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Archive for the ‘public art’ Category

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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In the Valley of the Plastic Indian

Posted in Absurd, animals, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 8, 2010| 4 Comments »

It’s been a brutal and tough summer…one of our hottest yet.  When you are at the river’s edge there’s no place to hide.  It’s just rock, water, and sky.  Life in all its forms is trying to expend just enough energy to keep going on.  That also includes me.  The mosquitos and gnats were extra annoying and chased me from the cool and shade under the willow trees to the open light and heat of the riverbank.

In the air above me, a pair of osprey makes repeated visits to the dam.  Every once in a while, one of them would fold its wings slightly and dive into the river.  I wonder how they know that the water here is shallow?  On occasion their daring would be rewarded with a fish.  Birds, however, are not the only ones ignoring the heat today to chase fish.

This guy has just landed a catfish and is extracting the hook.  Around him is his fishing tackle which includes several poles and a small throw net.  To me it all appears very primal and it wouldn’t have surprised me at this moment to see him take a bite out of this fish.  Observing people fishing out at the Falls is like watching one of those nature documentaries where large bears intercept the salmon on their return home.  People arrange themselves along the most productive sites and arriving early helps. Not all the fish caught by the fishermen are kept.  The rough so-called “trash fish” are thrown back in a weakened, wounded condition.  I have seen the osprey picking those fish off and flying away with them.

Butterflies are seen in profusion during this time of year.  I have been watching which species like to congregate around the willow trees to sip up what I assume is tree sap.  I have seen as many as six different species lining up on the same tree.  I think areas where these trees have been damaged (from collisions with water born logs) are the preferred feeding areas.  These places that the butterflies like (this includes flies and wasps too) are on the margins of where bark has been worn away.  The above photo features two species…the larger Red-spotted Purple and the Comma butterfly.  I later watched these two individuals engage in a combat over a favorite spot on the tree.  The Comma was by far more aggressive.  So much for the idea of describing a butterfly as being meek.

I did make one plastic discovery tangled in the driftwood and sand.  I came across this Indian dressed in his Plains garb.  He’s obviously has led a hard life too and has come to rest at the Falls of the Ohio.  I snap his picture where I found him and dropped him into the collecting bag.  I may or may not use him in some other creation of mine.  We will see.

When I reached my studio under the willows, I found this image.  The helmeted figure made a month a go is still here, but he was leaning over with a “spear” thrown into his body.  There wasn’t any other signs of damage or disturbance.  I removed the spear and set the figure up in another location and proceeded to make a new piece.  This is what I came up with before the bugs chased me out into the bright light.  With all the heaviness that life throws at us…I made this figure to remind myself to do a little dance every now and then.  It seems to help!

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Contents Under Pressure

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , , on August 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »

It’s been so hot and busy here that I haven’t had the chance to visit the river.  That will have to wait until this weekend.  In the meantime, I’ve added another exhibit to my unusual collections pages.  It’s perhaps a bit of a head scratcher since it consists of pictures of aerosol cans.  Looking through the archives, I noticed that I had enough can pictures that I could present them as a body of work. It’s just interesting to see what kind of package we can design around a product we can’t live without.  There’s also that hint of danger…”contents under pressure” that speaks of living life close to the edge.  And then there’s the old familiar stand by that this stuff regardless of its original purpose should not find its way into the watershed in the first place.  All these cans were photographed on location at the Falls of the Ohio State Park over the course of a few seasons.  To see this collection, check out “Contents Under Pressure” in my Pages section to the right of this column.  Thanks!

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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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Stroll Before a Storm

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 20, 2010| 11 Comments »

The other night after supper I had an hour or so to visit the river before the sun set.  So, I escaped to the river and my favorite park to check out the quality of the light as it slowly sets below the horizon.  During this time of year, the days are longer.  In short order, I was able to make this little figure from Styrofoam found on site.  What looks to be a green feather on this guy’s head is actually a miniature plastic skateboard missing its tiny wheels.  I used found coal for his eyes and his ears are small clam shells.  I tied some string around his waist for a belt.

Although it rained lightly a couple of days a go, things are looking a bit stagnant and dry in places.  The weatherman on the television gave some earlier hints that strong storms were a possibility for our area.  We shall wait and see.  For now, a quick stroll is in order before the rain comes or at least until the sun sets for another day.  Wandering near the river, I hear the calls of Killdeer plovers who are so good at sounding the alarm whenever danger is present…in this case, it’s me.  I managed this one quick photo of a bird hiding in an isolated patch of  grass.  The bright red eye-ring is visible making its eyes appear larger.

I noticed that whenever one of the resident vultures flew over, this bird would duck down in the grass.  Although the vultures don’t pose any danger, the Killdeer instinctively hide from what might be a bird of prey intent on eating it.  I have seen an American Kestrel make a meal of one of these large plovers before way out on the fossil beds on the Kentucky side.

There is a drying out occurring and all the small pools of water are evaporating.  In the process, they become more and more stagnant and I bet there’s a wealth of life in a single drop of this water.  I move the figure closer to the river’s edge to see what we can find.

The fishermen have had their moments.  Left on the bank are the remains of dead fish and the trash the anglers didn’t want to deal with packing back to their vehicles.  Of course, the vultures love all the fish and make short work of them.  What the birds miss…the flies find.

I do get a bit upset by the litter left behind by the fishermen.  I wouldn’t consider them sportsmen because they seem to have little regard for this resource.  I wish the people in charge of patrolling the park would come down here more often than they do.  I’m sure they would find many people out here fishing without a license.  I think some official presence visiting occasionally would be a good reminder to keep this place cleaner.

There are still isolated piles of previously collected river debris waiting for the trip to the landfill.  I hope at some point in the near future that this junk gets picked up for good.  For the moment, it represents a job half completed.  At this point in my visit, I perceive  that the quality of the light is different and a breeze is kicking up.  From the west I can see that the weatherman has a good shot of being right about his forecast.  A storm is on its way and I gather my stuff for the return trip home.  I hope the storm is a good one because this place could use a little freshening up.

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Styrofoam Spirituality

Posted in Absurd, Art, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , on July 15, 2010| 6 Comments »

Early morning at the Falls of the Ohio is often the best time to visit the river in the summertime.  Of course, you beat the hard-core heat of the day and there is a clean quality to the light that makes this landscape seem new.  The other animals seem to understand this and birds in particular are more active and expending energy in search of food.  I watched a pair of ospreys diving on fish under the beaks of the herons and struggle to carry away their prizes to a nest that is no doubt nearby.  Along the riverbank, red-winged blackbirds stop chasing each other long enough to pursue and eat the latest batch of mayflies to crawl out of this water.

Following a meandering path I reach the latest version of my temporary studio site under the willow trees.  The big figure with the lacrosse helmet is still here, but we have had visitors.  A saw blade I sometimes use to trim larger pieces of wood is jutting out of the figure’s abdomen, but otherwise there is no damage.  I remove the saw blade and stand the figure back up and turn my attention to making something new.  I found an unusual piece of Styrofoam that looks like folded drapery and I create this small figure that makes his debut in this post.  I remember thinking while I made him that he represented some kind of kneeling holy figure in his sacred robes.  Among the earliest written descriptions of the Ohio River come from French missionaries who called it ” La Belle Riviere”…the Beautiful River.

I wouldn’t describe myself as being religious in the common use of the term.  I would, however, say that what mysticism or spirituality I have been able to perceive in the world has come from contemplating nature and by making art.  Something in the power of creating something from nothing conjures up the divine for me.  I guess that’s what I like about using these river found materials…it’s all rubbish, but what I select and how I put things together has the ability to elicit a positive reaction in others.  It’s more than recycling at that point and becomes transformative.

Walking along the wood’s edge I come across this Large Wood Nymph (Cercyonis pegala) and I snap its picture.  My collection of butterfly images from the Falls is growing and I follow the same rule I have for the bird photos.  Everything I include in this project has to have been seen within the environs of the park.  I have seen lots of everything everywhere else, but if it wasn’t seen in the park than it doesn’t count for this project.  I want to get to know this place as well as I can and that includes learning the names of the life forms that inhabit or visit this space from time to time.  I’m also building up a nice field guide collection along the way!

Moving my Styrofoam holy man around, I come across the results of the river sweep that occurred several weeks a go.  It’s one thing to collect this stuff, but in order for it to mean anything…some follow through needs to happen.  It won’t be long before these plastic bags rip apart and we are right back where we started from.  It might even be harder to recruit volunteers the next time around because what’s the point right?

I recall from my art school days discussions of early modernism and spiritualism.  Each seems to have informed the other.  Kandinsky in particular stands out for me because of his theoretical writings.  I confess liking his words a little more than I cared for his later paintings.  What resonated with me is the idea that there is an inner necessity for both time and space that finds expression out of the inner necessity of the artist. 

The world was in a little better physical condition a century a go when Kandinsky and the early modernists were active.  People, other artists, ask me why I’m still doing what I’m doing at the Falls because surely by now I’ve made what points I can make?  My reply is that I’m still compelled to come out here, still feel the tug of inner necessity and with each passing day feel that what I’m doing is more important than before.  What is now necessary is that we need to acknowledge and care for the physical world and the other forms of life that also call this place home. 

Artists are important in that they possess the ability to help generate the visions that will help get us through this point in our development.  This is something which seems lacking to me at the moment.  Where is the optimism we should have at this point in the new century?  Is the blatant materialism all we can connect with anymore?  Fortunately, I’m meeting more and more young people who want to become artists that are actively questioning things again and I will offer my help to them however I can.

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Ariana’s River Adventure

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , on July 5, 2010| 9 Comments »

The long Fourth of July weekend has created a few opportunities to visit the river.  On one of my excursions I had a special guest accompany me.  I’m always happy to be able to share what I know and do at this place called the Falls of the Ohio.  In my day job, I direct an art program for adults with developmental disabilities.  For the last two years my program has been lucky to have interns from Yale University who are part of the Bulldogs in the Bluegrass effort to recruit intelligent, motivated, young people to consider professional opportunities in Louisville.  Sometimes it works!  In the twelve-year existence of the program, 35 graduates have moved to our city to begin their careers.  This year our intern is named Ariana Parenti.  She’s a soon to be senior art student and Philadelphia is her hometown.  I think she was curious about working with artists with disabilities and wondering what else in the not for profit world she could turn her art degree towards?  The internship is a ten week, paid work experience and the coordinators of the Bulldog program have scheduled many fun and educational activities for all the interns to participate in.  This trek to the Falls to make art from river junk is not one of them! 

Ariana and I talked about so many things that it’s hard to find a good place to begin.  So, we walked around the riverbank collecting odd interesting bits of stuff, taking pictures and occasionally watching what the fishermen were catching.  Since my last post, catfish have become the fish of choice or at least they were biting.  I wondered what it must be like to walk into a space you first experienced as a site on the internet? For Ariana, this would be a part of her adventure.  The interval between those two points are like the difference between a traditional drawing and a sculpture.  At least with the sculpture you can walk around the object which changes your perspective as you have a three-dimensional experience in your own space.  As we approached my Styro-studio, I could see that something was very different.  Some one had taken the dark-eyed figure from my previous post and left me with a totem-like construction made from materials I had gathered and stored on site.  That’s fine!  I love it when people play along and anyone is free to use what I have left under the willow trees.  I had been wanting to make a larger figure from my scavenged Styrofoam and now I had Ariana to help assist me.  On our walk we found one especially nice prop we used and it’s a discarded lacrosse helmet which is the first one of these I’ve come across out here.

After dumping the contents of my trusty and official Lewis and Clark collecting bag onto the sand, we started mixing and matching the stored Styrofoam.  We had the helmet and needed a head to go in it.  After that, finding a body that seemed to go with the head was next.  The hardest part is selecting the driftwood branches that had enough articulation and gesture to make decent limbs.  That’s not always easy when you are looking for something particular in a mountain of tangled wood.  Here’s an image of the work in progress.  The blue body on this guy is not actually polystyrene but may be some form of fiberglass?  I’ve seen archery targets made from this stuff which is light but dense enough to stop an arrow.

For me, working at the Falls is about making art from the stuff of life in the space of life.  Each informs and influences the other.  The riverbank and nearby woods are my theater whose stage I populate with odd characters that you can interact with and become a part of the show. The sculptures act as temporal focal points…this is what I made on this day.  The images document the context as it existed in the park during that particular moment and form a record of my activities.  My work has a relational aspect to it, perhaps not in the literal postmodern meaning of the term.  I include pictures of the wildlife I encounter in this blog because they are a part of this world too and should not be discounted and dismissed.

Ariana and I talked about our various school experiences, had lunch, and made a few small pieces from the junk on site.  Then I picked up our blue, helmeted friend and looked for good places to take his picture.  I returned to the big tire from the previous post and placed him inside the wheel well and this is what he looked like on this bright, warm, and sunny day.

There are a few other tires stuck in the now drying mud and we posed our figure in this landscape.  The tire seems like some large croquet wicket!  Perhaps this is what the figure is doing…playing some obscure game that has rules to it that nobody understands?

And now one image with Ariana in it so you can have some sense for scale!

Walking along the riverbank we stumbled upon an old friend.  It’s the remains of a large plush Pink Panther toy that was stuck in the clay.  I remember finding this thing out here last year (for another image see my Mutant Toys post from last July).  I lifted it and it was surprisingly heavy.  Ariana took my picture and I think this is one of the rare images of the Artist at Exit 0 featured in this blog.

Stopping among the willow trees closest to the water, we posed the figure atop a mass of its amazing root system.  Here our figure looks like he’s pontificating about something important like the value of clean water for example. 

Since the day was moving along and Ariana had other engagements, I stashed our sculpture back at the studio site.  He may show up in something else if he isn’t found by others first.  We toured the Interpretive Center and I noticed their exhibits are starting to look care worn and I understand plans are underway to freshen them up soon.  I think Ariana enjoyed herself and I know I did.  I can’t imagine having the Louisville experience without coming here at some point because for us this is where it began and continues to be relevant.  I’ll end this post for today with a sign I found in the men’s room.  It’s not something you typically find in such a space, but it conveys an important message.  All around us we are being affected by non-native species and some of them are destructive pests like the Emerald ash borer.  We definitely don’t want to find this little guy hitch hiking to our woods!

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Your Little Tour Guide

Posted in Absurd, Art, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Ohio River, Originality, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , on July 1, 2010| 7 Comments »

This past June became our hottest June on record breaking a mark that stood since 1952.  Before the month slid into history, there was time for one more adventure at the Falls of the Ohio.  Rising from the polystyrene and insulating foam, I constructed this little figure to be my guide and companion as we toured the sights together.  Here’s his very first picture.

The little Tour Guide’s hat is the cap from a deodorant stick, but it fits his Styrofoam head just right.  He offered to take me around to see what we could see on this sweltering day and I offered no resistance.  Following are a few of the marvels we came across as we walked the riverbank.  The fishing had been particularly good and our guide was able to land a fish of his own.  I’m not sure what he used for bait, but this fish is like no other I have seen before.  Looking closely, I could see it is made from green foam.

The last high water incident deposited a lot of wood and junk upon the bank and there is plenty to discover.  Among the more unusual finds was this wooden Easter Bunny who offered our guide an egg.  I’m guessing that this was originally a seasonal yard decoration used in pagan celebrations?  With a pink dress, this is obviously the female and it made me wonder what the male looked like and was he carrying an egg too?

Near the rabbit was a truck tire.  I know what you are thinking…what could be so special about that?  I feature them in this blog all the time.  Well, this tire is also a record breaker being the largest one that I have come across in the last seven years I have been working this project.  I bet this thing was originally very expensive and now it’s apparently worthless.

It’s usually a treat to find artworks made by others out here.  This time our guide showed me a series of sand drawings he came across.  I think the one where abstract wavy lines are coming out of a drum is my favorite one.  The sand drawing featuring the head with open mouth is a bit naughty and so I’m only showing you part of it.  Here are three images in succession.

We moved off of the sandy bank and headed towards the Interpretive Center.  The little guide told me that the day lilies were looking especially colorful and I couldn’t wait to see them.  I snapped this image of the guide by some very intensely orange blossoms.  These flower beds are just past their peak and I’m glad I saw them when I did. 

This Fourth of July weekend is shaping up to be cooler and so I’m anticipating being able to work out here a bit longer.  Thanks for coming along with us on this outing…we enjoyed showing you the sights.  I’ll close for now with this nice image from the day lily garden overlooking the Falls of the Ohio.

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Fishing in Common

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, ecosytem, nature, Ohio River, public art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , on June 29, 2010| 4 Comments »

Fishing is an important year round activity at the Falls of the Ohio.  When the right conditions are present (and this is best known by the fish) the fishing can be excellent.  Such was the situation this past weekend.  It was unbelievably hot and humid, but the fish were in the shallows and everything that fishes was out here.  Lining the more accessible banks and from boats, anglers were throwing both natural and artificial lures into the riffles and coming up with some nice stringers of fish.  On the less accessible fossil banks on the Kentucky side of the river and from strategically placed rocks in the flowing water, herons and vultures were waiting.

While the herons were actively fishing, the resident colony of Black vultures were doing their part by scavenging on dead fish.  I came across this one bird dining on this fish head from a large carp.  Their sharp beaks have no problem picking out the best morsels.

The human fishermen were catching a variety of big river fishes.  I watched one angler land a large Blue catfish that gave him quite a fight.  He placed the big catfish in a wire mesh cage which kept it fresh in the swiftly moving water.  Large rocks stacked on top of the box anchors it in place.

Among the other fish being caught included striped bass hybrids, channel cats, drum and more.  It is still not recommended to eat the larger bottom dwelling fish for fear of toxins in their tissues.  The smaller fish supposedly are alright if you don’t eat too many too frequently.  With the economic conditions as they are, I know there are many people out here augmenting their diets with these fish.  It’s not just about sport anymore.  The top two bass in this photo are about 3 or 4 pounds each.

I was doing my own brand of angling but not for fish!  I walked the riverbank and collected as much Styrofoam as I could find and carried it  to my studio spot under the willow trees.  This is what it looked like when I posed it all for a photograph.  Until the next bout of high water, I’m going to try to use as much of this material as I can for my sculptures.

I have some large chunks in here, but the heat prevented me from getting too ambitious with it.  After drinking much of the water I brought with me, I did make one modest figure and moved it around the different contexts presented by the Falls of the Ohio on this very hot and sticky day.

Here’s the nameless figure with the dark eyes standing in what was its nursery.  This guy has walnut eyes and his nose is a plastic strawberry.  I’m guessing that this figure is about 3 1/2 feet tall, but truthfully, I don’t pay much attention to scale out here where everything is as big as life to me.  Most of the time, I prefer you gauge scale by comparing it to what else is  present in the context that you may be able to recognize.  Not knowing also lends some mystery that I find appealing.

First, I posed this figure near the spot where I made it.  I found a plastic flower and placed it in his hand.  This area is cool and shady, but the mosquitoes are also waiting for any passer-by pumping blood through their veins!  I quickly picked this piece up and ventured to the riverbank where the insects aren’t as bad.  The soft mud makes it easier to stand this figure up, but traction out here can be a slippery affair.

So far, it’s looking like this June will either be the hottest on record or second hottest.  The difference between the two is about a degree.  The final place I photographed my newest figure is by this improvised child’s fort.  This is the kind of activity my two sons enjoy doing out here.  My sculpture looks at home and is enjoying a respite from the oppressive heat.  The shade does look inviting!  I returned “dark eyes” to my outdoor studio, collected my belongings and trudged back to my car.

Today’s final image came from this morning’s adventure.  I saw this trumpet creeper vine growing on a tall tree and thought it attractive.  When I got home and downloaded my pictures I could see that many small bees were swarming around the blooms pollinating the plant.  This is what I like about the Falls of the Ohio.  In a relatively small area, you can see so much life going about its business.

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