Ordinarily, you'd just plant a bush and some cactus and put out a few pots. But when you're possessed of a creative mind and you've got utility boxes to screen, what do you do? Why, you build a "ruins" around them, of course. Carolyn and Larry Veeder have a winter home in Cornville, Arizona, in a region where remains of ancient civilizations abound. Larry is a noted artist from Red Wing, Minnesota, where the couple has made its home since the 60s. Four years ago they settled into this winter home. Carolyn did the interiors, Stan's Cousin Larry handled the ruins. Confounded neighbors, peering through windows with binoculars, understandably observed the construction with apprehension. What the heck were the Veeders up to now? Eventually, the Desert Sunset Drive and Juniper Winds neighborhood approved the unusual screening and one neighbor even encouraged expanding the ruins onto his property. They're a hit, now. Who knew?
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Larry has painted much of the landscape around the Sedona area over the years. A favorite subject are some ancient pictographs (or is it petroglyphs) that he has located and accurately rendered. (Look closely in his painting, above. The massive, spectacular work hangs in the couple's living room.) Painting these objects has stimulated an interest in the subject and ultimately led him to design his own pictograph... in the family dining room.
This fine example of modern ancient art actually tells the family story. If you look closely, you'll see marriage, births, other important family events, and a buffalo. A buffalo? "I like buffaloes," the artist smiles.
