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Serial #0208

Winter Mirage Wall Cabinet 

On rare High Plains winter days when atmospheric conditions are just so, a cold weather or winter mirage can occur. Rather than the shimmering watery illusion of warm weather mirages, the winter variety causes structures and objects to appear much taller than normal and the horizon sight line seems to bend upward. Every tank battery stands out and grain elevators double in height. Across the flats, the canyons and breaks of the caprock country can be glimpsed, where on a normal day, only the flat horizon of the Llano is evident.

The floating Winter Mirage Wall Cabinet pays homage to this High Plains phenomenon. The last of the white interior trim salvaged from an abandoned Willow Creek homestead is recycled into door frames, side panels, and drawer front. Door panels are sections of “reel batts” once used on a John Deere 45 combine. With its little twelve-foot header, the 45 looked like a lawn mower tackling a wheat field, but it got the job done when the custom cutters were nowhere to be found.