On the river’s scrap heap, I have salvaged paintings and sign fragments that have drifted down the river. The Falls of the Ohio State Park seems to catch a bit of everything. This is one of my first found signs and remains a favorite. I like the irregular shape, upside down letters, and of course its surface. Many of these pieces feel very much like contemporary art to me.
I remember the joy I felt in finding this Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Sign. This is the type of art placed on farm buildings more as a way of bringing good luck instead of bad. I can’t imagine how this got in the river, but it occupies a nice spot on my wall. Here’s a detail….
I know there is an iconography that decodes the various symbols. Once upon a time, I came across a reference that the two doves were attributes of marriage. I wonder if this sign was once a different color?
It took me a moment to puzzle this out. I was initially struck by its “object-ness”. It’s on a thick piece of wood and has two rather large eyehooks for attaching it to a sign post. Figured it out yet…it’s a landscape painting…from a golf course! I don’t play, and so the map of this golf hole had to sink in first. Wonder where this came from?
I love hand painted signs! It’s definitely a disappearing craft. I couldn’t resist this stark sign fragment! Everytime I read the letters…it says “waste” to me. Considering where it came from that’s appropriate.
What this was from or how it should be oriented is a mystery. I just like the alternating bands of red and white paint. Feels like other contemporary painting I’ve seen before…except nature participated in its making.
One of my prized possessions…I have entitled this ” I Found Al by the River”…it’s sort of an affirmation of my Falls project. Sometimes when you ask for a “sign” you get one. It’s a fragment of something else, hand painted and routed. The little framed photograph was taken by my son Michael at the time I found this sign.
Another river prize is this plaque which must have fallen off the “No Questions”…. boat. I hope a sailboat. Funny what one reads into things! Is this a sign indicating some resolve to live in the moment…or….?
I remember these masked off and sand blasted signs that were all the rage once. I call this one “Dr. Geo’s Nuclear Family” based on the strange little painted image of a family. I guess Dr. Geo… was a po..diatrist?
These are small, plastic sign fragments found seperately and years apart. They both, however, seem to convey the same message of prohibition coming from some sort of authority….the river police!
Last two images for now are both shutters…perhaps from outhouses? First we have the hearts…and then the moon.
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 
I am loving these! I love painted signs anyway, but I like the eroded quality that the river has given to some of these. I also like the mystery of trying to work out how they started out in life – and in some cases guessing what they actually were. i really like the heart shutters and the ‘no questions’ is an enigma. Good stuff and interesting. Thanks!
Thank you for your nice comments. It’s important to me that nature be allowed to act upon these objects and have a say in things.
Am laughing at all the water borne/born words you’ve collected. The one with your name on it must be an omen from the river gods that your work is much appreciated.
It’s as if you and Nature are collaborating on a long term ART work constantly in progress. Very cool concept.
Thanks Eva. Yes, I view this as an attempt to collaborate with nature. The physical environment originally gives us the materials which we act with and upon. When something gets released back into the environment, it’s my way of trying to respect what nature then does to these materials. That’s why with the Styrofoam pieces, I don’t shape the foam. The river has “worked” hard to form these biomorphic shapes and it’s then up to my imagination to find a way to use them. With any collaboration, you need to respect your partner.
Hey Al,
I had no idea you documented all this stuff even though I knew you were making things from found objects at the river. The falls is one of my favorite places to go to take my dog and hang out. Like you, I have a fascination for the stuff that washes up on the shore and the results of the interaction between manmade and natural objects. I am in Northern Indiana right now finishing up a masters in environmental education. I’ll be back in Louisville in June and was curious what might be going on with art and the environment and found your site by googling art/environment/louisville. I’ll be sure to follow your work from this point on.
Hi Amy…always nice hearing from a fellow Falls lover! Thanks for reaching out and maybe we will run into each other on the banks of the Ohio River.