Annual Art Tour an Attractive Trek

By Courtney Vaughn, Hi-Desert Star

JOSHUA TREE — Visitors
got an eyeful of visual delight
during the opening weekend
of the HWY 62 Art Tours 2010
Saturday and Sunday, when
creative types opened their
homes and studios.

Purveyor of sensory stimu-
lation Rik Livingston showed
guests his studio, where col-
lections of comics, toys and
rare 'zines provide inspiration
for his eye-catching work.

"My wife (Cat Livingston)
says sometimes I get into vi-
sual overload," he joked. The
Livingstons' walls were jam-
packed with colorful paint-
ings, one of the many medi-
ums Rik Livingston enjoys.

"I was born in the Midwest.
It was the comics, really, that
inspired me to draw," he said.
Comic influence is readily ap-
parent in his work. The artist
says he dapples in "lowbrow"
art, but acknowledges it's
making a comeback, especial-
ly in Southern California. Liv-
ingston also designed the Art
Tours maps in this year's program.