The Scout: Shopping for the offbeat and handmade in Joshua Tree

The High Desert Test Sites headquarters at 6470 Veterans Way has art programs, visitor information, books and goods by Joshua Tree artists.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A Politics craftwork embroidered bag by Angela Suchey ($50) and ceramic salt and pepper set by Von Tundra Outpost ($95) sit on Von Tundra’s white oak Prairie chair ($650) at the High Desert Test Sites store.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Chuck Moffit made the log side table that doubles as a stool ($225). It’s paired with the cowhide beer cozy ($18) at the High Desert Test Sites shop.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Wind Walkers, at 61729 Twentynine Palms Highway, specializes in Native American crafts from across the Southwest and represents 14 local artisans. Among them: Weaver Lena Chronister, who produces colorful cotton and acrylic table runners ($70).   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Joshua Tree artist Georgan Proudfoot’s intricate pine needle baskets ($35) are among the Native American designs at Wind Walkers.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Also at Wind Walkers: The 6-foot saguaro designed by Carlos Silva and fabricated from sheet metal in Mexico ($145).  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Carlos Silva’s sculptural metal agave ($36) at Wind Walkers.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Brian Bosworth, a potter for more than a decade, opened BKB Ceramics at 6460 Veterans Way in December. He produces wheel-thrown and hand-built stoneware, cast porcelain and raku-fired vessels.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Bosworth’s work at BKB includes the large brown stoneware pot ($125) and the small porcelain succulent planter cast in the form of a rock ($45).   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Jamie Poole makes jewelry ($30 to $65) from cast porcelain and wheel-thrown or hand-built stoneware.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

More works at BKB Ceramics: a large stoneware bottle ($110) and hand-built slab planter ($45), which are on a maple cutting board (from $45) by Taylor Donsker.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

BKB Ceramics shares space with Von Tundra Outpost, the venture of Portland, Ore., transplant Dan Anderson. Here he sits on a plywood octahedron end table ($250). Anderson’s latest installation at Von Tundra Outpost is called Faux Real and includes abstract snakes ($40) and candle holders (from $30) hand milled from Home Depot 2-by-4s. “I am taking advantage of the stark atmosphere,” the artist said of his colorful woodworking, which is inspired by Salvation Mountain, the folk art project by Leonard Knight near the Salton Sea.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Steve Halterman and Glen Steigelman have turned a 1946 Richfield Oil garage -- one of the first buildings in Joshua Tree, Steigelman said-- into an event venue and store called the Station to open full-time this fall. It’s at 61943 Twentynine Palms Highway.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The stained-glass “Eye” ($1,600) is by the Station’s co-founder, Steve Halterman, who created a similar piece for the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Glen Steigelman sits in his vintage Volkswagen Thing at the Station. The space also will be used as a showroom for S + G Projects, Steigelman’s prop rental and styling business.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The Station sells restored patio sets, cement planters, lawn ornaments, Mexican pottery, cast-iron figures, army surplus and rusty metal toolboxes. “Local people don’t understand why we would sell this kind of stuff,” Steigelman said. “They would consider it junk, but you can give it another life.”   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

More vintage cuteness at the Station.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Clothing hangs in front of Ricochet Vintage Wears at 61705 Twentynine Palms Highway, but the store also has an area with home furnishings staged like an abandoned Depression-era farm.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Allison Simonis, a sales clerk at Ricochet Vintage Wears, stands amid the ghost town-style assortment of vintage home goods for sale. “There’s something about this place that facilitates whimsy,” she said of Joshua Tree.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Pyrex dishes and enamel casserole pans ($6 to $28) clutter a vintage stove at Ricochet Vintage Wears.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Cowboy boots are staples at Ricochet Vintage Wears.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A sock monkey ($2) and a shell-adorned candlestick ($28 for a pair) are among the treasures to be found at the Hospice of Morongo Basin thrift shop, 61675 Twentynine Palms Highway.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

In March, painter and musician Hal Hiner opened Trailer Trash in what had been an alternative school building at 61871 Twentynine Palms Highway. The store sells vintage clothing and musical equipment, and it serves as a gallery for local artists.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Some of the art at Trailer Trash.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Hal Hiner of Trailer Trash.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Is it a style? A period? A store? All of the above? Early American Landfill sells clothing, cards and art.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Joshua Tree folk sculptor Friedrich Rudolph’s tin can chair is $850 at Early American Landfill. His mother and daughter sculptures, made from salvaged materials, are $675 (wood) or $775 (metal) each.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Rex Dakota, an Internet radio DJ, poses with a framed James Brown record cover from 1974, for sale at his La Tienda La Luz. The booth is among the refurbished sheds and recreational vehicles in the Trailer Court Shops, 61871 Twentynine Palms Highway.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

In the converted shed that is now Bird on a Wire, Bonnie Brady sells art and collectibles including vintage Mexican Saltillo blankets ($40 to $100).  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The Saturday morning farmers market in Joshua Tree brings shoppers out for produce vendors and a colorful cast of supporting characters including local craftspeople.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Necklaces made by Bruce Hearn ($35) at the farmers market.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Plains moccasins ($600), made in the tradition of the Assiniboine people, by Bruce Hearn.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Paris Birdwell, a glassblower for the last 14 years, sells her wares at the weekly farmers market.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Bottle stoppers ($20) by Paris Birdwell at the farmers market.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Handblown glass vessels ($40 and $50) by Paris Birdwell.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A handcrafted dish ($16), mini bowl ($4) and teapot ($135) by Anahita King.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Joshua Tree potter Anahita King holds her stoneware teapot ($265) at the Saturday farmers market in Joshua Tree.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A high-desert welcome into town along Twentynine Palms Highway.

Read David Keeps’ related story about shopping in Joshua Tree, check out our earlier profile of the nearby home of Steve Halterman and Glenn Steigelman or browse other shopping features on Highland Park, Costa Mesa and La Brea Avenue.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)