Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog

The hard hot days of summer are just around the corner, but for now the living is easy.  This time last year the water level at the Falls was low enough that you could safely wade across the river to explore the Kentucky fossil beds.  For now, I will have to be patient and wait for the river to drop some more.  Sometimes when I visit the park I don’t have the luxury of being on site all day.  On those days when I know I only have a couple of hours to make something, I get down to serious play and challenge myself to work quickly.  That’s what happened on this day.  I made this tiny bird from found materials and photographed it near my outdoor studio under the willow trees.  I don’t carve or alter the Styrofoam pieces to any great degree.  I still feel like the shapes the river gives me are important as is.  I certainly could alter these forms more, but this is a collaboration between the river and me and I don’t want to impose my will on these materials any more than I have to.  I accept the abstraction and openness.  The results are perhaps hit and miss, but when it works if feels natural and full of spirit.

Here’s another view of my temporary studio with materials.  I have lots of found and river-polished Styrofoam on hand as well as curving, gesture-filled sticks to use for limbs.  A couple of recent figures watch over things for me.  Each time I return here I wonder what I will find?  Will it be as I left it or will it be disturbed?

I found this sand drawing made by a park visitor near my studio spot.  For me, this works as a definition of what a drawing is… that is a mark made upon a surface with some intention behind it.  It doesn’t get more basic than this as an example of eye, hand, brain coordination.

Came across this patch of Horse nettles and thought the flowers were beautiful and delicate.  The thorns are a warning that this plant can hurt you and in more ways than one.  Later, the pollinated flowers will become yellow berries that are very poisonous.

Saw the first Viceroy butterfly of the season.  I associate this butterfly with the Falls more than any other.  Although it looks like a Monarch, the horizontal line crossing over the vertical ones on the hind wings give it away.

This is how I left the Microbird with its legs held fast in the cracks of this shattered tree limb.  The weekend is coming and I’m looking forward to my next adventure on the river.