thoughts, comments and suggestions for improvement. At this point I feel it’s finished what do you think?

Kathy
PS: I'm still waiting for the spear shader I ordered, but I'm finding that I'm getting along pretty good without it. Sure would like to give it a try though! snork

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Been to Bodie, amazing place...everyone just walked off and left everything there....now a state park, and you can spend hours and hours there! First power lines in the country were run there, they ran them in a straight line, because they didn't think the electricity would bend LOL.

[Mottles]

The first time we went into Bodie it was 17 miles of teeth jarring dirt road. But well worth it! Now it's asphalt all the way. The last time we were there the only convience were water and potty facilities. No concessions! Yeah lots of storys if the walls and cemetery could talk. I didn't realize or remember about the telephone lines though. I'll add that to my notes on Bodie. Bodie became a park in 1962 and was dedicated in 1964. I have there website somewhere I'll find it and post the link for those interested.
I'm so please to talk with someone else who has been to Bodie and loves the old place.
Kathy

[BasketballJones]

I'm thinking to myself why have I seen a similiar picture, why have I heard of Bodie now and not before. Am I psychic? Then I looked and the story is in my son's reading book. Sure beats Dick, Jane and what was the dog called Spot or Spike?I think it looks magnificant as is. Must have taken a great deal of patience

[Mottles]

Originally Posted by BasketballJones

I'm thinking to myself why have I seen a similiar picture, why have I heard of Bodie now and not before. Am I psychic? Then I looked and the story is in my son's reading book. Sure beats Dick, Jane and what was the dog called Spot or Spike?I think it looks magnificant as is. Must have taken a great deal of patience

Hi:
Thank you for your compliment on my work and I do believe that was Dick and Jane and their dog Spot. Oh know I just aged myself....
There are these old houses spotted all over the landscape at Bodie. There are Park Rangers who live at Bodie year round and the winters can get pretty bad. Getting back to the houses and other buildings which are maintained on as much as to repair broken windows and structures that become unsafe. I have some crazy friends to snow shoed into Bodie about 10 years ago. They thought they were going to die fortunately they had the good sense to have someone waiting at the main entrance for them. Duh...
Kathy

[kaiserb]

That is a cool piece of work.

[Mottles]

Hi Kaiserb:
Thank you for taking the time to look and comment......(big smile).
Kathy

[squbrigg]

Nice job Kathy. Those abandon towns have so much character. Great job capturing some of it. It makes you think of all the time gone by and lives lived in that place.

Bob

[BobD]

There was this one scene in the HBO series Carnival (great series for those interested) that takes place in a ghost town in the 1920s--and that image reminds me of it so much...AWSOME


Bob

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Bodie was a very rich gold strike town, the man that found the gold went off one year in the winter to get wood....Bodie is high desert and not much growth, but in the High Sierras not far from timber (at least not far in our modern vehicles.....a long way on foot! lol) so this guy goes out, gets caught in a blizzard and freezes to death! That seems to be the thread that goes thru most of the big gold discoveries, the ones that find it, don't get to enjoy their new found wealth...one, I think was the comstock load, sold his claim to someone for something like 150.00!! naturally this was before it was completely developed and they knew how rich it was.....now I have all this info stored in my memory chips but my recall button" don wurk to gud" so if I misquote something....just say "brassafrattinmockinoid!" ha ha