This was a wonderful 'find'. Steve was shown a brochure published by Borrego Springs showing the sculptures of Ricardo Breceda. He was an artist most well known for his large metal sculptures of animals. His first sculpture was of Tyranosaurus Rex, a request from his daughter for a 20 foot high and 45 foot long dinosaur for Christmas after she had seen Jurassic Park III. Since then, Ricardo has created over 130 sculptures! He found a benefactor in a gentleman named Dennis Avery who not only commissioned more sculptures but provided land for the sculptures to be shown. The town of Borrego Springs credits the sculptures with bringing in thousands of tourists each year. Unfortunately we ran out of sunlight and were not able to see all of the sculptures.
This prehistoric sea serpent was, hands down, our favorite sculpture. It appears to undulate across the desert. There is room for a road, to go between portions of the sculpture.
You just have to get another 'take'!!
OK, walk around and add something that will give the viewer a sense of scale. This serpent is huge! Plus, notice how Tom removed the supporting post. It gives the car and man a chance to show up nicely.
If you look carefully you may spot the road.
We began running out of light. This image was taken with the last of a Golden Hour.
Of course, there are more statues than the sea serpent. The animals commissioned by Dennis Avery were to accompany a book on the fossilized animals of the Anza Borrego Dessert written by Avery.
These are not today's elephants. They are a prehistoric variety.
There was nice collection of sculptures relating to growing grapes.
The detail on these sculptures was exquisite.
Yes, aiming into the sun is a challenge. But, worth it to get an image.
That's it folks. If you are in the area of Borrego Springs it is well worth a detour to check out these, and more statues. You can pick up a handy map of all of them at the Chamber of Commerce.