Etienne Maizcorena: Arborglyph Artist
One of the legendary tree carvers of Northern Nevada often identified himself on trees as "E.M." His arborglyphs are found in the Lake Tahoe area, where he herded sheep in 1931 and 1932, and also in Humboldt County, where he worked from 1940 to 1942. His carvings of people, animals, and other subjects are detailed and complex, and have been preserved not only through photographs, but through drawings (#1, #2, #6 & #10) and wax rubbings (#1, #3, & #4). Maizcorena was born on a farm in the Northern (French) Basque Country in 1890, and died in Elko, where he is buried, in 1963.
Aware of the merit of his art, Maizcorena chose a site for his "gallery" near a kanpo handia in Humboldt County, where all his arborglyphs "hang" some eight or nine feet above the ground. Obviously, he did not want anyone touching, overcarving, or disturbing them ... Maizcorena either stood on his horse, or he used a ladder.
— Joxe Mallea-Olaetxe in Speaking Through the Aspens, p.147
