Mud, Space and Spirit
Mud, Space and Spirit
Handmade Adobes
By: Virginia Gray and Alan Macrae / Photography by Wayne McCall
"And when the last Americano in the fullness of time follows the last Spaniard and the last red man into the shadows, this will still be the same poignantly unforgettable land of beauty, its arid mesas, canyons, and deserts lying perpetually beneath an ocean of pure light, and its Sky Gods still pouring frugally from their ollas, their violet-soft rain." —Ross Calvin, "Sky Determines"
"These houses and the people who inhabit them are scattered through 5000 square miles of solitude in the Southwest's high desert. Most of them don't know each other and are meeting for the first time in this book. I see them together as a vanguard consciousness, loners in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a jeep road, or dug into a hill. Only the sun can find them. Their houses are self-portraits, ranging from rudimentary to sophisticated. Any resemblances come more from the prevailing powers of mud, space and spirit than from an exchange of personal inspiration." —Noel Young, from the foreword
96 pages, 113 duotone photos of modern adobe dwellings
ISBN:
9781648371066 (Hardcover)
9781648371073 (Paperback)
The idea for this book started some years ago as I looked around at building and realized that the houses I responded to most were built by people for themselves. The individuality and personal warmth stood out.
Building your own house is a great satisfaction for most people. It’s a very tangible accomplishment and also means having something to say about how you live—an alternative in a world that is increasingly remote and impersonal. All the people in these pages were open and enthusiastic about their building and sharing their experiences with us.
In the process of making the book there were times I found it difficult to get on with the business of taking pictures and turning on the tape recorder. I wanted to just be with the people and their houses; sit against a wall protected from the wind in the warm sun and savor the uniqueness of that particular person and place.