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Rare Sandpiper at the Falls of the Ohio

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, birding, creativity, environmental art, found materials, Found objects, material culture, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, photography, repurposed materials, sculpture, sense of place, Site specific art, Styrofoam, tagged accidental bird, Art, artist at exit 0, birds, Devonian fossil beds, Falls of the Ohio State Park, found art, material culture, Monarch butterfly, nature, photography, rare sandpiper, sense of place, site specific artwork, Styrofoam, the natural and the artificial on August 25, 2015| 4 Comments »

Once a year, usually in mid to late summer, the dam is closed and the water retreats off of and exposes the ancient Devonian fossil beds. It is an other worldly landscape of blonde-colored rocks that preserves in limestone the proof that life existed over 400 million years ago. This exact place during that time too ancient to imagine was in the latitude of the present day Bahama Islands. Then it is was a marine reef supporting early salt water animals, most especially a large variety of corals. Today, this is a fresh water environment defined by the Ohio River. My goal is to cross over to the Kentucky side (where the majority of the fossil beds are located) by wading through the shallower areas near the tainter gates. Unfortunately, and unforseen by me, all the recent high water has made the riverbank a slippery muddy mess and the current that is allowed to flow through a channel by the dam is still too strong to wade through. I got almost half way across and found the footing treacherous. I didn’t fear for my personal safety, but I didn’t want to risk dunking my camera and phone in the water. Thwarted today, I will need to make better provisions for that the next time I attempt this.

So, I did the next best thing which was to explore the riverbank and nearby Willow Habitat. The resident colony of Black Vultures was hanging out under what shade some of these willow trees could provide. The bird in the above image is a sentry maintaining its post outside of where the main group of birds were resting under the nearby trees. The vulture flock doesn’t seem as large as it has been in the recent past. Perhaps the prolonged conditions of having a high river forced some of these large birds of prey to seek greener pastures? The vultures would allow me to only get so close before jumping into the air in search of thermals to lift them even higher. I continued my modified trip by walking towards the fossil cliffs below the Interpretive Center.

It was a very hot day and in places you would come across areas that were once very wet and had dried revealing a wonderful network of cracks.

I’m proud of myself. In addition to wearing a cap…I made sure to bring along plenty of drinking water on this very hot and humid day. Here my bottle is wrapped in a heavy mil plastic bagel bag. I used this to keep the other items in my pack dry just in case this bottle leaked. I continued my hike to the fossil cliffs when I could see something snow-white in color moving along the ground. At first I thought this was a piece of paper disturbed by the breeze, but soon noticed it was moving in bird-like fashion. I continued approaching very carefully yet deliberately and had my cameras at the ready. Here is my first image of what would soon be many.

Switching over to higher magnification, I could see my new bird was a species I had never encountered out here before. In the comfort of my own home I was able to identify this little guy as the Yellow-collared Sandpiper (Caladris fascinati). This is a tiny shorebird more at home in the Pacific Northwest and has rarely been recorded east of the Mississippi River. This is the first recorded instance of this bird at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. So, what was it doing here so far away from home?

It is not unusual for this park to record rarities during the migration seasons in early spring and autumn. To see this bird here outside the normal times shorebirds would be migrating through our area makes me think this bird is here by accident. Perhaps one of the monster storms we have experienced this year blew this little one way off course? Looking at my reference guides, I identified this as being a juvenile of the species. You can tell that by the pink bill. Once fully mature, the bill turns dark, nearly black in color. I have recorded other juvenile shorebirds migrating through the park on other Falls of the Ohio adventures. In particular, I remember seeing juvenile Golden Plovers and once…even saw a juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher. What makes these sightings all the more incredible for me is knowing that a few short weeks ago…these birds were beginning life as eggs in shallow nests located in the high Arctic tundra. Normally, the Yellow-collared Sandpiper migrates down the Pacific coastline of the United States, crosses into Mexico, and winters in Central America. This is a journey of several thousand miles.

I observed this bird for about a half hour or so. I watched it feeding around the margins of small pools of water that had puddled on the fossil beds. It used its pink bill to probe the soft mud in search of the tiny invertebrates that make up the bulk of its diet. The bird seemed not to be concerned about me and I took many photographs to document its presence in the park.

The mouse-like bird moved like a wind-up toy on the fossil rocks. When it moved, its tiny legs seemed to be going as quickly as they could. The sandpiper had a curiosity for the world and checked out every clump of vegetation and crack upon the limestone surface as potential sources for food. Perhaps it was the hawk that flew high over our heads casting a fast shadow upon these ancient reefs that scared it away or perhaps it just grew tired of my company…regardless, the Yellow-collared Sandpiper flew away in a blur of brown wings. I thought I could detect a high “peep” call note as it went skyward. Heading back to my vehicle, I had one more pleasant surprise in store for me. While this is not on par for rarity, seeing the beginning of the Monarch butterfly migration going through our small piece of the planet is still an awesome occasion. Like the Yellow-collared Sandpiper, the Monarch butterfly has a very impressive migration of its own as it moves from Canada to Mexico and back again. On my way home, I said a little prayer asking for the continued safety of all the small things moving through the world. I guess that’s it for this time at the Falls of the Ohio.

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Park West Petrochemical Rainbow

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, creativity, driftwood, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Found objects, material culture, Ohio River, photography, plastic, Plastic art, public art, recycled art, repurposed art, repurposed materials, sculpture, sense of place, watershed, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, assemblage art, colorful plastic, driftwood, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, found objects, nature, photography, plastic, recycled art, repurposed art, sense of place, site specific art on August 16, 2015| 2 Comments »

Hot, sticky, and the humidity had me sweating the moment I entered the park. Today’s outing seemed more like an extreme sport than an attempt at art making. I decided to focus my efforts in the western section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park. I knew the recent flooding we had experienced would more than likely deposit a lot of junk and debris along the driftwood cluttered shoreline. I was right about that, but first I had to “earn it”. To access the shoreline in this area of the park required going over, under, and around large trees that had either blown over by high winds or were undermined by the soil being washed away from the riverbank.

One thing I noticed being in this section of the park…was that all the purple loosestrife seemed to be gone. Normally, one can expect to find a whole host of butterfly and other insect species sipping nectar from the colorful flowers. On this expedition, I did not see one bloom from this admittedly invasive species. I think the Ohio River’s recent bouts of high water must have affected them? I find this somewhat unusual since I associate them with growing in very damp areas. Perhaps in their case, too much of a good thing is actually a bad thing? I will do some research to see if my hunch is true. Regardless of no purple loosestrife, there were plenty of vines to snag and trip over making the footing tricky…as if the soft mud and irregular surfaces of the driftwood weren’t enough of a challenge!

With the hot sun beating on me, I faithfully search the riverbank and collected the colorful discarded items that were first “gifted” to the river and then to me. Walking from one promising area to another…I found enough plastic junk to make my next site specific piece. Here’s another look at some of the objects that I found on this day.

The really bright and colorful plastic objects virtually scream at you when you bother to pay attention. Otherwise, it’s all just part of the material crap we create and dispose of indiscriminately. Maybe because I’m looking for this kind of thing…I see it more easily. I’ve trained my eye to spot the unnatural colors mixed among the gray and brown tones of the driftwood. I decided to set up a display in a particularly promising area between two debris fields that was also close to the river. I looked around and gathered some old milled boards and set them up on short, cut logs and before long had a table-like altar to lay my plastic treasures upon. Following are several looks at the completed work.

Here’s a view from behind the piece. You can see other bottles and junk mixed into the driftwood in the foreground. I set this piece up on an area of cracked and drying river mud.

Now a view from the front. I placed this work here to take advantage of the sunlight which was beginning to set in the late afternoon. I also wanted the verdant darkness behind all the colors to help create greater contrast. There are three tiers of boards that I used for this display. As is usual, I found less of some colors and more of others. In this instance, I could have used a few more orange plastic objects, but just one small plastic bottle was all I found this time.

In the late afternoon, all the various colors in this plastic are energized by the sun’s electromagnetic spectrum which causes this junk to glow. It’s the “golden hour” and one of my favorite times of day for its ability to infuse and unify the everyday with magic. I have stayed out on the river far longer than I first anticipated. The gnats and mosquitoes have had their way with me. Plus all my granola bars for energy have been consumed and my water ran out a couple of hours a go.

I’m fading fast and still have a long hike to make. All the obstacles that were there on the way in will also be there on the way out of the park. I took one last look back at my most recent project and decide that it is the best I can do at this particular moment. I’m calling this one, the “Park West Petrochemical Rainbow” so I can remember what section of the park I visited when I assembled this piece. I picked up my collecting bag and walking stick and made sure I wasn’t leaving something I might need behind me. The rest is one foot in front of the other. I let the fading beauty of the light distract me from my discomforts. Food, water, and a nice shower are waiting for me at the end of the line. See you later from the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

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Eventually, the River Goes Back Down

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, driftwood, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Found objects, fresh water, lost and found, Louisville, Kentucky, material culture, nature photography, Ohio River, Ohio River flooding, photography, plastic, recycled art, repurposed art, repurposed materials, sense of place, watershed, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, assemblage art, coconut, Falls of the Ohio, found objects, material culture, nature, photography, plastic, plastic bottles, repurposed art, sense of place on August 9, 2015| 5 Comments »

Eventually, the water does go back down and reveals after the fact, all the newest changes that the river has made in the park. You saw part of that in my last post with the way one favorite willow tree has been shaped by this latest event. In many places in the park, you can find logs that floated here from some potentially far away places.

Just a few weeks earlier, I posted images of Asian carp jumping over this very same spot. The walls of the dam were no obstacle then. Now the dam has been “graced” with many logs that were stranded along the top. They will stay here until the next flooding event or until something else shifts the balance.

Because this is summer and we have experienced so much rain, all the vegetation is really lush. Familiar paths are overgrown and the heat and humidity seem trapped at ground level. I am completely sweaty in no time at all. I went and checked out the green bottle piece I had made many weeks a go and it is still relatively in place. I assembled it on top of a large driftwood mound that this latest bout of high water was unable to fully reach. I can tell that the mound has shifted some and all of the bottles have settled within the upturned boat dock. Now, the entire mound is covered in vines. This makes it especially tricky to walk over. I snapped a few pictures and moved to the safety of the riverbank. There are lots of areas to explore and who knows what we shall find?

Slogging through the mud and wetness along the river’s edge, I make this amazing discovery. It’s a River coconut! I wonder what the tree that produced this hairy fruit looks like? Since much of the water that reaches us here flows from the north downward, I imagine that this is one hardy tree. I guess the coconut’s shagginess is a coping mechanism for cold winters? As we walk, there are more discoveries to be made.

Further down the riverbank I encounter this object. I am holding it as I am because initially, I thought this was an extra-large toy wristwatch minus the hands and numbers. Since I have been able to examine it more closely from the leisure of my home…I am now thinking that this is a child’s pro wrestling inspired championship belt? All the glued on rhinestones must have fallen off while the river carried it away from wherever it originated from.

Walking further west…I discover the remains of a riding toy. This is a blue plastic dolphin that came to rest in the Willow Habitat. There are more plastic items to find. Next was perhaps my favorite find of the day.

This is so small, that I’m surprised I spotted it among all the other small items both natural and artificial. It’s of course a plastic doll shoe, but this one has a nice patina acquired from being in the river for a while. I still find many dolls and doll parts, but this little doll accessory is a rare find. Unfortunately, there is also plenty of other plastic in the park that isn’t so hard to find. Here’s one such example as I found it in place.

Three plastic bottles and containers rest in a pretty disgusting looking puddle. The orange color is actually something I find occurring here naturally and may be due to some red oxide that exists below the many levels of clay and sand. Of late, I have been collecting various plastic bottles and creating other site specific pieces with them. On this particular day, I made a relatively small one due to time constraints. I have often found that it is good to have some limits with this river art. Simply, there are so many things one can work with and I have added to my vocabulary of forms and materials slowly over the years.

Like some of my previous efforts, I chose a particularly promising area that seemed to have a “wealth” of plastic bottles and containers. I then set out to find colorful examples to make an assemblage with. I like contrasting the high artificiality of these bright objects with the more subdued organic efforts of Mother Nature. The high-keyed colors are often cheery. I think that even on a subconscious level, we recognize the former products that were in these bottles even without their original labels which have washed away. From our own household experiences and uses, we are reassured by the soap that will clean our clothes or the oil that keeps our engines humming and in good condition. That’s where the tension lies in these simple assemblages…we know that this is far from the case. Since we now know that these containers and the products they once held were extracted from nature at great cost. In the aftermath of use…that cost continues as the packaging is disposed of irresponsibly. This particular artwork is heavy on the black which influences things as well. I simply found more black containers on this day and used them. After a few photographs, I picked up my collecting bags and headed home exhausted from slogging through the mud, heat, and humidity. I’ll leave this post with one more view from the Indiana side of the Ohio River. On the way home, I noticed a small flock of Canada Geese gliding past the skyline of Louisville and the river seemed at peace for the moment. Catch you later from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Super Wet July

Posted in Absurd, animals, art and environment, Art and Nature, Artist at Exit 0, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, flip-flops, found materials, lost sandals, material culture, nature photography, Ohio River, Ohio River flooding, Originality, Photograpy, public art, recycled art, repurposed materials, sense of place, watershed, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, Asian carp, day lilies, Falls of the Ohio, Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center, flooding along the Ohio River, mud flower, nature, photography, sense of place, snapping turtle, story telling on July 19, 2015| 2 Comments »

I’ve been to the river three times this month, but this is my first post for July! Where to begin? It’s been eventful in so many ways. First, the hard drive of my computer crashed which put me out of business for a few weeks. All the while this was being dealt with…the river has been high due to what seems like at times, monsoon-intensity rains. Not light, gentle rains, but strong storms that dump inches of rain at one time and are often accompanied by high winds. I suspect that this year’s June and July will be among the wettest combos recorded around here. There has been tragedy too. Five people lost their lives in a boating accident while watching the 4th of July fireworks display in front of downtown Louisville. The river was especially high and fast flowing when their pontoon boat struck a parked barge sending people into the water. It took several days to recover the bodies. We may think that we can manage the river through levies and dams, but nature often has other ideas. Where is all this water coming from and can be this be further evidence of the planet’s changing climate? When I see before and after pictures of what were former glaciers or images of huge ice shelves breaking off of Antarctica…that fresh water goes somewhere right? Seems there is a lot of moisture being drawn up into the atmosphere which then precipitates out over the land. Too bad it doesn’t seem to be going where it is needed the most.

For the moment, all my usual haunts at the Falls of the Ohio are under water. Usually during this time of year, the fossil beds are at their most extensively exposed. I love being able to walk over the fossil beds which makes me feel like I’m on another planet. Once the water recedes, there will be a newly rearranged landscape to explore along with its attendant material culture that gets left behind. This is how I obtain my art supplies.

This is a view along the Fixed Wier Dam and Upper Tainter Gates in the eastern section of the park. The water level had been higher and is in the process of going down a bit. I noticed fish activity and was surprised to see Asian carp congregating in the swirling, muddy water.

About midway down you can see a carp that is doing its own impression of a salmon going upstream. Let’s zoom in for a closer look.

Here are a few more details of fish jumping. I was surprised that my cellphone camera was able to catch this action. Some of the fish I observed were very large. I would estimate the largest ones I saw were plus 50 pounds.

And here is one more image catching a fish in mid air.

There are a couple of species of Asian carp and they are all highly invasive and non-native. To see these fish jumping to overcome obstacles on their way upriver shows how determined they can be. These fish feed on algae and other tiny water organisms. They out compete native species and are highly prolific. Extensive campaigns have been launched to control or eradicate these fish with limited results. The big fear is that they will make their way into the Great Lakes were they pose a huge issue for that fishery. In Western Kentucky, at Land Between the Lakes, a commercial fishery has been created to harvest these carp by netting them. Because they eat tiny micro organisms, they can not be taken by rod and reel unless you happen to snag one by accident. The goal is to create a commercial demand for its flesh and apparently they are a coveted food item in China. Although a demand for these carp may be created…they are also in our waters for good now. The fish I photographed are on their way to Cincinnati and points northward along the Ohio River and all its tributaries and streams that feed this great river. Carp were not the only creatures around on this day. Check out this guy!

Walking along the edge of the flooding, I came across this large, Common Snapping Turtle that was bulldozing its way to the river. It emerged from underneath some high weeds and was unaware of me at first. As I came closer, it started to pull its head underneath its shell as much as it could while raising up on its legs to appear even more menacing and large. This big turtle did hiss and lunge for me a few times and after a couple snapshots…I left it alone. This turtle was large enough to remove a finger if that unfortunate person should offer it. Although it moved slowly for the most part, it did have the ability to strike quickly and its neck could reach out further than you may have anticipated! I have found dead snappers at the Falls before that were washed into here by flooding or were caught and killed by fisherman. This is the first live one I have seen here and it was a beauty! Being confined to the margins of the swollen river did have some benefits. I came across two remarkable flowers that I would like to present. Here is the first one I discovered on the Fourth of July.

This is the first of two Giant Mud Flowers (from the genus Siltana) that I have discovered at the Falls of the Ohio. They are large perennials that appear only when the conditions are just right. Apparently, all the flooding we have experienced along the river has proven ideal for this rare bloom. This flower sports large, fleshy “petals” that are organized around a central core that emerges first from the soil. No leaves are visible and much is unknown about this rare plant. It is believed that after blooming, the Mud Flower puts its remaining energies into producing a single, round seed about the size of a golf ball. Attempts to grow this plant under controlled conditions have thus far proven to be unsuccessful. Here is a different flower which may or may not be a related species?

This specimen was found during mid month in a different section of the park. On the surface, it compares well with the preceding example. Noticeably, the thick petals are of different colors and the central core is a different structure. Botanists may eventually determine that these two Giant Mud Flowers are related, but different species too. Much is needing to unlock the key to how this species survives and whether there are any pollinating agents involved at all? I am going to end today’s trip with one more flower photograph. This was taken in front of the still renovating Interpretive Center. There is a wonderful day lily garden here with many different varieties. The center is hoping to be back open to the public come this fall. I want to thank park director, Kelley Morgan for inviting me to talk during their volunteer appreciation dinner. I loved being in a room full of left brained people who must have thought where did this “odd duck” came from? Everyone was very nice and interested in what I do which admittedly, deviates from the norm! What I like is that however we view and use the park…we all have a passion for this very special place. Here’s hoping my next post will occur under dryer circumstances!

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Big Jug Rainbow and Stump Flower

Posted in Absurd, animals, art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, collections, creativity, driftwood, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, flip-flops, Found objects, Installation, lost and found, lost sandals, material culture, nature photography, photography, public art, recycled art, repurposed art, sense of place, Site specific art, tagged Art, art and the environment, artificial rainbow, artist at exit 0, Big Eyed Click Beetle, Falls of the Ohio, flotsam and jetsam, lost and found, nature, photography, plastic containers, rainbow colors, sense of place, tree stump, willow trees on June 18, 2015| 11 Comments »

Life in a bucket. I’ve seen this before and written about it in an older blog post. Regardless, whenever I encounter something like this I remain amazed at life’s ability to thrive in less than optimum circumstances. A little river mud in an old broken plastic bucket gets colonized by a few windblown grass seeds, add a little rainfall and sunshine and life does the rest. Well, some life can do this and some can’t. The future will be determined by the life that can adapt and be resilient in the face of adversity. Walking on the fossil beds at the Falls of the Ohio I wonder about our chances for success living on a planet that we have diminished to suit our own ends. I have no doubt that whatever the future holds, life will find a way. Whether or not that includes us remains to be seen.

On that jolly note I introduce my latest two projects! I got up fairly early in the morning and got a head start on the heat. By the early afternoon, I was whipped, exhausted, and wet from the humidity trapped in the local vegetation. Summer is officially upon us. It’s interesting how many conversations I’ve had this year with people similar in age to me who have remarked that as the years pass by their tolerance for the heat and humidity decreases. This was one of those days I could commiserate with them! As I was walking along the Falls landscape, I noticed an area that seemed to have a good supply of plastic containers and decided on the spot to do another petroleum rainbow piece. This is how I started out, literally beating the bushes for containers of different sizes, colors, and shapes. The material lying on the driftwood was easy to access, but in other places the vines were beginning to cover and camouflage what was under their urgent greenness.

I started out collecting various plastic jugs that originally held contents of one gallon or greater…hence “big jug”. I soon expanded that as the need for particular shades of colors became a priority. I would have liked to use more “orange”, but couldn’t find enough plastic containers in this area that day that were that color. Still, I managed a small sliver of “orange” to mark the transition from “red” to “yellow”.

“Big Jug Rainbow” is situated under a stressed willow tree that is bent over from the weight of lots of driftwood that was deposited in its canopy by flood waters. A nice verdant cave was formed and it felt like a good framing element for this piece. Here is what it looked like from the other side of the tree.

The willow trees in this habitat are twisted up and have lots of character. They remind me of the forms you find in bonsai trees, except their size is obviously much larger. In a past post, I’ve mentioned how this area’s beavers like to prune off small branches and eat the bark. This helps shape the trees. This year, I can see in dramatic fashion another element that contributes to the trees’ overall forms. The weight of the deposited wood bends the branches down and the willow continues to grow under this burden. The driftwood will remain in the tree until the river rises or the wind knocks the deposited logs down.

Bleaching, exposed driftwood atop a willow tree with my “Big Jug Rainbow” under its influence. Happy with this piece, I collected my bag and walking stick and headed further under the trees seeking shade and relief from the sun. Along the way, I was delighted to run into one of my favorite insects found at the Falls of the Ohio.

This is the Eastern Eyed Click Beetle or Big Eyed Click Beetle, (Alaus oculatus). This is one of the larger beetles you will find in our area and this is the largest of our click beetles. The biggest specimens are nearly two inches long or roughly 45mm in length. They have this wonderful, cryptic bird-dropping coloring. The eyespots on the pronatum or thorax are dramatic and large. The females lay their eggs in or near rotting wood (in abundance here) and I’m sure to come across these slow flyers at least a couple of times per season. Last year, I was startled when one landed on the back of my head and got tangled in my hair. It gave me a momentary fright to have some then unknown large insect crawling on my head. Fortunately, they don’t bite. The larvae on the other hand will eat other insects they encounter.

As has been my recent custom, as I walk along I collect any lost flip-flops that I find. At day’s end, I find a place to make something with the day’s finds. I came across this table-like tree stump that seemed like an invitation to do something with. I emptied the contents of my collecting bag and created “Stump Flower”.

The circular form in the center I believe is a sand toy? I found it laying nearby and thought it helped suggest a flower head. I think as I return to many of the places where I’ve made these flip-flop projects…I will re-gather them and perhaps recycle them into a more complex form. At day’s end, the walk back to my vehicle took a lot of effort. I did go by my “Big Jug Rainbow” piece and took one last image of it from some distance. You can barely see it through all the leafage, but it is there in all its artificial glory. That bottle of warm water I had stashed under the car seat sure tasted good! Thanks to everybody for stopping by…until next time from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Making New Friends

Posted in art and environment, Art and Nature, art and the environment, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, creativity, driftwood, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Found objects, nature photography, photography, public art, recycled art, repurposed materials, sculpture, sense of place, Site specific art, Styrofoam, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, creativity, driftwood mound, Falls of the Ohio, materiality, meeting new friends, nature, photography, plastic bottles, polystyrene, public art, railroad bridge, sense of place, site specific art, Styrofoam on June 10, 2015| 2 Comments »

So easy to get behind on creating new posts! As it often happens out here at the Falls of the Ohio…more stuff goes on than most people care to read in a single post. This will be a relatively short, but hopefully sweet story. A few weeks a go on a lovely sunny and warm weekend morning I decided to visit the Falls and see how my green bottle piece was surviving. I had positioned it on the other side of a washed out boat dock that was peaking out of a huge pile of driftwood and debris that had washed into here a few months a go. The above photo is how it would first appear to anyone venturing onto this driftwood mound. And, this is how it would appear from the other side looking towards the parking lot and fixed wier dam.

My segregating all the green glass and plastic bottles into the exposed structure of the boat dock was holding up fairly well. I just had a little bit of straightening up to do. The fact I went back to something I had made before was somewhat unusual since I prefer moving forward by making something new. I guess this piece was holding up a little better than some of my other projects by virtue of it being somewhat hidden and few folks want to venture onto this shifting mound of materiality. You can get hurt here if you are not careful and it’s easy to have a foot go through a weak spot on the mound. This has happened to me many times, but knock on wood, I have never been injured by my carelessness. I was admiring my handiwork and whistling to the Baltimore Orioles that were in the nearby cottonwood trees when I saw two people approaching my position.

Here are a couple of pictures of my new friends in action. It’s the mother and daughter team of Marjie and Anika and they were here at the Falls collecting flat, weathered boards for a shed they were making back at their home. When they saw me they came right over to see what I was doing and they saw the bottle piece which they enjoyed. Of course, one thing led to another and we had a great conversation about conservation, recycling, and the value of being outdoors. We even discovered that we have a good friend in common in Claude Stephens who works at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. They were once neighbors. Marjie is a very practical and inventive person and I was particularly struck by how she has been able to eliminate all the soap products from her home save one. I don’t want to mention that product by name, but you are familiar with it. It’s a dishwashing liquid that is especially good at cleaning oil soaked sea mammals and birds. Apparently, by adjusting the strength of the soap by diluting it with water you can have an all-purpose cleanser that’s good for the laundry and can be used for shampoo too! Standing on this debris mound, it would be very easy to show you examples of all the many plastic containers that are used by all the myriad kinds of soap products. Cutting them out of our waste chain would be a dream come true! I showed them images of other projects I had made and stored on my cell phone and they became inspired by some of the figurative pieces I’ve made from Styrofoam. That got this dynamic duo going and they were off to make a Styrofoam sculpture of their very own!

They are an ambitious pair and decided to use the biggest polystyrene chunks they could find on this mound. I helped them set the body upright since it was still a bit heavy with retained water. The figure soon became a robot with found toy balls for eyes and a light bulb stuck on top of its head like a cherry on a sundae! It was a bit tricky keeping one’s balance standing on the driftwood. I find it helps to stand on the bigger logs which are less likely to shift or break. After sticking on a pair of arms, Marjie and Anika left their creation in place. We said our goodbyes and they collected the boards they had chosen for their shed and went home. I stuck around a little longer and took a few more images.

It’s rare when I meet folks out here who not only “get” what I do, but want to participate too. Creativity is a human birthright and can be expressed in so many ways. I especially enjoy it when I meet people who use their creativity to benefit the planet even in the smallest way. Those individuals inspire me. I exchanged email addresses with Marjie and she later sent me pictures of the shed she built at home. As it turns out, this was not the last time I would meet mother and daughter. They came out in support of a Public Art Walk event that was produced by the organization I now work for…the Carnegie Center for Art and History in historic New Albany, Indiana. Work there has been keeping me busy, but I manage to come and visit my beloved Falls and Ohio River whenever opportunity allows. I’ve made other projects lately and look forward to sharing them with you soon. Here’s to everyone having a great summer this year!

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Green Bottles and Flip-Flops

Posted in Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, driftwood, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, flip-flops, Found objects, Photograpy, plastic, repurposed art, sense of place, Site specific art, tagged Art, art and nature, art and the environment, art process, artist at exit 0, collection, creative process on June 1, 2015| 4 Comments »

May was a quick month and this year is flying by. I’m still exploring much of the flotsam that was left behind by early Spring flooding. At several places in the park you can encounter large driftwood mounds and debris fields that are aggregates of the natural and artificial. I was exploring a large mound near the railroad bridge and came across this large, wooden, manmade structure that was laying partially exposed. I was curious about what this could be and so I picked a route over the driftwood to take a better look.

Walking carefully to the other side, I discovered that this wooden structure is a fairly long boat dock that the river had claimed. I was taken by the dock and its visual proximity to the railroad bridge. The idea that this could make a nice location for another site specific work soon came to mind. I have been having fun making images and assemblages of plastic bottles that washed into here and looking around…well, despite the overwhelming browness…there is also a lot of colorful plastic mixed into here.

What I could see was a “wealth” of green plastic soft drink bottles that lemon/lime carbonated beverages come in. So, I walked around the mound and boat dock and collected all the green bottles I could find. In the interest of full disclosure…there are also a few green glass bottles in here, but 95% of them are plastic. My idea was to activate this area by massing all the green bottles I could collect and store them “inside” the boat dock. Here are several views of what this looked like after I was finished.

The wooden dock echoes the structure of the bridge behind it. I feel that this site specific piece successfully worked with its immediate environment. The green of the bottles plays against the verdant green of the vegetation. As of this posting, this artwork is still intact. Many things I make out here are either destroyed by visitors or eventually fall apart on their own. If you were looking at this dock from the other side…nothing would betray the surprise that exits on the flip side. Here’s a few more views of my plastic green bottles piece. I’m needing a good title for this one, but nothing has registered with me yet.

While I was searching through the debris field, I was also looking for lost flip-flops. I found a nice number of them consisting of all sizes and colors which I stored in my collecting bag. After finishing the idea I had for the bottles…I looked around for another location to do a flip-flops site specific piece. My search took me to the nearby fossil outcropping and rocks. I emptied my bag upon the rocks and played around with several configurations until I hit upon something I found visually interesting.

I arranged the sandals from right foot to left and from largest to smallest. The oval shape echoes some of the ancient coral forms present in the rocks which date back to the Devonian Age over 350 million years a go. One of my all time favorite fossil discoveries was made in Laetoli, Tanzania by famed archaeologist Mary Leakey in 1978. She found preserved in hardened volcanic ash, a set of bipedal hominid footprints of a possible family group that dates back 3.7 million years and at the time were the world’s oldest human-like footprints. Flash forward to the present, these flip-flops are the descendants of those ancient tracks. When I’m out on the rocks at the Falls of the Ohio…I often think about how deep time is and how far back the history of life goes.

June is already shaping up to be a rather interesting month at the Falls of the Ohio and I will be interacting with the park in some different ways than I usually do. More about that as the month progresses. For now, I will end with one more image of my flip-flops piece as I left it upon this ancient landscape. See you later!

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The Disquieting Rainbow

Posted in Art, art and environment, Art and Nature, Artist at Exit 0, assemblage art, creativity, deer skull, driftwood, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Found objects, Green, lost and found, plastic, Plastic art, sense of place, Site specific art, tagged Absurd, Art, art and nature, art and the environment, art process, artist at exit 0, Beach combing, collecting, creative process on May 25, 2015| 2 Comments »

May has turned into a productive month for me. If April was defined by rain and flooding…May has been on the dry side. This break in the weather (along with the nice coolness of Spring) has me out at the river at every available chance. Friends of mine already think that I live out here, but that’s far from the case. I wish I could physically be out here more because I don’t tire of the park and I find enough stuff to keep me busy. The reality is I’m lucky to make it out here on the weekends and holidays. Over the years, I’ve established routines and I know the place so well that as I walk along, I’m strategizing on what can be done with the materials that I find at various locations. The digital part is done from home.

In the aftermath of our most recent flooding, a great amount of wood and manmade debris has settled into the park. I find something interesting to me most everywhere I look. Here’s another Sand Rose that I encountered, blooming among the driftwood. This blossom has fabric-like petals and lacks the wonderful perfume that more conventional roses possess.

Covered in burrs and various plant seeds is this plush parrot that I found intertwined in the driftwood. Lost toys are evocative and in this case, I’m also reminded that 2016 will mark the centennial of the extinction of the Carolina Parakeet which was this country’s only native member of the parrot family. Both the Passenger Pigeon and Carolina Parakeet passed from existence within a couple of years of one another in the same small aviary that now stands as a memorial to them at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Walking through the driftwood I found this intact and antlered deer skull which is a first for me. I have found other white-tail deer skulls before, but they all were from does. Over the years , I have found deer remains out here in the wake of flooding. Perhaps the most memorable experience happened about twenty years a go. While hiking with a friend, we came to an area where we could smell the sickly sweet odor from something decomposing, but searching the grounds we weren’t able to locate the unfortunate creature. By chance, I happened to look up where the smell seemed the strongest and discovered a deer carcass that was lodged in a tree about 12 feet or so off the ground. Of course, it found its way there when the river was high and became stranded when the river receded. At the Falls of the Ohio State Park you are likely to find unexpected things snagged in the willows.

Over the last few weeks, I have been “playing around” more with the brightly colored plastic elements that wash into the park. I find these site specific compositions rather fun and provoking to do. Usually, all the plastic elements that the river delivers become somewhat unified and integrated within the matrix of mud, wood, and other detritus. I believe this thorough mixing keeps people from seeing the true extent these artificial materials and objects are present in the free world. By choosing to concentrate on a color, like red in this case, I hope to call attention to these materials in a novel way. This piece started with the nailed together wood frame I found on the driftwood pile. There are also lots of milled and used lumber elements in the mix too. Building on previous pieces I did with other colors, I decided to see how much red was in this given area. “Red Composition” was the result. With red being such a popular color…I thought I would come across more red than I actually did. What I did find seemed subject to bleaching in the sun and made me wonder if red plastic was in general use less because of the fugitive nature of the pigments? Next time I’m at the grocery store I will test this theory more. Among my red finds of the day include an old flashlight body that had filled with dirt and had a small willow tree growing out of it. Here’s another example of a plastic composition I did on this particular day.

This is another in a series I have been calling “Petroleum Rainbows”. I started with the wooden bench I found in the immediate area and set it up near the riverbank in the willow habitat. I gathered all the brightly colored items I could find tangled in the driftwood and sitting on the sandy beach and of course most of them are made from plastic. Testing my fugitive color theory, I did notice a prevalence for the colors green, black, blue, yellow, and white. Red, orange, and purple were a little harder to come by. I filled the top of the bench with my river finds and loosely organized it to resemble a color spectrum. As one Facebook observer noted with a little ire, my colors don’t follow the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet scheme of a true rainbow. I have done this intentionally as a further provoking element. Beyond the surface attraction of this party-colored plastic, the brain does register that something is not quite right here which is the feeling I want to leave the observer with…hence, disquieting rainbow. I made this piece a couple of weeks a go and it has remained relatively intact. I have been busy at the Falls and have more to show, but will wait a bit before posting those projects. I hope everyone out there is having a nice Memorial Day holiday. See you next time from the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

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A Different Kind of March Madness

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, art and the environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, Photograpy, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged 3 Stooges Ball, Art, art and the environment, artist at exit o, assemblage, driftwood, ecological art, Falls of the Ohio, found objects, March Madness, nature, Ohio River flooding, photography, plastic, sense of place, Styrofoam on April 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

A view from last weekend when the water level was dropping and the sun was shining and welcoming. Curiosity overwhelmed me and I ventured forth over the driftwood piles and muddy riverbanks. Looks like most of the driftwood at the Interpretive Center has been washed away, however, under the railroad bridge, a sizeable mound of twisted matter has accumulated. To avoid sinking ankle-deep in mud…I gingerly walk on the backs of huge logs and pick my way through the debris field.

This most recent bit of flooding has deposited a large number of plastic drinking bottles onto this landscape. I am assuming that the river isn’t through rising for the moment because two days ago…we received about six inches of new rain overnight. Statistically, that was the most rain ever recorded on an April day in Kentucky’s history and the fourth biggest rainfall total for a day during any month in our state’s experience. We had a lot of localized flooding from that storm and coupled with the immense fire at the General Electric Appliance Park, put the national spotlight on Louisville…twice in one day. The GE fire and subsequent thick, nasty smoke with its fumes and particulate matter from incinerated plastic rose into the clouds and was a nearly apocalyptic vision. Many people mistook the immense column of smoke for a tornado and the weather services were peppered with false alarms. All this goes into saying that environmentally, it’s been a rough few weeks around here. Spring while lovely with the returning sunshine and greenery, also has this dark side which it is not afraid to show from time to time.

I can be sure to find novelties among all this brown materiality. Can’t say I have ever come across a Three Stooges ball before and there they were, Larry, Curley, and Moe looking up at me! There were other treasures as well. Here’s a snapshot of a toy I found that I dropped into the old collecting bag.

Discovered resting upon the wood and bark chips was this plastic fragment from a vintage toy. It is missing it’s backside. I have found similar old toys before and now suspect the river has cut into a landfill and liberated these older toys from the ground.

Came across this large carp which was one of three dead animals I found. Also located the remains of a Black Vulture and a Canvasback Duck that looked to be what was left from a bird of prey’s meal. Every now and then, you discern a sickly sweet smell emanating from the driftwood and you know some other unfortunate life form is buried under the debris.

This is the centerpiece of my former outdoor studio area where I had cached many of the materials I found in the park. All the Styrofoam pieces I had salvaged for artworks have washed away, but there is a fresh batch for the picking. This large, painted, metal disc is what I’ve been calling the “UFO” which is short for Unknown Floating Object. It washed into the park several years a go and subsequent floods have yet to move it out. It is now tilted and has all this driftwood around it. Formerly, it was laying flat on the ground and made a nice surface to work on. My time is limited today and I want to make something from all this “abundance” out here. I select a few large chunks of Styrofoam and begin constructing a figure.

Large, Styrofoam head in progress, March 2015

Some of the large pieces of Styrofoam I want to work with are water-logged and too heavy to move. I will wait a few weeks and see if the sun dries them out more? I select two pieces for what will be a large, absurd figure and get to work. I pick up junk around my feet and created this large head. I move a really large polystyrene block into place atop the driftwood pile next to a river buoy that says “Idle Zone” on it. For the next couple of hours, I will be anything but idle.

While I was constructing this figure, I decided to call it “March Madness”. According to the Walls Street Journal and ESPN, the Louisville area is the epicenter of interest in the college basketball game and its season ending national championship tournament. Our region usually has several teams competing for top honors. On the day I made this figure, the University of Louisville Cardinals were knocked out of contention. I attached an old basketball to the end of a very long arm. The slight breeze blowing at the time caused the figure’s arms and head to sway and vibrate in place.

I look forward to spending a bit more time out here…weather permitting. If everything remains in place, there is a chance to make several large figures this season. I will be curious to see if this figure is still standing or whether park visitors or the elements have toppled it? I just received a notification from WordPress that I have just reached my sixth anniversary of blogging with them! For today, I will end with a picture of a tree that recently was completely underwater. You can tell how high the water rose from the junk caught among the branches. Happy Easter everybody!

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Ice and the Polar Beaver

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, nature photography, Photograpy, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged animal story, Art, art and the environment, artist at exit 0, beaver, eco-story, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, ice formations, nature, Ohio River, photography, recycled art, sense of place, Styrofoam, willow on February 25, 2015| 3 Comments »

And just when we thought we were winter-proof…the cold descended. Literally, one day it was near 60 degrees and a few days later came the snow, ice, and record-breaking cold. Although it has been a mostly mild winter in the Kentuckiana area…it has also seemed like a longer than necessary season. Everyone I know is winter weary. Cabin fever has me out venturing among the frozen willow trees at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. From winter’s past, I know that when conditions are just right, I can expect to see some interesting ice formations near the river.

The right conditions are also cold conditions and you need to dress appropriately. I find I’m in good shape wearing my vintage pair of Wind-Dodger goggles to keep my eyes from getting all watery. An old treasured scarf across my face and an all wool, German, military surplus, submariner sweater add to the many layers I have on. I bring along my trusty walking stick which I use frequently to test the thickness of the ice over frigid water-filled puddles. Outfitted in my best polar garb I feel confident as I venture forth over a hibernating landscape covered in snow and ice.

In the eastern section of the park, ice has formed on the dam’s wall. This wall is all that separates the full force of the Ohio River from impacting the lower levels of the park that I am familiar with. The true height of the river is many feet above my head. The more swiftly flowing water keeps from freezing. Debris of all description and the trunks of washed away trees build up on the upriver side of the dam. More than likely, all the pent-up driftwood will find release when the spring floods come and even the walls of this dam can’t keep the river from rearranging this area once more. It is a dynamic environment ruled by the river. If I were to contrast the scene before me with the way this spot will look like in six month’s time…you would think you were on a different planet altogether. I try to appreciate the variety before me which also has a way of keeping out the cold.

I find there is a surprising amount of life out here. Although I’m the only person around, I have already spotted several species of birds that don’t seem to mind these conditions. Geese have left there meandering tracks in the snow. In the air, I watched both a Peregrine falcon and a nice flock of Ring-billed gulls engage in aerobatics over the river. I come across other tracks in the cold mud that has me momentarily frozen in place. I sort of recognize them, but there is also something not quite right here that I can’t put my finger on?

To my eye, they appear to be beaver tracks, but they are too small. I run all the possible candidates through my mind’s mammal filter, but I’m drawing a blank. I chalk it up to my inexperience. Try as you might, you can’t learn everything from books and there’s no substitute for doing the fieldwork. I left the tracks and headed towards the spot on the river where I’ve seen good ice formations before. Along the way, I find many chewed up willow branches and cuttings near a stand of willow trees. Something has been dining fairly regularly in this area and with luck I may find other evidence identifying my mystery animal. As you may have already guessed…luck was with me!

If it hadn’t moved, I doubt that I would have seen it and I would have missed the first recorded occurrence of the Polar Beaver (Castor arcticus) at the Falls of the Ohio State Park! In size, this remarkable rodent is about the size of the common house cat. I stood transfixed as this all-white animal concentrated its intentions on the ice-covered willow trees near the river’s edge.

I wondered if the Polar Beaver could appreciate the varieties of shapes and forms that frozen water can take? In the background, the Ohio River seemingly “smoked” as the surrounding air is much colder than the water. This vapor or steam gradually coats the structures nearest the river. As the condensation freezes it creates the many shapes that I like to describe as ribbons, sausages, and candles in this beautiful wonderland. During these special moments, one can appreciate water as it exists in three different states of matter…gaseous vapor, flowing liquid, and rock solid.

Historically speaking, the Polar Beaver is a fairly new animal to be described by science. Although its beautiful snow-white pelt has been a valuable and prized trade item by the northern indigenous people…it was thought these rare white furs were taken from albino morphs of the common beaver. Ironically, crypto-zoologists looking for the legendary Sasquatch, instead brought to light the existence of this very rare rodent. DNA testing confirmed that the Polar Beaver is a truly unique species. Some of the first observations about this animal documented that this beaver’s coat turns white as autumn transitions to winter. This is a trait it shares with other polar animals like the Arctic hare and Stoat.

During this time at the Falls, I was able to observe the Polar Beaver feeding. Deftly, the beaver chose just the right willow twig and with a quick bite, severs it from the parent tree. Holding the stick with its front paws, the beaver than carefully chews away the surrounding bark revealing the ivory warmth of the wood. “Tool marks” left behind by the beaver’s teeth are recorded in the wood. Willow makes up a significant part of this animals diet, but it is now known that other tree species and plants are eaten “in season” as well.

If the Polar Beaver noticed me at all…I couldn’t tell because it seemed so intent upon feeding. I watched this animal carry a willow branch to a small “ice shelter” where it focused on the task on hand. The muddy Ohio River gently lapped the shoreline. When the beaver finished its meal, it continued to explore the immediate environs with its many ice formations.

I noticed the beaver sampling willow it had already chewed upon as it moved down along the river’s edge. I stood transfixed by this nearly mythical animal. I finally lost sight of the beaver when it went behind an ice formation and unseen by me…slipped back into the water and disappeared. I searched around for a couple of hours hoping to have another glimpse of this Polar Beaver or any others that might have been around, but ultimately was unsuccessful. I returned during the next two days, but this beaver apparently moved on for good. I was lucky to have seen it, but can you blame me for being greedy and wanting more time with this magical animal? Wouldn’t you wish for the same if you were me? When my reverie lifted, I realized that I could no longer feel my toes and my digital camera was also feeling the cold and not operating properly. It was time to go home and I will leave you with one final image from this trip. Here is a view of a favorite old willow tree as it appears during the heart of winter. Spring will soon be around the corner and I will see you again at the Falls of the Ohio.

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Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog

Art and images from the Falls of the Ohio.

Archive for the ‘environmental art’ Category

Rare Sandpiper at the Falls of the Ohio

Park West Petrochemical Rainbow

Eventually, the River Goes Back Down

Super Wet July

Big Jug Rainbow and Stump Flower

Making New Friends

Green Bottles and Flip-Flops

The Disquieting Rainbow

A Different Kind of March Madness

Ice and the Polar Beaver

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