We were driving back from Los Angeles. It was a bit of a drive. Made longer by the infamous LA traffic snarls. We were very close to Riverside when I casually looked up to the mountains and was immediately hit by a very unfamiliar sight. There seemed to be an elephant on the edge of the hill!

Go figure!!

After some internet research, I realized that it is a giant, 30-foot-tall statue of a mammoth made of rusted iron. It was installed there in 2003 as a billboard for the Jurupa Mountains Discovery Center.

She picked a few for herself too!

Sharmila has been following this artist – Joe Cariati – for a couple of years. He is into the craft of glass blowing and apparently is fairly well known in glass blowing circles. She always has wanted to visit his workshop and pick up some of his creations. Last couple of visits to the SoCal area, we could not do so.

This time, we had made an appointment and showed up after driving for a couple of hours. I do not understand art, but I was fascinated by the engineering and science of the fire kilns and how they were creating those perfectly shaped glass pieces. We also met Joe’s wife – Austin – who is also a glassblower. We further found out that Sharmila and Austin went to the same school!

The artist – Joe – is in the back of the shop facing us.