Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog

Since I was feeling a little nostalgic about lost trees, I checked into my archive and pulled up these images from late June of last year.  In the above photo, the tree in the right foreground fell during the last few months.  This view with a glimpse of the skyline of Louisville on the opposite shore was made from the park’s western boundry.

I called this figure “Black Jack” when I made it.  It didn’t last long in this configuration.  Although this section of the park is more remote…”Black Jack” was found and assaulted by someone who needed to break something.  I wonder sometimes if there might be a balance between the amount of energy it takes to create and the effort required to destroy?  It would be some type of karmic equation.  Yes, this wasn’t the best piece I ever made, but it did have some points of interest.  I believe this was the only time I ever came across black polystyrene and in this case I believe it was once part of a car’s bumper.  I also found the little stearing wheel and the broken baseball batter’s helmet along the same stretch of beach.  Tires can be found everywhere and in this piece, made a nice base.  The head is a battered Styrofoam form for styling wigs.

I left this sculpture parked by this wonderful cottonwood tree that has incredible roots.  Over the years, the elements have eroded the bank exposing the roots without killing the tree.  In this case, you can literally sit under the tree in this unique space and stay dry during the heaviest rainstorm.  From the fire pits around this area it is obviously a favorite place for campers, fishermen, and lovers.  The candy cane hanging on the tree is something else I found that day.  It is a hand-painted Christmas decoration on wood and I added it to my growing collection of river junk I hauled home.  This styro-sculpture had a buoy-like quality to it that appealed to me and nicely marked the day. 

Across from where I sited my sculpture is an area of exposed fossil rock that touches the water.  It is a favorite place for herons to do their fishing and a nice image taken the same day to end this post.