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Dancing Man

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , on October 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Downed tree at the Falls, 10/09

Another day of adventure at the Falls of the Ohio and made all the more memorable since I had company this time.  My good friend Jefferson, his son Holden, and my son Michael made the short trip across the Second Street Bridge to have fun and collect sticks.  Wood is something the Falls has in abundance and Jeff has a purpose in mind for his sticks.  He wants to support a net over his goldfish pond to keep out leaves and all the cleaning that results when they get in the water.  Jeff always seems to have a purpose or job to do.  The boys decided to collect wood and construct some kind of fort.  That has been their prefered activity at the Falls for as long as they have been coming out here.  I, on the other hand, prefer to play and I made a figure to accompany us.  I call him the Dancing Man and here are a few images from our day together.

Dancing Man, 10/09

Dancing Man, back view, 10/09

Here are front and back views of this figure.  He’s made from Styrofoam, sticks, plastic, and aluminum all found in the park.  Finding branches and roots that have the right gesture to them is what helps give this work some sense of motion.  I like it when I find a piece of foam that isn’t so static in form.  The body of Dancing Man has some torque to it that further enhances the implied motion and helps make it a more interesting sculpture in the round.  The limbs also help animate the figure and lead your eye to the head which has the most detail invested in it.  This guy looks surprised like he wasn’t expecting to get his feet wet!

Dancing Man with Tire, 10/09

Looking through the day’s images, this one is my favorite of the Dancing Man series.  There was enough moisture in the sand that it reflected the back light in this interesting way.  At the moment, it seems that there are more washed up tires along the shoreline than is usual.  One can always find a tire or two, but after the last bout of high water, it’s like sea turtles that have come along way across the river just to find this certain stretch of beach to haul themselves out on to land again.

Michael, Dancing Man, and Holden, 10/09

Dancing Man ventured too close to Michael and Holden’s fort and was captured.  This image does a good job of giving you some idea of the scale of my Styrofoam figure.  Michael’s in the 8th grade now and Holden is a year behind him.  I’m glad they are good friends and I know it pleases Jeff as well.  I first met him when we were undergraduate art students at Murray State University.  Our families have remained close.  Jeff is a wonderful artist in his own right and has become a middle school art teacher in a neighboring county.  I am going to use Dancing Man for an exhibit I’m participating in this weekend.  I’m also looking forward to my Bluegrass Bioneers talk the same day.  Two separate events both involving my art.  It must be serendipity because it sure wasn’t planned out that way!  Final image is of the guys by their improvised fort.  I’ll catch up with everyone later in what will prove to be a noteworthy week for me.

Michael, Holden, Jeff, and Dancing Man, 10/09

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Yellow Boat

Posted in Absurd, Art, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Ohio River, Originality, recycled art, watershed, tagged , , , , on October 11, 2009| 2 Comments »

willow trees and water, 10/09

Last week’s rain means that the river is high.  The once exposed fossil beds are now covered by swiftly flowing water.  Along the shoreline, new layers of driftwood have been mixed up, added to, and then deposited on the Indiana side of the Ohio River.  This is usually a good time to see if anything new has washed up.

Yellow Boat, 10/09

I found many of the objects that comprise this blog such as bottles, shoes, balls, Styrofoam, driftwood and more.  Among the more fun discoveries was this toy yellow boat.  I came across it adrift in a puddle and judging from how dinged-up it looks…must have survived a fierce storm.  The boat’s occupant looks like he has a case of sea sickness.

toy boat in puddle, 10/09

Here’s how it looked at the moment of discovery.  After a few snapshots, I pocketed the boat and set out on a quest to find more waters for it to float on.  It was nice taking this break from the last few days.  I have about a dozen Styrofoam sculptures opening in an exhibit at Galerie Hertz next Sunday.  I’m also giving a talk the same day on my art for the Bluegrass Bioneers event.  More on both events later in the week.

Yellow Boat in fallen tree, 10/09

In a fallen tree I found a water-filled hole and a safe harbor for the yellow boat.  So far, it’s still a bit hard to gauge how small the boat is.  That’s what I like about photography…you can’t always judge scale.  To settle it in your mind, I offer this last image that will give its size away!

Yellow Boat in hand, 10/09

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Alien Ballet

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , on October 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Willow habitat at the Falls, 10/09

The slightest hint of yellow is tinting the willow leaves at the Falls of the Ohio.  Picking my way through the driftwood, my legs brush against the occasional clump of ripening Cocklebur.  This time the bur’s tiny hooks stay fast on the parent plant, but in a few weeks my shoes’  laces will collect all they touch. 

Black-and-white Warbler, 10/09

As far as birds go, I’m in luck today.  Small groups of mixed warbler species are passing by the Falls on their way south.  I saw Magnolia Warblers, American Redstarts, and Black-and-white Warblers moving through the willows.  I watched the Black-and-white Warbler pictured above harvesting drab-colored moths from the fissures in the tree bark.  It seemed that everything happened at once.  The warblers would appear along with Eastern Wood-Peewees, Blue Jays, and a Northern Flicker made the scene.  There would be a brief flurry of activity and then the birds would be gone.  Is there security in the numbers or does the sound and motion confuse the small insects they flush out?  If allowed, I could spend all my time just trying to figure that out.  Here’s a picture of the flicker with his yellow tail.Northern Flicker, 10/09 

 

I’ve walked these same driftwood piles for months, but I still find river-polished Styrofoam and odd bits of plastic that I can use for my sculptures.  I have removed a lot of artificial junk from this place and made art out of most of this stuff.  As far as sculptural processes go, I use both additive and subtracted methods.  The additive parts are apparent in the sticks and such I attach to the polystyrene chunks.  The subtractive part is less obvious and is represented in my mind by the unwanted materials that I remove from the natural beauty of the park.  I rarely do any other carving to the foam chunks themselves.  This needs to be something anyone can do and not be some brilliant example of technical hand skill if I want others to try.

Alien Ballet, 10/09

Here’s what I came up with on this early autumn day along the Ohio River.  I call it the Alien Ballet and I amused myself by making it and the digital images that resulted from the experience!  Recently, I read that the estimated number of potential planets that could harbor life just increased greatly because our ability to see into the universe’s deep places keeps getting better.  This is also based on life as we know it and needing just the right conditions (water, distance from the right type of star, etc…) in other words, other Earth-like planets.  It is interesting to speculate that in the vastness of creation, those conditions that result in life may not be as rare as we currently think.

Alien Ballet, 10/09

My aliens have traveled from that other dimension that is my imagination.  They are revelling in their individuality and dancing together with the light and shadow on the edge of three different states of matter.

Alien Ballet, 10/09

There is value in being in the present moment, right here and now.  Despite the chance of there being other similar worlds in the cosmos, I can’t imagine they would be as conducive to life as we live it than right here on Earth.  We need to celebrate this place while we can.

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Trick or Treater

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , on October 6, 2009| Leave a Comment »

under the willows, 10/09

Under the willows the trap has been set.  With mask on and gun drawn the Trick or Treater isn’t waiting for the end of the month.  Halloween is now.  Soon a victim will appear and it will be “your candy or your life”!  Sugar can do that to a fella…even one made from Styrofoam.

Question Mark butterfly, 10/09

Waiting requires patience and so the Trick or Treater stays hidden.  Insects are plentiful today.  Fresh Question Mark butterflies flit through the zone demarcated by shade and sunshine. Can you see the small question mark sign on the hind wing that gives this butterfly its name?  Small tiger beetles chase each other across the sand and a hundred small grasshoppers are making lace from the wild grapevines.  Sooner or later, someone is sure to come by and then the trap will be sprung.

mask of the Trick or Treater, 10/09

Today is warmer than it has been for a few weeks.  The bear mask starts to get hot and with that a change in tactics is required.  Rising from his hiding place, the Trick or Treater begins to stalk the margins along the willow habitat.  Do you hear voices or is it just imagination playing tricks?  Carefully, he follows a line of driftwood towards the sound in the woods.

Trick or Treater, 10/09

Trick or Treater, 10/09

The ambush is set and everything is ready.  The trusty squirt gun is armed and the Frankenstein-head candy bucket is eager to find fulfillment.  The prey has been spotted next to a pile of Styrofoam and sticks that look vaguely familiar.  Inching closer, the Trick or Treater is aided by the noise his potential victims are making and the crunch of sticks and leaves is unheeded until total surprise is achieved!

the Trick or Treater's surprise, 10/09

The idea for this figure came from a destroyed teddy bear I found at the Falls last March.  Either some child or dog came across it first and knocked the stuffing out of it.  The bear was still damp having been carried by the river to the spot where it was discovered. The empty bear’s head would make a perfect mask and I waited until now to put it together.  There is a face I made with acorn eyes and pink plastic mouth under the  disguise.  Every now and then, I find Halloween related items and I decided to put a few together to create this figure.  I’ll probably use it for a decoration this year where it will greet fellow tricksters in their quest for candy.

destroyed pink teddy bear, 3/09

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“You are Loved”

Posted in Absurd, Art, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, Originality, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , on October 5, 2009| 2 Comments »

"You are Loved", 10/09

It’s been four weeks since I was last able to visit the Falls.  Between a badly twisted ankle ( turned the same ankle twice in one day) and work and family obligations, I have had to remain close to home.  In just such emergencies, I have an ample supply of Falls materials at home.  I prefer working in the larger context, but home will do in a pinch.

I made this small table-top piece last night for a work colleague who recently lost her mother.  My friend had expressed a wish to own one of my works and since her mother was an artist, thought this might be a nice way to offer my condolence.  This work incorporates found wood, Styrofoam, coal, plastic, and the shells from Asiatic clams. 

Over the years, I have made many smaller pieces ( my family calls them “Foamies”) and I have sold and given them away as presents.  I get asked to donate to many not for profit art auctions and I usually give these smaller works all made from materials gathered in my walks at the Falls of the Ohio.

Now that I have scratched my itch to blog and published another image, I can move on!  The ankle is getting better, the cool fall weather with its great light quality is here.  I have a few opportunities (including work in an exhibition) coming up soon and I’m feeling upbeat!  I promise another post soon.

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The Shoes You Lose

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , on October 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

platform shoe

I’ve started another collection of images courtesy of you and the Ohio River.  Here’s the latest in found footwear located within the Falls of the Ohio State Park.  Although I have noticed lost shoes for years, I have only recently started taking pictures of them.  So, in many respects this represents the height of riverine fashions.  To see more, look under my “About” section on the right.  You might come across something you once wore on an outing to the beach.  My sons think their Mom will like this selection of images!

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Autumn Shorebirds at the Falls

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, birding, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2009| 2 Comments »

Styro-sandpiper, 9/09

September is the month that the smaller shorebirds begin their migrations through our area towards warmer southern climates.  We see a variety of different species at the Falls of the Ohio.  Here is one impromptu tribute to them made from polystyrene foam.  This one is a Styro-Sandpiper dragging its wing in mock injury.  Among the materials I used to fashion him include:  Styrofoam, blue- insulating foam, river wood, plastic (around the collar and the bill is the tip from a cheap little cigar).  Oh, the eyes are tiny bits of coal.  You are not allowed to collect fossils in the park and I sometimes wonder if this applies to the coal as well?  Anyway, here are some images of genuine shorebirds photographed in the park.

Least Sandpiper, 9/07

Small bands of Least Sandpipers explore the margins along shallow pools of water covering the fossil beds during this time of year.  Their bills probe the algae for the small invertebrates that live in the green mats.  These are our most common sandpipers followed in number by Spotted Sandpipers.  This time of year the Spotted Sandpipers actually have barred flanks and bright white bellies. We will have to wait for spring to see them with their characteristic spots and dots.

Semipalmated Plover, juvenile, 9/09

Tiny Semipalmated Plovers have traveled from the Arctic tundra and some make a stopover at the Falls.  The autumn birds seem to be mostly juveniles.  Piping Plovers, an endangered species, have been recorded in the park, but I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing one here.  By far, our most common plover is the Killdeer.  It’s hard to walk across the fossil beds this time of year without setting off their alarm calls.

American Golden Plover, juvenile, 9/07

For two years in a row I have come across American Golden-Plover juveniles.  Although they are a bit larger than the smaller “peeps”,  I decided to throw them in too because I like them and they show up this time of year!  I’m amazed that this bird started life on the Arctic tundra and is now traveling to South America. 

Short-billed Dowitcher, 9/08

Last year I came across this bird dozing on a well placed log and wondered what it was?  Its bill was tucked under the feathers on its back.  As I got closer, you can imagine my surprise when the bill was exposed!  I believe this is a juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher.  Here is another image of this bird.

Short-billed Dowitcher, juvenile?, 9/08

I watched this bird for a while and never heard it utter a sound.  Referencing my bird guides, the literature says that the best way to differentiate it from the Long-billed Dowitcher is by its call. The length of its bill is of little help.  Both bird species have been recorded in the park.  The Short-billed is listed as rare and more than likely encountered in the summer.  This bird was photographed last year on the first of September.  The Long-billed is seen occasionally in the fall.  After checking out several bird guides, there was something in its coloration and markings that said Short-billed Dowitcher for me.  Perhaps some one out there with more experience can hazard a guess?  Either way, it was a tremendous treat to come across it!  I’ll end this post with another view of my Styro-Sandpiper posed in the sand and coal.

Styro-sandpiper, 9/09

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The Amateur Archeaologists

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Strolling Couple, 9/09

With summer drawing to a close and the weather being so moderate, our Styro-couple has decided to visit the fossil beds.  The water is low and there are always unusual and interesting things that have been left behind by the previous inhabitants of this land.  On occasion you can find some museum worthy artifacts.  Let’s take a look at what today has to offer.

Rusting Wheel, 9/09

Find # 1 didn’t take very long to come across.  With the river receding very tough and hard-weathering objects start to poke their “heads” above the water line.  This circular metal artifact must have taken great cunning to fashion.  It is now believed that these circular objects ( and they are made of different materials too) were associated with a religious cult and may reference the sun and moon or the changing of the seasons.  This area obviously held great significance for them.

Strolling Couple, 9/09

There is always life to be found near the water.  The Styro-couple moves closer to the beach.  Small flocks of shorebirds scatter before them.  Holes carved into the limestone by the rushing currents are good catch-alls for objects that have been washed out of the mud.  If we get lucky, maybe we will find something of interest?  The fun is in discovering the unexpected!

Muddy bottle, 9/09

It was about the fourth hole we poked our noses into when we came across this mud-washed object.  It’s made from a hard, brittle material and the beach is covered with hundreds of similar fragments.  When you hold some of these fragments up, light will pass through them in various colors.  It’s rare to find one of these objects intact!  So, you can imagine our excitement.  In the literature, it is believed these objects may be musical instruments because a scientist observed that when you direct a flow of air over the hole at just the correct angle…an audible tone is created.  By adding water inside the instrument, different tones can be produced.  The many fragments on the beach suggests these instruments may have been ritually destroyed after use.

Styro-couple, 9/09

Moving from the water’s edge towards a stand of trees near the eastern end of the site, we hope to find artifacts that have been long buried in the soil.  The periodic floods that can cover this area stir up the dirt and bring more fragile materials to the surface.  Earlier in this year, we experienced just such a flood.  It’s been a good day…are we greedy to expect more?

plastic jug and doll, 9/09

Rain-washed and sitting upon the rocks and driftwood are these two artifacts sitting side by side!  It’s every archaeologists dream to find an effigy figure like the one on the right.  Both objects are made from an unknown material whose exact chemistry is a mystery.  It has been observed that this is also a fragile material that breaks apart if exposed to the sun for very long periods of time.  The effigy, it is believed, is made in the likeness of the previous inhabitants.  Some are found complete with heads and limbs and others are not.  What exactly happened to this race is a matter of speculation.  The current theory is that some great climate changing event altered the world to a degree that doomed their civilization.  It will take many, many years of further research by our scientists before a consensus develops.  In the meantime, we will continue to collect their artifacts and be thankful that we were ready to inherit this beautiful world.

Styro-couple being made, 9/09

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The Sandman

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 15, 2009| 1 Comment »

The Sandman and Adam, 9/09

The day my son Adam made his dragon, this is what I came up with.  I call him the Sandman and I based him upon the nocturnal visitor familiar in children’s stories.  As Adam and I walked along the river, I found the blue plastic sand shovel and the idea for this piece fell into place.

Cicada, 9/09

While my son and I worked under the willow trees we were serenaded by the cicadas.  The rising and falling buzzing courtship song of the males is a familiar sound of summer.  This year I’ve noticed them more at the Falls than ever before.  Now I understand why the cicada killer wasps are also more common.  I wonder if the wasps detect their prey by sight or do they zero in on the cicada’s sound?

The Sandman, 9/09

This figure is made from the found materials that have become my vocabulary for my Falls works.   Polystyrene foam form the head and body.  Each piece of foam has traveled down the Ohio River from who knows where?  I only use materials that I find in the park and over the years I have been able to keep to this personal rule because so much stuff shows up here through periodic flooding.  The Styrofoam is shaped by natural processes and I add other natural and artificial materials as I see fit and come across them in the debris of the park.

The Sandman, 9/09

The Sandman comes to the Falls of the Ohio because of the quality of the sand.  He wanders along the river’s shore and carefully selects the right sand which he stores in a small bottle.  A little bit of sand goes a long way.  The bottle is worn close to the body with the help of a little waste fishing line which is unfortunately plentiful at the moment.  The Sandman may appear a bit ghostly, but he’s harmless.  His appearance has more to do with the unseen and unknown quality of the night.  So, when you rub the sleep from your eyes in the morning…you will know where the sand comes from.  It’s a gift from the Ohio River formed over deep time.  Sweet dreams.

The Sandman, 9/09

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CONNECT Event at Bernheim

Posted in Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Originality, public art, sculpture, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 13, 2009| 4 Comments »

Connect at Bernheim, 9/09

On an absolutely perfect night, my family and I attended the CONNECT event at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest.  Bernheim is located in Clermont, KY about twenty or so miles south of Louisville.  The event was the park’s attempt at creating a festival that centered on promoting a creative dialogue between artists, scientists, naturalists, and other progressive thinkers.  The following is a couple images from this event.

water canon at Bernheim, 9/09

The local press suggested that CONNECT would be our version of the Burning Man event.  Although it was far from that,  the absolutely perfect weather brought the curious out by the car loads.  Much of the festivities  centered around the park’s Lake Nevin.  Two water canons were present that children could play with.  Once darkness fell, lasers were projected upon the water canon’s mist.

Back lit screen, Bernheim, 0/09

Yes, there was a science aspect to the event, but it was presented informally and was fun for the kids.  If there was a loose unifying element it had to do with the presence and absence of light.  All around Lake Nevin screens for shadow play and video projections were set up and being engaged.  Perhaps this is a sign of the times since we have become so accustomed to reading information from screens of all types?

rainbow light cube, Bernheim, 9/09

As the sun went down the music began in earnest.  The fire sculptures on Lake Nevin were lit.  People were enjoying the food and drink.  Strategically placed telescopes allowed people to obtain good views of the planet Jupiter with four of its moons.  My two sons really enjoyed the telescopes and they insisted on looking at the night sky before we could go home.

video projection, Bernheim, 9/09

The artwork I found really mesmerizing was a series of video projections by Julia Oldham, who has accepted a residency at Bernheim.  The above still is from her work entitled ” Churr-churr Ziz Ziz Ziz”.   In her videos, the artist by using some skillful speeded up editing was able to use her body to accompany the incredible sounds made by insects and birds.  It is difficult to describe, but the work held people’s attention and I’m excited to see what she creates in Kentucky!  If you would like to see Oldham’s video, she has generously posted it on her blog, “Bee Sting Brose” and the link is on my blog roll.

Lake Nevin fire sculptures, 9/09

In the afterglow of the Lake Nevin fires, I hope the organizers of CONNECT were encouraged by the public’s response.  Perhaps it’s too soon to tell if this will become an annual event?  The need to find common ground among the various disciplines is a useful excercise and the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest is a beautiful and contemplative place to host this gathering.  If CONNECT should happen again next year, I would suggest advertising an earlier opening time since it was hard to get around to see all the displays before the light went down.  Throughout the year, Bernheim is a great place to visit and if you want to learn more about its history and programs…I have attached their link to my blog roll on the right.

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