There is something to be said about the place of La Jolla- The Jewel. Violette told me, “To be an off-the-grid artist is a great privilege”. Living off the grid means pumping your drinking water from a well and collecting rainwater to wash with and feed your plants and animals. It means conserving your solar electricity by turning off the light on the sewing machine whenever you pause between stitches. It means chopping wood a few times a day to fuel the fire in your wood stove that you are simultaneously using to heat your iron, warm water for washing, percolate another pot of coffee, bake your own bread, and cook the food that you grew in a garden that requires daily tending. You need to know how to start a fire, how to sprout a seed, and how to make do without refrigeration. It is a beautiful life. Violette does it with dedication and grace, a generous host to all unannounced guests, and a sweet caretaker to even the rooster that killed her duck and will never stop crowing. Her property has layers of history of guests that have stayed and left their remains in one way or another: There is more than one bus packed with discarded possessions, and there are remnants of earlier settlers in decayed log houses. The high-altitude land shifts from one microclimate to the next in a matter of yards- forest meets meadow meets seasonal riverbed. And her house is visited by a rotating cast of characters; each with their own amazing history and overwhelming eccentricities.
Violette's youngest daughter Chloe chopping wood in a night gown:
spying on Violette from her kitchen:
out the window of my little house:
the outhouse- beautiful and complete with birds nests:
some of Carl's Kachinas standing guard:
the little house, built by Carl and mine for the time:
squash outside and a bountiful greenhouse within:
Violette's house:
La Jolla Jewels
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