Salvation Mountain in the desert Bashny.Net

74-year-old grandpa last two decades builds and paints the mountain in the California desert. His unusually bright creation is recognized as one of the most outstanding works of art in the open air. And the artist said that he unconsciously found himself trapped in his own brain.
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Leonard Knight (Leonard Knight) was born November 2, 1931 on a farm in Vermont, in fact, on the border of the United States and Canada. He grew up in a large family with five brothers and sisters. After school ten-year, Knight went to work and was repairing cars until he was drafted into the army and sent to Korea.



Leonard returned to the rank of sergeant. For lack of choice began to live in the car to travel across the United States, surviving on odd jobs. About what happened next, the old man says the following:

"In 1967, I was then about 35 years old, I did not love God. But one day I started to say, "Jesus, I am a sinner. Please come into my heart. " I do not know why, but I repeat it ten times. And tears filled my eyes. "



Referring to the Gospel teaching, Knight decided to share their religious feelings with the world. To this end, Leonard, who had no experience, within five years of the sheet (!) Built the balloon height of about 90 meters.

The ball was going to fill Knight hot air inscribe on it «God is Love» and run up high above the earth, so that all may see this message.



But with the ball did not work out, he did not fly, and Knight ended up with a pile of rotting leaf in the desert near the town of Niland (Niland), California. "This balloon rotted right here next to me, and I'm glad that it happened, because then I placed the inscription" God is love "on the mountain" - explains the amateur artist.



Create Mountain Rescue (Salvation Mountain), completely covered with quotations from the Bible and religious appeals, Knight began in 1985 and has been doing this today.

He certainly took advantage of the features of the landscape, but always completes the mountain, applying for this mud brick. The basic material is, of course, paint. How it was spent, the author has no idea. Those who tried to calculate talking about 500-600 thousand liters.



But the paint u find no problems, especially since Larry Yust (Larry Yust) first photographed mountain in 1994, and the pictures were in the media. Every day come to the Mountain Rescue from 50 to 100 people from all over the world with a smile and bring as much paint as they can. His old paint free to find and give local manufacturers of paints and varnishes.

Many people want to make a modest contribution to the colorful splendor, which would be the envy of any Disney cartoon. Mountain high with three-storey house is decorated with waterfalls, rainbows and flowers. It covers an area comparable to a football field.



Recently Knight gets even more paint than he can spend. And some visitors realize that a small donation of cash - a good way to thank the artist.



But it was not always rosy. This is now the Californian authorities organized bus tours to Salvation Mountain and Mount think perhaps the main attraction.

But a few years ago, they called it not only as "toxic nightmare" - because of the paint. For a while it seemed that the mountain will be dismantled and taken by truck to a nuclear waste dump in Nevada.

"It started with the fact that the mountain arrived five or six pickups with experts - says Leonard. - They did a twelve holes in the mountain, and even analyzing soil samples, returned a verdict of "danger" area. Suddenly, the press began to write about the "dangerous nightmare" that I pollute, that "it is time to stop this man" and so on. "

But the artist did not give up, that's why the name of Knight translated as "knight". He started his own research: took soil samples from the same 12 holes and drove them to a lab in San Diego. Nothing dangerous in the laboratory samples not found, and the authorities were forced to temper justice with mercy.

In 2000, Knight received official recognition - he was noticed by American Society of Folk Art (Folk Art Society of America), which established the Mount of Salvation plaque, called Salvation Mountain «People's plot, worthy of preservation."

From the very beginning of the construction of Mount Leonard with his cat lives a stone's throw from it, in an old camper. He looks younger than his years, because the young man to save energy and enthusiasm of the boy.

All the tourists before leaving Knight distributes postcards depicting Salvation Mountain (already distributed more than 100 thousand), in response to receiving the good writing. And, despite his advanced age, enthusiastically continues to paint and build:

"I would stay here, there is a lot to repaint. I noticed that where I paint over further, getting more sunny. I would prefer to put on top of another ten layers of paint, so it all stays here, perhaps even forty years. "

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