In 1941 Craig was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, enabling him to travel throughout Texas and the Far West. His wanderings through Nevada were recorded in a series of images of mining towns. This watercolor is the first in the series. By depicting a deserted town Craig may have intended to suggest the boom-and-bust fortune of many mining towns. Reflecting his preference for the mundane, Craig focused on a dirt road rather than on some dramatic aspect of the mining industry. Also typical of the artist is the evocative treatment of the subject: the sky is overcast and a soft, gray-white mist pervades the distant hills. Craig orchestrated the scene of rambling road, cottages, and various shrubs and trees by repeatedly using browns, greens, and bluegrays. While he painted the scene loosely with washes, he also used a small amount of dry brush for the foreground details of foliage and fence.
