Follow the Yellow Brick Road
by Laurie Search
Title
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Artist
Laurie Search
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography And Digital Art
Description
Salvation Mountain, Niland, CA
Texture from Kerstin Frank Art on flickr
There is a little sign at the curve in the stairs that says, "Follow the Yellow Brick Road." :))
I have just been to one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to. It’s called Salvation Mountain…I’ll be uploading a lot of pictures from there, because it was so amazing, and I just want to share as much as I can! Whatever your religious beliefs, I think you’ll have to agree that this is an amazing creation. Going inside the one structure was like being in a magical little world…very surreal. But I’ll share those pictures later. For now, I’m going to show the outside, and some of the cars and things that are painted around the property. This man, Leonard Knight, spent about 28 years creating this…He’s lived out there in a converted truck all by himself for most of that time…He supposedly was always thrilled to get visitors there, and happily showed people around. From the sounds of it, he was a man filled with love and joy. Unfortunately, he is no longer able to live out there anymore and continue his work because of poor health. I’m going to paste here what Wikipedia says about Salvation Mountain, but there’s so much more to it than what they’ve said, and I encourage you to do a search on the place to find out more!
“Salvation Mountain is an art installation covering a hill north of Calipatria, California, near Slab City and just several miles from the Salton Sea. It is made from adobe, straw, and thousands of gallons of paint. It was created by local resident Leonard Knight, and encompasses numerous murals and areas painted with Christian sayings and Bible verses.
In December of 2011, Knight (at the age of 80) was placed in a long-term care facility in El Cajon for dementia. Concern has been raised for the future of the site, which requires constant maintenance due to the harsh surrounding environment. Many visitors bring paint to donate to the project, and a group of volunteers have been working to protect and maintain the site.
The site was featured in the 2007 film Into The Wild."
Uploaded
December 1st, 2012
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Viewed 3,042 Times - Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 03/28/2024 at 5:21 AM
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Comments (18)
Lee Craig
An amazing image...this must be an amazing place!
Laurie Search replied:
It's incredible, Lee!! Very surreal!!! The man who built this place....he was pretty amazing!! It's such a great, beautiful story!! Sadly, he has now passed away (if I recall correctly!). Thank you so very much, Lee!! I truly appreciate it!! :)))
Meg Shearer
Wow! This place is fantastic! Fun and magical and inspirational! And a gorgeous shot and wonderful texture too! Love this! L/F!
Laurie Search replied:
It really is all of those things, Meg!!! It was so awesome to get to see it!! Thank you so much for the wonderful words!! I really appreciate it!!! :)))
Belinda Low
Wow! Laurie - Such an APT title for this lovely piece of work! Absolutely love this!
Laurie Search replied:
Aww, I'm thrilled that you love it, Belinda!!!! Thank you so, so much!!!! :)))
Marcus Angeline
Very cool Laurie! I'll check back for the others too:) v/f
Laurie Search replied:
Thanks so, so much, Marcus!! I think this was nearing the end of me posting these images...but if you're interested, I did post several about a week or two before this one, and maybe one or two at the same time as this one... :))
Bruce Carpenter
looks and sounds like a truly inspirational place. your processing and capture of this place is wonderful. f/v
Laurie Search replied:
Yes, it is, Bruce!! Thank you so very much for your kind words! I appreciate it!!! :)))