Last Saturday was a fun adventure for me and involved a few more people than usual too! First, the morning light was fantastic and I met photographer Ross Gordon down at the Falls who is working on a photo project of his own. We walked to my outdoor studio to see how things were weathering. Everything looked relatively undisturbed.
On our way back to the parking lot, I was able to locate the Pied Woodpecker that had taken up temporary residency in the park. My friend saw this as a great opportunity for a one of a kind photograph. Here’s Ross in action while the bird looks on with puzzled expression.
After that early adventure I had an appointment at the Interpretive Center I didn’t want to miss. I had received a nice invitation to hang out with Girl Scout Troop # 1008 while they pitched in to help clean up the park.
My friend Laura who works at Gallery Hertz has a daughter in scouting. Since Troop #1008 had already scheduled a clean up at the river…she wondered if I could join them to talk about what I do in the park? I began by showing the troop the bottle piece I had just finished and photographed before catching up with them this morning. After the show and tell, the gloves were put on and the litter bags were distributed as the young women started cleaning up around the Interpretive Center. They did a really good job too as shown by this large sheet of plastic they pulled out of the underbrush.
I followed around collecting trash with the scouts and made this figure from the junk I found. I left him standing near a path along the Woodland Trail.
The figure included bits of hickory nuts, wood, and plastic. The small purple ball was a good find and helped make this piece more interesting. The nose is part of an old corn cob.
My composite figure had to give a little shout out to the troop for their hard work. In what seemed a short amount of time, an impressive pile of trash bags appeared by the park’s dumpster. In a great mood…the clean up team assembled for this celebratory photograph.
After the troop left, I hung out at the river for another hour or so. There was still a little color left in the trees that soon would be gone.
The little dark dot near the center of the above image is a fisherman I had been watching. He has hip waders on which has helped him get out to a channel where the fish were biting. While working with the girl scouts, the fisherman passed by on his way home. He was nice enough to show me his impressive stringer of fish.
He had some nice saugers (dark and mottled) and a few hybrid stripped bass. I’m always pleasantly surprised by some of the fish I see being caught out here. Well, that’s all the time I have today. Have a great week and see you later!
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 
Bravo ladies of troop 1008. That is quite a “stringer of trash” you all are responsible for catching and releasing to its proper disposal area. Though many folks will likely enjoy the green and clean park most will not know the natural beauty was uncovered thanks to your cleanup efforts.
Pickup artists wash the canvas of distractions and allow nature’s beauty to shine through. Be proud of your accomplishment in helping keep your community green and clean.
Bernie Paquette
VT
http://litterwithastorytotell.blogspot.com/2011/10/lets-not-disappoint-them.html
Well put Bernie…I think the scouts were happy with the work they accomplished.
When I read your post today, I realized how much I would love to visit some place and discover your lil created friends there – I bet I would be quite puzzled by what artistic soul has brought them to life …
Hooray on the troop 1008! 🙂
And then … Happy Thanksgiving Al 🙂
d.white.wolf 😉
Thank you White Wolf lady! Part of my Thanksgiving holiday was spent by the river and that adventure will be part of a future post. I think of what I do as a form of public art except my monuments aren’t meant to last the ages. I have been told by friends that when they visit the park, they enjoy coming across my creations. I hope they provide a momentary surprise that causes one to pause and notice the environment around each work.
Message to my clean up friend:
Beautification images can be as or more motivating than images of trashed environments. Start with values (beautiful natural litter free settings) and drive behaviors that will sustain the values. Overuse of images of litter might backfire by discouraging some people and convincing others, that littering is an accepted and normalized behavior.
I like the before and after approach. Or at least a mix of showing the possible, expected, desired, and at other times showing the unacceptable offensive break in normal societal behavior-littered landscapes.
Thank you for showing the desired views-they are beautiful, relaxing and look to be healthy. They are an inspiration to continue to pick up littered trash and to inspire the community to maintain an attitude intolerant of littered trash. And thank you for sharing your artistic creations and your humor, they make a challenging situation more bear-able and fun.
Happy Thanksgiving
Bernie
Great comment Bernie which touches upon many concerns I have about how I present what I’m doing out here. The sad thing is fewer people can even imagine what a pristine environment looks like especially in the Ohio Valley where the Ohio River is among the most industrialized in the world. I have asked in the past within this blog if I’m in fact guilty of presenting garbage in too aesthetic a way? I do worry about that, but as an artist I’m also reacting to materials that I come across and trying to instill some idea of hope through the lens of creativity? Yes, I’m perhaps overly romantic in this, but prefer it to the alternatives. I come across far too many people now who just don’t see the trash that is already out there. I also see a parallel connection between the state of our physical environment and how we perceive our own positive creative potential as a species. Far too many people believe they have no personal creativity whatsoever and I can’t imagine anything good coming into the world with that attitude.
plastic flies and it drifts to where ever the wind and waves take it but it does not disappear and stays for many years a drift.
THANKS troop 1008 to do what we all need to do
Hi Magda…it was good to hear and know that the scouts knew something about the role that plastic is playing in our waterways and how it flows into the oceans. While we collected trash, it was good to hear younger people’s concerns and hopes for the environment.