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Archive for the ‘Originality’ Category

Recalling Opa

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 18, 2010| 11 Comments »

It is late autumn at the Falls of the Ohio and soon all the leaves will be gone having succumbed to the wind, rain, and frost.  For now, there is still color and it is during this transitory moment within the season that the memories of past loved ones comes to my mind and heart.  I was walking along the riverbank recently and thinking about my grandfather and so I created this story for him out of thanks, sticks, and river-worn Styrofoam!

Perhaps it’s the shimmer and play of light upon the water that helps those who have gone before to communicate with the living?  I can picture him now, very tall and very thin and neatly dressed with his fancy bow-tie.  Because he took an interest in me as a boy, I in return have never forgotten him.  My grandfather was not a particular eloquent man, but as the saying goes and there is truth in this…actions do speak louder than words. 

Grandpa or Opa as I sometimes called him loved to tend his small flower garden.  In the heart of the old city this was how he kept his connection to the soil.  And because his garden was tiny it was also precious and everything that happened in it took on added significance.  When a new flower bloomed …that was a cause for celebration as were the times when some new never before seen bird would alight in the yard even for the briefest of moments.  All these little events were full of meaning  to my grandfather and now I see that I inherited this ability too.  Finding wonder when life is at its most mundane is a true gift.

When I was a very small boy my Opa would put me upon his shoulders and give me a unique perspective on the world.  He moved along the city’s canals so easily and I was able to take in all that was going on around me.  I would describe him as being a patient person, but there were some things he found difficult to tolerate.

Perhaps at the top of his list was injustice.  He had lived during the hard times of a world war when his city was occupied.  He had witnessed and experienced how his fellow human beings could be callous and cruel to each other.  When the war ended and prosperity returned, it bothered Grandpa to see how the very land itself was treated with little regard.  He knew about the magic that could happen even in the smallest plot of dirt.  To treat the ground as a garbage can is an injustice to the earth.

Our walks together were always learning opportunities and this was fun for me.  Grandpa seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the living things around him.  He said that life was so interesting that he needed to know about it, but that he was alright too when there were no answers.  He also found contentment in the mystery of it all and that somehow it fit together and worked.  His true position in life was balanced between the twin poles of knowing and not knowing.  It was important to remain open to recognize and receive wisdom when it did come his way.

If my Grandfather could see what is happening with our treatment of the environment…I know it would upset him.  Before the war (which was bad enough) there was also a world-wide depression.  To get by and make ends meet, everything that could be reused and repurposed was.  People even knew how to fix and repair things because they had to if they were going to have anything extra at all.  Creativity and thrift were virtues because they were survival skills.  Nothing was thrown away without careful consideration.  Now economies are based on mass consumption and disposability and something else has been lost in the process.

Grandpa told me that if we didn’t take care of all our precious resources, then we were in danger of losing ourselves.  The more we change the land, the more it changes us and that our ultimate fate is intertwined with what happens in the real world.  Here on the banks of the Ohio River my Grandfather’s concerns have come back to me.  Now I am a father and someday I too may become a grandparent.  During my lifetime, I would like to feel that we can be reawakened to the needs of the planet so that we could build towards the most positive and healthy future possible.

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Styro-Family Portrait

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , on November 12, 2010| 8 Comments »

 

Another deceptively nice day at the Falls.  I say that because our area is experiencing an acute drought.  We have had just about an inch and half of rain the last couple of months.  It has also been unseasonably warm with highs in the low 70 degree range for a couple of weeks.  Again, the odd acting weather has seemed notable to me.  There has been color in the leaves, but they have been so dry.  In areas, no fires are allowed because the conditions are right for a conflagration.

Because we haven’t had a hard frost yet, you can still run into butterflies at the Falls of the Ohio.  Pictured here is a Dainty Sulphur butterfly also known as the Dwarf Yellow (Nathalis iole).  This is a tiny, dime-sized butterfly that is extending its range across the country.  You can still find Monarchs and Viceroys, but they tend to be ragged specimens just waiting for the frost to do them in.  I have enjoyed butterfly watching this year and I look forward to building on my experiences with them in 2011.

I returned to my trusty studio spot under the willows for this adventure.  I don’t have much of a story this time…just the straight scoop on what happened on this trip.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that earlier visitors had taken it upon themselves to upright the sculptures that were knocked down and assaulted.  See previous post from a few weeks a go for that story.  The figure I have named “Marlin”…I did find on the ground and he was missing his fishing bobber eyes, but I was able to fix him in short order.  My collecting bag always has a few stray pairs of “eyes” for any emergency.  Finding that somebody actually cared enough to set these pieces up inspired me to add a new work to the group and here is one of the first images of it.  I call this one the Agitator for a couple of reasons. 

The first reason comes from his hat which is the agitator from an old washing machine that the river parked here months a go.  The eyes are again found fishing bobbers and the nose is the handle from an old paint brush.  I find a lot of brush handles, sans bristles, at the Falls of the Ohio.  The figure is a big one and would look nice in the space that was left open in this particular grouping.  Here is my only shot of this piece standing with his Styro-family on a sunny day in the Ohio River Valley.

The second reason I called this newer work Agitator is the second after I snapped the above photo…he fell down and his head split apart.  Sounds gruesome, but remember it’s just polystyrene. I became agitated to have to remake the head, but stuff like this happens using such poor materials.

I went back to my Styrofoam cache and found the next best head and created version two.  I think the second incarnation looks a little goofier, but maybe this was what was intended to happen all along?

Since the piece was now different I added the plastic horse shoe and changed the positioning of his arms.  This is the way it looked for the second group portrait.

While I was making this latest figure, I was approached by a couple of people interested in what I was doing.  I had two nice conversations and posed for a couple of images.  I took the opportunity to ask one of the people to take my picture with my Styro-family and this one is for my mother!  It’s one of the rare images of the artistatexit0 in this blog and gives some sense for the scale of these chunks of Styrofoam floating in the river.

I’ll close with this final image of the group facing the river.  For the short time these figures remain standing, they are a fun surprise to come across while hiking among the willows.  Happy trails to you…

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Lost and Found Hound

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, birding, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 23, 2010| 11 Comments »

What he remembered was sitting in the car with his master and enjoying the ride over to the park.  His head hanging out the open window the sights and sounds went rushing by.  He wondered why they didn’t do this more often because it was fun and helped build up their sometimes frazzled relationship.  Upon arrival, the leash was attached and the two of them, dog and owner, went for a walk.  After tugging the master the whole way, they reached a point where they both stopped.  The man took the leash and the collar off and the dog bolted down the beach excitedly.

After chasing a few squirrels and finally having the freedom to follow his nose…the dog realized that his master was nowhere to be found.  The dog did his best to retrace his many footsteps, but it was no use.  The man was gone without so much as a whistle or a “See you later boy”!  Fear began to set in because the dog didn’t recognize where he was or what to do about it.  For a while, he followed a path in the woods and did come across other people, but they were unfriendly and chased him away  In fact, the whole woods was starting to seem mysterious and scary.

The trees were tall and the woods held shadowy places.  Even some of the birds gave him a start.  There was one odd bird with a very large and sharp-looking beak that made the loudest noises and was unwelcoming.

It flew back and forth in the treetops and seemed to be scolding him until he left the area.  There were other unusual and questionable critters out here too.  He was hounded by bugs he had never seen before like this one.

These evil-looking flies chased and bit him.  The dog thought about how in his former life he didn’t have to worry about much.  Yes, there was the occasional flea, but the food bowl was usually full.  In the ways of his kind, he was generally accepting of most everything.

After several days, the dog began to get really hungry.  Once he found some scraps near a picnic table and garbage can and he ate greedily.  Later the dog began to feel some odd stirrings within him and he began to visualize the chase.  What if he could run down and catch other animals…perhaps he could even eat them?  He decided to give it a try with the next animal he came across in the park and before long…he had his chance.  Among some fallen trees he came across an unfamiliar animal. 

The new animal had no legs and looked like a wiggly stick.  Still, it moved quickly over the ground and every time the dog tried to grab it with his mouth, the strange animal tried to bite him back.  After a while, the dog tired of this and the stick-animal escaped into some driftwood.

The dog decided to check out the river.  Perhaps something like a dead fish had washed ashore and although this wasn’t his favorite food…his wasn’t in a position to be picky.  The air was still and it seemed sound was carrying well across the water.  Before long he could hear and then smell a human approaching in his direction and the dog quickly found a place to hide.  From behind a large stump this is what he saw.

Whistling to himself the figure we have come to know as the Adventurer was strolling down the path.  The Ohio River was on his right and the sun was shining warmly above.  The season was about to change and the cottonwood trees’ leaves were turning yellow.  The Adventurer had been marooned in the park himself now for several weeks.  The raft that bore him here was still stuck high and dry and he couldn’t continue his journey down river until it rained again.  As the days became weeks, the Adventurer started to yearn for his more familiar surroundings and the company of his friends.  This park was nice, but it wasn’t his home.  He was growing a little wistful himself when he heard something in the bushes off of the path ahead of him.

Parting some branches near a large stump the Adventurer saw one of the most bedraggled dogs he had ever seen.  Talking reassuringly, the Adventurer carefully offered the dog his hand to sniff and was rewarded with a few tentative wags of its tail.  The dog came out of his hiding place and allowed the odd figure to check him out.  Although the fur was matted and full of cockleburs, there wasn’t any sign of injury.  Reaching into his pocket, the Adventurer produced some food which the dog quickly ate.

There was something in the moment that these two very different animals recognized in each other and they bonded.  From now on, wherever the Adventurer would go,  the dog would follow him.  They became inseparable and shared in many stories together at the Falls of the Ohio.

AFTERWARD

The Adventurer figure we have seen before.  He is made from found insulating foam, Styrofoam, plastic and wood collected at the Falls of the Ohio and assembled there.  The plastic dog toy I came across on one of my walks and this is how he first appeared to me.

Imagine my surprise to see an old childhood friend mixed among the other river debris!  I recognized the character as being “Huckleberry Hound”.  A little research revealed that this dog who spoke in the cartoons with a southern drawl was originally named after Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” which seemed appropriate in my context.  The cartoon first appeared in the late 1950’s and I caught up with it during the next decade.  Huck’s other friends include Yogi Bear and BooBoo, Magilla Gorilla, and others who were cartoon staples of after school television shows.  It’s been awhile since I heard of any references to this character.  Examining the plastic toy, I could find no date or country of origin, but much of the original paint is gone.  I’m sure this is some retro toy since it seems in too good of shape to be older.  My two sons have never heard of Huckleberry Hound and think I made it up!  Okay, to end this post…I’m going to show you another picture of that fearsome snake which I was able to catch with my bare hands!!!  Enjoy.

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Kiss at the Gates

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , on October 6, 2010| 7 Comments »

When last we visited our couple they were checking out the cascades out on the fossil beds at the Falls of the Ohio State Park.  In the presence of fresh running water they made their commitment to one another. 

There was still more to see and so they set out over the fossil beds by Goose Island.  With the river level low, the island was looking more like a forested hill.  The couple walked nearer the island taking advantage of every little bit of shade they could find.  It was still late summer and the sun was very hot.  The limestone beneath their feet contained the remains of ancient marine creatures that lived millions of years a go.  Every once in a while, the couple stopped and took pictures of the odd formations preserved in the rocks.  Their friends back home would want to see this.

One of the brochures picked up back at the Interpretive Center said that more than 250 species of ancient corals have been identified in the stone out here.  Their mineral homes were perfect for fossilization while the small jelly polyps that were the actual animals disappeared completely.

The brochure continued that more that 600 fossilized marine organisms have been identified out here and that about 2/3rds of them were type specimens.  This means that although some of these fossils have been found in other places in the world…they were first described by science from specimens collected at the Falls of the Ohio.  This is indeed a unique window into the history of life!  The couple felt privileged as though they were visiting some important shrine.

These coral fossils were from the Devonian Age and were more than 370 million years old!  This time is also known as the Age of Fishes because this is when their remains first entered the fossil record.  Although fish fossils are rarely found out here…there are many skeletons and bones of contemporary fish present because of fishermen and the retreating river.  Fish were the first animals to develop backbones and are still with us to this day.  Walking along the couple discovered something more familiar and recent not too far away from them.

It looked to be the remains of a stone wall set out in the now shallow river.  On the park map, the couple could see that this was the remains of the Goose Island Dike.  This was a 19th century attempt to manage and shape the course of the river.  Although it wasn’t a fossil, the uniformity of the stones and the ivy growing atop was pleasing to their eyes.  After a long walk, the couple neared their ultimate destination and the terrain switched from being rocky to sandy.  Around the bend, the couple could see the Lower Tainter Gates and they knew they could walk no farther.

The Lower Tainter Gates are on the western end of the park over the fossil beds on the Kentucky side.  Like many such gates along our nation’s rivers, they were designed to regulate the flow of the water to help commerce and to relieve flooding.  Fishermen both human and not use this area because the water is deeper and better oxygenated.  This is a good place to see the Osprey and Cormorant.  Usually the roar of the water passing through the gate can get loud, but today the river was low and quiet.

Walking up to the immense concrete structure, the couple thought of ancient Egyptian buildings and temples.  The scale and ambition of trying to control the river was all so overwhelming and emotional.  Their reaction to this engineering marvel was impulsive and surprising!

The couple embraced and shared a long kiss.  Later they would remark on how wrapping their minds around deep time and the beauty and continuity of life caused them to appreciate their moment together even more.  Having reached the destination of this day’s hike, the couple turned around and retraced their steps.  They had the rest of their lives ahead of them and in the bigger scheme of things…would just be a kiss or the blink of an eye.

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Life Around a Willow Tree

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, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , on October 2, 2010| 15 Comments »

I was walking through the woods on a sun-dappled day looking for migratory birds when I came across a new friend.  We talked for a little while before introducing ourselves.  Both of us remarked on the dry weather we have been having and I said that it’s official now.  September was the driest ever in the commonwealth of Kentucky since records have been kept dating back to 1871.  We have had a spits-worth of rain… that’s it.  Overall, this has been our third driest month ever, beaten only by two Octobers over the course of the past century.  We both wondered if this was an omen for this October?  We certainly hope not.  Having created some common ground, I introduced myself and she said to call her Minnie, Minnie Buckethead.

As it turned out, Minnie is an interesting old lady with a fascination for everything in the woods.  I asked if she had seen any migrating warblers and she had.  American Redstarts, Black and White Warblers, were moving with small groups of other birds including Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice.  I had seen nothing.  I definitely need to get up earlier in the day to catch the bird show.  Perhaps Minnie was taking pity on me and she said that there were a few other things happening in the woods and would I like to see them?  How could I turn down such a nice offer from an old lady?

We walked over to a large willow tree and I saw Minnie crane her neck and squint her eyes from the sun and she scanned the willow bark.  “Here” she said and I checked out what she was pointing at.

At first I thought it was a bee, but it was larger and more robust and not as big as a bumble bee.  There were others.  Walking around to the shady side I could determine that they are hornets of some kind.  The hornets and other insects were licking whatever was exuding from the willow tree.

“Don’t worry, they won’t get you”, she said.  The hornets were so preoccupied with the sap that they were quite tame.  Walking around the tree gave us this sight.  Three different species of butterflies also taking advantage of the willow bark.  The one in the foreground is the Red Admiral.  Although I hadn’t seen the hornets doing this before, I did say to Minnie that I had observed many butterflies on these willows and wasn’t it nice that so many living creatures could set aside their differences to take advantage of this common resource.  She just smiled.

I was appreciative of Minnie showing me the tree and so I tried to impart a little knowledge to her about the local cicadas.  I had come across a dead female in the sand,(identified by the hypodermic needle of an ovipositor she uses to lay her eggs under the thin bark of a tree).  I asked Minnie if she knew anything else about their life cycle and she said she didn’t and so I went on.  I told her that after the egg hatches under the bark, the nymphs drop down and burrow under the ground and attach themselves to the tree’s roots.  With this species, after a couple of years of sucking tree juices, they emerge from the ground and become adults which for cicadas, is a brief moment in time.  They mate, lay eggs, and then die after a glorious two weeks or so.  You find their split skins where they transform as juveniles into adults near where they emerged from the ground.  Here’s a pictures of the dead cicada, the split cicada skin, and a fresh adult.

With any life cycle it’s hard to know exactly where to begin and I suppose that’s the classic which came first question… the egg or the cicada? I’ll leave that to brighter minds than my own for now. 

Minnie listened attentively and then asked me to follow her.  She had something else to show me before we parted company.  We walked away from the willow tree to an area where several large logs were decomposing.  She pointed a thin finger at a yellow patch on one log’s side and I could see it was some type of fungus.  It seemed to be spreading outward as it broke down the tissues inside the tree. 

It was both fascinating and oddly repellent. On another nearby log was yet another fungi which I could identify as a fresh bracket or shelf  fungus.  The bright colors also seemed on the lurid side to me.

Minnie talked to me about what a wonderful system that nature has created to break things down after death.  Like these fungi were doing to what were once living trees.  She talked about how life depended on materials being able to decompose in order to release the nutrients that are needed for life to move forward.  This is what it means to live naturally and that we should look at the systems that the planet has in place and to learn from them.  With that, I took my leave and waved good-by to the old lady in the woods.

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Pecha Kucha Kentucky Style

Posted in Art, birds and birding, collecting art, creativity, environmental art, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Originality, public art, tagged , , , , , on August 29, 2010| 10 Comments »

I hustled out to Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest after supper.  The evening promised a twin bill of fun and I wanted to reach Clermont while the sun was still out.  I was able to take in the “Model Homes and Habitats” exhibition of bird houses and bird inspired art.  The show had a strong Murray State University flavor to it with many past alumni and one current professor showing work.  Murray grad, Brad White assembled the exhibition for Bernheim.  I even saw my old drawing professor Dale Leys there as well which was a nice surprise.  Twenty five years goes by fast!

The designs of the bird houses ranged from the traditional to the conceptual.  Because the light level was getting low, I’m surprised I had images to work with.  Unfortunately, I can’t credit many of the artists because I didn’t see an exhibit guide and some labels were hide to find.  This house with the scary back has a more traditional hole in front.  I liked this picture once I downloaded it from my camera…the house seems to be suspended in mid air.

My friend Raymond Graf had a nice piece in this show.  Inspired by dovecotes and Japanese architecture, this piece looked like a bird skyscraper.  The piece is primarily made of wood and incorporates many Louisville Slugger souvenir baseball bats in its construction. 

At Bernheim it can be hard to tell how many people are attending an event because the park can accommodate them all.  I know I saw several hundred people enjoying the music, food, and art. The bird houses were scattered along a walking trail.  Once the darkness fell, the white screen behind the band would become center stage.  Folks would concentrate in the informal amphitheater sitting on old limestone blocks from the renovation and expansion of Louisville’s McAlpin Locks and Dam.  Kentucky’s first sanctioned “Pecha Kucha” event was about to start.

Now I will confess that I have never heard of Pecha Kuchas before in fact I kept calling it Machu Picchu all week-long!  Apparently, two American architects decided that the traditional slide show was too boring and could be shortened and made livelier.  The idea is the presenter is limited to 20 projected images and 20 seconds a piece for a total talk of 400 seconds.  That’s it.  Pecha Kucha  is said to be Japanese slang for “chit-chat”.  To me, it sounded like it could have some pace to it like a poetry slam.

Fourteen presenters interpreted the idea that “Mother Nature wants me to tell you something…” in very personal ways.  Many of the speakers were artists who are aligning what they make and do with the needs of the planet.  A concern for where society is going and what should we place value in were common threads in many of the talks.  Not all the presenters were smooth during their 400 seconds and you could tell a few less experienced speakers were nervous, but the crowd supported everyone with applause regardless of the performance!

This evening and the one before it were successful because of the collaboration and partnership between Bernheim and the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana.  The weekend began with the opening of Julia Oldham’s “Possumhaw Plant Electrics” exhibit at the Carnegie Center which consisted of four videos and a gallery of wonderful line drawings.  Julia is the 2010 Artist in Residence for Bernheim Forest and the videos were created during her ten week stay.  For those who have followed this blog, Julia is a new friend that I shared a couple of outings with that we posted on our respective blogs.  It was great seeing her in Kentucky again!  Sometimes it’s a big world and sometimes it’s not…perhaps we will meet again?  I hope so.  The next Pecha Kucha will be held in December at the 21C Hotel in Louisville.  That’s another fine venue to take in an event.

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Figure with Very Long Arm

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , on August 22, 2010| 11 Comments »

The heat and humidity remain unabated.  I think this is the hottest summer I have spent at the Falls of the Ohio.  Yes, there were always super hot days in the past, but this year we have had many more of them.  I was excited about this weekend because I have three days off, few family obligations, and I planned to go out to the river to see and make what I could.  I have collected some large pieces of Styrofoam and it’s time to use it before the river eventually rises and carries it all away again.

On this day, I have made one of my tallest figures ever.  This one is a head taller than I am and when you add the extra long arm…it is even more so.  I can’t say that I worked up a story to go with this one…yet.  If, however, he hangs out long enough, I’m sure I will think of a narrative.  For now, this is what I made and in the process I drank all the water I brought with me and soaked through my shirt.  A mixture of sweat and sun block kept running into my eyes which led to a few choice words said by me.  Fortunately, there wasn’t anybody around to hear them!

After I made this figure, it seemed to me that it had some affinities with the Wallace and Gromit characters.  I think it’s because of the close-set eyes and large nose?  I like that this guy has a sense of humor which can’t be said about some of the figures I have made before.  He’s probably amused that anyone would choose to spend their day off engaged in this activity!

What prompted this sculpture was the long stick I eventually used for one of his arms.  The body is somewhat elongated and the extra long arm brings this out even more.  Perhaps the arm is an evolutionary adaptation for picking fruit from the higher branches of the tree?  In this way, it works similarly to a giraffe’s neck with its ability to reach the topmost leaves.

The brutal sun kept me close to the shade of the willows, but even this had its issues.  There are mosquitos in the shadows and the humidity is trapped by the vegetation and foliage.  Being uncomfortable made me less patient with myself.  Every once in a while I would get distracted by the song of a wren or the myriad insect life around me.  There are still many butterflies and wasps visiting the flowers and willow trees.

I had a few technical problems to work out. The main one being how will this sculpture stand upright?  Even though the sand and mud are soft, this figure is clumsy and comes down to a point.  My solution was to rest the figure on a tripod of sticks.  Two of them can be seen, the third “leg” lends support from behind the figure.  Once it cools down, I would like to move this sculpture around the different vignettes that the Falls offers and see if I can improve upon the photographs.  For the moment, I consider these evidence that I made something on a fairly uncompromising day cut short by the heat.  I decided to leave early and left this figure resting against the trunk of a tree.  I can’t wait for it to cool down a little.  I can tell Autumn is around the corner.  I detect a hint of yellow in the leaves around me that were a bright green not too long a go.

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Vulture Boy

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , on August 15, 2010| 9 Comments »

Vulture Boy hung out with me today at the Falls of the Ohio.  He’s a bit of an odd character and I don’t see him often.  He spends most of the summer observing the resident vultures of both species that live here.  He’s studying them. Vulture Boy also thinks of himself as being a bit of a survivalist and when civilization collapses…he will be able to fend for himself by mastering primitive weapons. 

He’s still a boy after all and seems to gravitate towards sticks and stones.  There must be some primeval aesthetic operating here that’s hard-wired?  Regardless, what I enjoy are Vulture Boy’s stories and encounters with the wildlife he sees in the park.  He tells me that he saw some Black Vultures feeding nearby and would I like to watch them?  I pick up my camera and follow him to the river.

Along the way we surprise two flocks of large birds!  It’s another very hot day and both the vultures and Canada geese are taking advantage of the shade under the biggest trees.  It’s cooler, but they are also vulnerable standing on the ground.  Some passing fisherman got too close and both flocks spooked and went airborne.  I could practically feel the whoosh of air pass my face as the vultures struggled to lift skyward.

Reaching the river, we find a few Black Vultures feeding on a fish carcass.  They were completely unconcerned about the people around them.  I wonder in some way if the vultures recognize the relationship between the people and the availability of fish?  Vulture Boy says that they are smarter than you think and adapt to situations that benefit them.

Slowly I move a little closer doing my best not to scare the birds away.  It’s tricky though because the rocks are very uneven and slippery in places.  With their all black bodies, I wonder if they feel hotter on a day like today?  That’s when Vulture Boy lays this factoid on me!  He says that Black Vultures (and other vultures as well) can excrete their waste onto their legs to cool them.  The process is called “urohydrosis”.  Charming! 

I asked Vulture Boy what else he liked or thought interesting about these birds and this is what I remember.  He said that they form strong pair bonds that are usually only broken upon the death of one of the partners.  Additionally, they do not build nests preferring shallow caves or protected rock ledges to raise their young.  Although Black Vultures may roost together, they do not like being near each other’s nurseries.  There is still that competition for food and a pecking order exists not only within the Black Vulture group, but with other species as well.  The shy Turkey Vulture usually surrenders his find to the more aggressive Black Vulture.

With their naked heads and necks…these vultures look more like the dinosaurs they are descended from.  The lack of feathers around the head helps keep things a little cleaner.  Still, I’m amazed that these birds are able to stomach most anything!  I’ve seen Black Vultures using their feet to help leverage a food morsel from the toughest meal.

After watching the river vultures for a few minutes, it was time to go home.  Walking back the way we came Vulture Boy and I could see that some of the vultures had returned to the shade under the trees.  A few individuals were nervously posted along the outskirts acting as look outs.  We walked around them and left them be.  Nearby, we came across roosting vultures  high in a tree.  Occasionally, one of these birds would sun itself by spreading its wings and it seemed almost a reverential act.  Or, at least…that’s what I like to think! 

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Mister “A”

Posted in Absurd, Art, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , on July 31, 2010| 3 Comments »

When I asked my youngest son Adam if he wanted to go to the Falls with me he said yes for the first time in a while.  Everyone has their busy schedules these days, but somehow our calendars intersected on this day.  We went after supper when there was still a couple of hours of good light left.

Adam asked me if I had a fort out here like last year?  You know, the one with all the Styrofoam in it and if so, are we going there?  Barely were the words out of his mouth when he walked into my studio site.  Everything was as I left it except for the big helmeted figure which had fallen over.  In a way, this piece has become the figurehead of my driftwood boat for this season and as my unofficial mascot I respectfully stood it back up.

Adam wanted to go exploring around my area and while he did that I made this quick figure.  Two pieces of found polystyrene, coal eyes, plastic pen cap nose, wooden ears, plastic mouth, a plastic neck collar, and five sharpened sticks along with a foam letter “A” comprise the materials used to make this guy.  By the time Adam got back from circling around the site it was time to go…but first we could make a few photos along the way.

Of the pictures I took of the “Mister A” figure, this was my favorite.  The wrecked cooler adds a lot of formal interest.  Adam was getting hot and thirsty and so it was time to move on home.  I thanked him for coming along and promised him a cold sports drink at the next convenient store down the street.  Maybe it won’t be so hot the next time we explore together and we can stay longer?  Here’s one more shot before closing.

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Plastic Bottle Color Spectrum

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, Originality, recycled art, unusual collection, tagged , , , , , , on July 17, 2010| 2 Comments »

This post is actually to announce a new collection that I have added to my pages section.  It’s more of an experiment…an idea that I have had for a while and only just now put it together.  Plastic bottles are objects that I have been photographing at the Falls of the Ohio for a couple of years now.  I see so many of these that I decided to order my image collection roughly by what color the bottles are.  I remember seeing works by Tony Cragg that were made with fine gradations of colored plastic in fact our local Speed Museum used to exhibit one in their permanent collection.  So, I guess I’m counting his work among the influences for this piece along with your standard box of crayons!  Most of these bottles originally contained soap solutions (laundry detergent, shampoo, dish washing liquid) or various car care products (oil, anti-freeze, gas treatments, etc…).  Of course, since they are all made of plastic, they are also derived from petroleum.  I think the best way to view this collection is to stroll down fairly quickly.  I think I will try to add to this collection as I go along throughout my Falls of the Ohio Project and see where it goes.  Look under my Pages section and look for the Plastic Bottle Color Spectrum tag.  Thanks!

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