November 13, 2011 by artistatexit0
We have had a warm and mostly dry autumn thus far at the Falls of the Ohio. I’m taking advantage of another lovely weekend to go exploring along my favorite spots on the riverbank. I usually begin by going down to the water’s edge to see if anything new has washed up. Here are a few of the objects I came across and added to my ever burgeoning collecting bag. Some of my finds I will use in my sculptures while the more interesting objects will enter one of the various river collections I have been assembling. As usual, I find some doll or doll element along the river’s edge . Aside from plastic balls…dolls are the toy that I find the most which has always struck me as being odd. 
First, I came across this tiny doll with purple hair. If you look closely you can see burrs that are snagged in her hair-do. Later, I found this larger doll that was buried in the sand. I flipped her over and took her “portrait” and then walked away. It’s very possible that I will find her again in a different context. 
My most interesting find of the day was this plastic ax-head. I’m always on the look out for any real artifacts from the Indigenous people who lived here for thousands of years before Europeans arrived, but I have never found even the slightest fragment of pottery or the flakes left over from chipping projectile points. I think the river here is just too dynamic for those kind of discoveries. Nevertheless, this plastic ax-head says a lot about the time in which it was made. First, it is made of hollow plastic which is of course not nearly as durable as flint. Second, it clearly says where it was made which in this case is Hong Kong. Lastly, it promotes an inaccurate characterization of who are native people are. Here are the images that are on this souvenir tomahawk. 
After scoping out the river’s edge…I move up the riverbank with the larger pieces of Styrofoam I have found and submit to my own urge to make something. Here is this day’s figure starting with the head in progress. You can gauge its size from my feet which are intruding in the bottom edge of the frame. As I walk along, I’m also looking for expressive sticks to use for arms and legs. The only tool I’m using here is my pocket knife.
After putting all the pieces together…I move back down to the river and try to capture another portrait in the context of this day. Usually, I take several images and a few of these capture how active the river was.
The sunlight was bright on this day and cast strong shadows which I like. One difficulty of photographing polystyrene is that it is so relentlessly white that it reflects the light so strongly often washing out my images. Sometime’s it is if the light is emanating from the figure itself. I’m sure photographing some of my sculptures with infrared film would yield interesting results.
The last picture I snapped is where I left the figure before heading home. I came to call him “Wedgehead” because of the shape of his noggin. He was last seen standing in what looks to be tall grass, but is in fact young willow trees that sprouted since the last flooding.
Soon, all the leaves will be down and the bare bones of the Falls of the Ohio will show itself. The sense of space will also greatly change creating another stage for the drama that is the Falls of the Ohio. Have a great week everybody!
Posted in Absurd, art and environment, collections, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, sculpture, Styrofoam | Tagged Art, artistatexit0, Beach combing, dolls, Falls of the Ohio, Kentucky, Louisville, nature, plastic, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam | 3 Comments »
November 6, 2011 by artistatexit0
I met my friend the “Professor” by the old cottonwood tree that has been turned into a hang-out of sorts for the local teenagers. I don’t get to see him as often as I would like to…so the time we spend together is meaningful for me. Usually, we pick a topic to converse about and see where it goes from there. This time, since it was the end of October we decided that a Halloween-theme was in order. By now it shouldn’t surprise the regular readers of this blog that all kinds of holiday related stuff also washes into the park along with all the regular junk that unfortunately is in the Ohio River.
The Professor and I have been friends for a few years now. I first met him here by the river. We are both beachcombers and it has been fun to recount our various discoveries. It is interesting how people like to collect different things and the Professor keeps his own cabinet of curiosities which is composed of his river finds. When I caught up with him this morning, he had already been prowling the river’s beaches and he was anxious to show me his treasures. This is what he decided to keep to add to his growing river collection.
It’s not everyday that you encounter a lobster at the Falls of the Ohio. On occasion, you do come across the small crayfish or “crawdads” that the herons and raccoons like to eat. The Professor seemed especially happy to have found it. His next exhibit was a bit peculiar and a tad distasteful.
Yes, it’s an old intact jar of pickles that reminded the Professor of the preserved specimens you might find in a medical museum. While these “albino” pickles are indeed scary…they are not overtly Halloween decorations. There was something inside the tree house that the Professor said did fit the bill and here is a snapshot of it.
Now here indeed was a true Halloween decoration that has been augmented with an improvised eye-patch and the worm dangling from its bony mouth is a plastic worm used for fishing. This find was hanging up inside the tree house and my guess is that it is being used now to impart some pirate atmosphere.
With his beady little eyes shining, the Professor was anxious to see what I had brought. Reaching into my collecting bag I pulled out an envelope of photographs. One difference between the Professor and me is that I no longer feel compelled to pick up and carry home every little thing I find. Sometimes a photographic image of it is enough for me and this set off a conversation about how nothing replaces being able to handle the real thing and how computers and on-line shopping are weirdly vicarious experiences. I let the Professor rant a bit and of course…he’s right. Regardless, I did show him my images and I’m glad to also share them with you. Most of them are Jack-o-lantern candy containers for holding the actual trick or treat loot. So, here are the pictures which span about a year and a half worth of finds.
Here’s a few smaller novelties that probably were part of the candy’s packaging.
I once found a skeletal reference of my own and I think it was used as a stopper for some kind of candy container?
And now for a couple of found disguises.
This full-face mask looks like a hockey goalie’s mask, but I think it recalls one of those scary Halloween movies which I’m not fond of. The next one is more my style!
I thought it was humorous to encounter this plastic nose mask! Okay, one last image before total boredom sets in. Here’s another jack-o-lantern pumpkin I came across after last spring’s flooding. It’s meant as a house decoration and was as large as a good-sized pumpkin. It was so muddy where it rested that I just took this picture and went on my way. Here’s hoping you all had more treats than tricks during the last Halloween.
Posted in Absurd, Art, collections, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio River, recycled art, Styrofoam, unusual collection | Tagged Art, artistatexit0, Beach combing, decorations, Falls of the Ohio, Halloween, Jack-o-lanterns, Louisville, Styrofoam art | 10 Comments »
October 25, 2011 by artistatexit0
After a brief cold and wet spell I made it out to the Falls of the Ohio last Saturday. The Ohio River was rising as were the temperatures which had dipped into the 30 degree mark for a few days. One look around here and there is no doubt that it is autumn in Kentuckiana. The willow leaves were noticeably yellower and many of the trees were in the process of losing their foliage. I was scouting around for what else was different in this environment and spotted this tiny butterfly moving about.
This small whitish butterfly was sipping on something on the sand. I was practically nose to nose with it and recognized that it was a member of the skipper family. Last year was such a banner year for butterflies at the Falls and to my eye…this year was a noticeable drop off. After following this skipper for a few yards I was able to take this image of it. At home I identified it as the Common Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus communis) which is considered a very common species. It seemed rather late in the season for a butterfly, but I was able to observe a few rag-tag Buckeye butterflies and a few tattered Viceroys too. Funny how I had never noticed this skipper before. Nevertheless, I felt a sense of personal discovery as though I was the first person ever to see this tiny revelation. It was about this time I heard a distinctive tapping coming from a stand of willow trees. Somewhere a woodpecker was plying its trade.
With its jet-black wings, white body, and bright red bill this bird is easy to identify…it’s the Pied Woodpecker. About this time of year the northern population of this interesting woodpecker begins its southerly migration to the warmer climes of Central America. Although I had added this bird to my “Life List” while on a family trip to Wisconsin…this was the first Pied Woodpecker I have seen at the Falls of the Ohio. I observed it moving up and down the trunks of the willow trees exploring the crevasses in the bark for small insects. It likes to move head down in its search for food like nuthatches are known to do. Every now and then it would use its bill to chip away the wood to uncover the bugs it sought and it seemed quite unconcerned about me taking pictures of it. I snapped as many as I could as I followed it on its path through the woods.
Soon it came to a grove of trees that were covered in wild grape vines. The Pied Woodpecker explored the bark here too, but I saw it augmenting its diet with the tiny fruits this vine was producing. Every once in a while it would make this nasally sound that I tried imitating. Fortunately, this bird didn’t take offense and fly away. Perhaps it “cut me some slack” for at least trying to talk to it in its own language…or at least that was my thought at that moment.
From the vine-covered trees, the woodpecker next flew to a large log with a large exposed root mass. When this tree was living it must have been huge. The Pied Woodpecker didn’t linger here long and I watched its rising and dipping flight pattern as it crossed over the Ohio River into Kentucky. I wonder if I will ever see another of its kind here again? That’s the funny thing. There are birds that are considered common and regularly recorded here that I have yet to see. I’ve seen them elsewhere, but not here at the Falls of the Ohio. That’s the thing about birds…their extreme mobility can make them unpredictable!
Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, environmental art, nature, nature photography, Originality, recycled art | Tagged Art, artistatexit0, butterflies, creative ornithology, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, nature, nature photography, recycled art, Styrofoam, unnatural history, upscaled art | 4 Comments »
October 19, 2011 by artistatexit0
For many years I’ve been beach combing at the Falls of the Ohio and I bet I’ve looked at thousands of bottles and never found one with a note in it…until now! I was going through a bag at home where I’ve stored bottles I’ve collected in the park when I noticed one that had something rolled up inside of it. I don’t know how long I’ve had this tiny bottle, but the enclosed note didn’t register at the time of discovery.
The bottle itself is somewhat unusual because it is so small. It’s the size I remember being served on airline flights when people purchased mixed drinks. The bottle is plastic and originally contained cherry flavored vodka which doesn’t sound too appetizing to me, but what the heck. I fished out the note which is made of waxy paper with silver foil on one side. The note itself is written with what looks to be orange color pencil and was a bit hard to read. I got a little lump in my throat when I read it and it says…”I miss you Mom & Dad, New Albany, IN”. New Albany is found down river from the Falls, across from Louisville, and couldn’t have floated here from there. So, I surmise the note was written in the park and then thrown into the Ohio River which then washed back on the beach. Today is my Mom’s birthday and now I’m going to call her to see if she had a good one? So long for now.
Posted in collections, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, recycled art, unusual collection, watershed | Tagged artistatexit0, Beach combing, Falls of the Ohio, flotsam and jetsam, found objects, lost and found, note in a bottle, Ohio River | 8 Comments »
October 14, 2011 by artistatexit0
I’m at the Falls of the Ohio again because the Ohio River has been priming my subconscious all week with the sound of running water. I am also very close to finishing the piece I’m making for an invitational art exhibit I’m participating in which revolves around the issue of coal and mountain top removal. This is a topic of some importance in Kentucky. We have a love/hate relationship with coal. On the one hand it is an energy resource we have in some abundance and it does provide much-needed jobs and revenue, however, the toll it takes on everything it touches is also well documented. Over the last few posts you have seen some of the process I’ve been involved with the coal the Ohio River has deposited at the Falls. Today I’m gathering the last of the coal I need for my art.
The spring floods of 2011 washed a lot of coal into the park. My “usual” Falls of the Ohio project touches upon another important issue which is the quality of our number one vanishing resource… fresh, clean water. As is the case with most aspects of the environment, few issues stand in isolation from all the other problems out there. Considerable overlapping is the norm which makes all these problems that much more complex and challenging.
The piece I’m making for this invitational exhibit isn’t intended to be a didactic one. I’m not sure that screaming at people ultimately does much good when it comes to something as complicated as the coal issue. I also don’t pretend to have the answers. I’m hoping that the artwork I’m making with this coal will operate effectively just under the surface of people’s imaginations where it might linger long enough to resonate. We will see. In the meantime, I’ve “enjoyed” working with this material. I have decided that it does have an odd beauty of its own especially when the river tumbles away its rough edges. I have found simply creating small mounds of coal whether in old car tires or just by itself to be a reflective act.
After playing with the coal for a few hours, I decided it was time to do something else. It has been a while since I last baited a hook and went fishing. I got the idea when I came across a long willow branch that a beaver had gnawed all the bark off for food. Looking around the riverbank, I also found a hook, lead sinkers, and enough waste fishing line to outfit my found pole. Fishing floats are something I find in abundance and always have a few in my collecting bag. I also pick up the lead weights that other fishermen lose because this metal doesn’t need to be out here either. Looking under rocks, I scrounged up enough insect larvae to use for bait. Now I was ready to throw my line in the water…and wait.
I guess about twenty minutes passed before I got my first nibble. I lost my bait several times before I was successful in hooking a fish. The sight of my float going completely under the water was a thrilling one!
This fish didn’t give me much of a fight. After a few runs in different directions I could feel it tire and lifted it out of the water. To be honest, I didn’t have the slightest idea of what species this was, but I know that I have never seen anything quite like it here before. It’s coloration was unusual with its light blue body and bright red tail.
It’s eyes are large and I surmised that it usually lives in the depths of the river where light rarely reaches it. I thought it had some similarities to the sauger which is a walleye relative and also found here, but it lacked the sharp teeth that the sauger has. It’s gill covers or operculums were metallic and reminded me of the bottoms of aluminum cans that the river washes into the park.
I quickly took a few more photographs and then released this fish safely back into the river. When I got home I tried to look up some information about my catch, but couldn’t find much about it. Apparently, Rafinesque and LeSueur, two early naturalists who described many of the fish found in the Ohio River and Falls of the Ohio, were mum on this subject which was disappointing. Until I can locate better reference material I decided to just call it something descriptive like the Red-tailed Goggle-eye. Of course, any information that any of you out there might have would be welcomed! Seeing this fish I also had another more disturbing thought. What if this is evolution in action and the continued degradation of the environment is shaping new species from older ones that can deal with the new reality? Evolve or die. This brought the question of man as an agent of evolutionary change to mind since we are culpable for many of the changes going on in the larger world. Well for now, I’ll just sleep on it and see what turns up tomorrow. See you by the water!
Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Ohio River, recycled art, Styrofoam, watershed | Tagged Art, artistatexit0, coal, Falls of the Ohio, fish, fishing, found materials art, mountain top, nature, recycled art | 6 Comments »
October 7, 2011 by artistatexit0
After the briefest cold period, we have had a glorious week of perfect weather. It’s been good to get back to the river after having the focus of the project shift away from the park and into a gallery. Looking around, you can begin to detect those subtle shifts in color beginning to happen in the tree leaves. Actually, there is quite a bit of color all around when you begin paying attention to it. For instance, check out this morning-glory vine.
This purple flower is practically glowing. And the Viceroy butterfly is all in burnt orange as it mimics the Monarchs that currently are migrating on their way south. That large black vein crossing this butterfly’s hind wing is found only on the Viceroy.
Now blooming at the Falls are several species of the Composite flower family that look so close to one another that you need to have a few on hand for direct comparisons. Many are yellow in color like these twin blossoms.
When I wasn’t noticing the local color, I was poking around for old booze bottles. I found a few more to add to another piece I’m making at home. I also came across the remains of another bowling ball and I added this one to my collection. This is how I found it.
At first I thought I was going to dig this ball out of the dirt, but I didn’t need to. What you see is essentially all there is! It’s just a chip of the ball that happens to include a couple of finger holes, the ball’s brand name, and the name of its former owner…Gladys Coons inscribed on the surface. I dropped the fragment into the water to clean it off and the metallic colors begin to shine.
With the Styrofoam I also found out here I fashioned yet another figure and posed it next to an old tire that I had placed river found coal into. First here’s the tire nearly overgrown with plants since my last visit.
Now for a more eccentric view with my Styro-figure posed above it followed by a shot that places things in better perspective.
It’s been a few years since I worked with coal as intensively as I have this year. Our spring floods did a lot to redeposit this mineral in the form of rounded coal pebbles and gravel.
I reposed this simple figure several times mostly in the area that had the most coal deposits. Much of the time I was filling empty bottles with coal for that other project I mentioned. In places you can find “beaches” of coal gravel several inches deep. Intermixed with the coal are white mussel shell fragments and a bit of brown tree bark. I will post images of my bottle sculpture once it is finished. For now, I will leave with a picture of where I left this particular figure in the park. I found a different arm and placed this piece in the context of these beautiful flowers.
Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam | Tagged Art, artistatexit0, coal, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, nature, nature photography, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam | Leave a Comment »
September 24, 2011 by artistatexit0
Hard to believe a week has passed since this exhibition opened and summer has made room for autumn as well. Such is the passing of time. As promised here are a few views of the show my work is in which opened at Bellarmine University’s McGrath Gallery on September 16. The exhibit is entitled “Outcasts and Artifacts, artwork from a disposable world”, “Al Gorman and Scott Scarboro”. I snapped a few installation views before people arrived for the opening. Thanks to friends and family as well as a well-timed snippet in the local paper… a good mix of folks came out to see our work.
I have a lot of stuff I’ve gathered and made to select from over the years and I decided now was a good time to see my sign collection hanging on a wall. I found that I still enjoy looking at these artifacts. I like hand painted signs and one of my very first jobs was working in a sign shop. I have this idea about history being interpreted from examining the existing fragments and this collection fits. I also like finding the occasional sign where the universe is seemingly “speaking” to you by providing enigmatic clues.
My “Fake Food Collection” was another one of my various collections I put on display. I have shown this before, however, it seems each time I go to the river I find another piece or two for it. As a result, this collection keeps getting bigger and bigger and no longer fits in the Styrofoam box I use to store it. I found every piece at the Falls of the Ohio courtesy of the Ohio River beginning eight years a go. These are the pieces I did find and I often wonder about the ones that got away! To me, all the predominantly plastic representations of food are another signal of our disconnect from nature. The smell of the plastic is really noticeable. I think this collection presents initially as something humorous until the reality of it sets in. This seems to be a part of my art’s modus operandi.
Among the sculptures I displayed are a couple of early pieces that I have never exhibited before. Such is the case with “Fang” on the right and my version of the meeting of the explorers “Lewis and Clark”. “Fang” still has its original dirt on it. Also in this shot are my “Squirt Gun Collection” and a small predatory animal I called the “River Ghost” which I featured in a blog post last year. Most of these Styrofoam sculptures I consider to be “relics” of a larger process I engage in and weren’t originally intended to be stand alone objects. Although I have saved many works over time, the vast majority of them were left behind to await their fates in the park.
Scott Scarboro is an interesting artist who lives in New Albany, Indiana that also works with found objects and materials. His stuff is more “urban” than mine and he makes use of old toys and yard sale and flea market finds. He likes to tinker with the mechanical and electrical workings in these toys so they neither move nor sound as originally intended. Of late, Scott has been exploring the uses of sound in sculpture in public art settings. The paintings began life as wall paper remnants that then became drop cloths that Scott worked back into. Scott and I have been friends for many years and our artistic paths seem to intersect frequently.
Another view from the gallery. Scott made the robot painting as well as the lamp. The two of us spoke to an evening art appreciation class at the university that went really well. We were able to engage the class with our art and ideas and I believe most of the students were not art majors? As a result of our talk many of these students came out for the opening reception.
Two “devilish” works by me and Scott. The Styrofoam sculpture I entitled “Faun or Blue-tongued Devil” and the wall piece Scott made using a toy jet fighter plane. One idea that both of us like working with is “repurposing” existing objects and making new statements from them. The world is after all already filled with a multitude of objects that can be reinterpreted without using freshly extracted resources from nature.
Also in the show were two Styro-turtles I’ve made. The white one was featured in one of my recent posts as the “Cottonwood Turtle”. I was pleased by how that story and images turned out. Both turtles include old bicycle helmets in their making. The black one’s body under the helmet is actually a foam wig stand in the shape of a human head. For many of the works I presented, I also included laminated hard copies from my blog posts that showcase the sculpture on exhibit. I have to say that I still prefer seeing my works in the contexts of where they were created and as a result I probably don’t pursue the exhibition opportunities available to me. In closing, here is one final shot featuring three of my pieces and a shameless sign I painted to get gallery visitors to also visit my riverblog! I still feel that this is the best place to get a fuller sense of what I’m doing at the Falls of the Ohio. All the rest is fragmentary and tells a smaller part of the story. My thanks go out to Bellarmine University and Caren Cunningham for the invitation to exhibit and Laura Hartford for all her hard work in preparing for this show.
Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, collections, creativity, environmental art, Green, Louisville, Kentucky, recycled art, unusual collection | Tagged Art, art exhibition, art gallery, artistatexit0, Bellarmine University, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, Louisville, McGrath Gallery, recycled art, Scott Scarboro, Styrofoam | 10 Comments »
September 18, 2011 by artistatexit0
I was looking for materials for a new project I’m working on and came upon this event on the driftwood pile at the Falls of the Ohio. There is so much wood massed and interlocked with itself that I wondered if fire could be a possibility here? The answer to that question is obviously yes.
I don’t know what started the fire…it could have been set by man or it could have been a lightning strike. The latter part of our summer has been dry. The fire was quick and essentially burned the surface of most of the larger logs out here as black as coal. I noticed that part of this raft of wood snagged next to this brick foundation of a building that has been a wreck as long as I have been coming out here which is over twenty years now. I don’t know what this building was originally used for and I wonder if this could have been some person’s house once upon a time? That might not be right since this area is prone to flooding nearly every year.
One thing I know was that someone tried to put this fire out. I came across quite a length of fire hose that had been cut. The canvas and rubber hose bore a stamp that said it was made in Canada. Perhaps the hose was severed because the fire swirled quickly becoming unpredictable and all this wood presented many opportunities for hang ups and snags. It would be hard to maneuver over it. Seems there was a cut and run moment and the hose was left behind. A sculptor friend of mine, Don Lawler, said that cut lengths of fire hose are perfect for protecting the edges of his limestone sculptures when he hoists them into to position with his ropes and crane. I think I will salvage some of this hose for my sculptor friends.
One reason I was on the driftwood pile was to look for empty booze bottles. I collected a variety of them in different sizes and made from both glass and plastic. They had to have their caps still on them and I preferred that their labels were soaked off by the river. A found quite a few today to go with the ones I have been collecting over the summer. I’m participating in a group exhibit where the artists address in some way the issues of mountain top removal and our need for coal. I have been filling up both bottles and discarded tires with the coal chunks and gravel that washed into here during the last flooding which also brought in all the driftwood that recently carbonized. Searching under the vines I did find pockets of coal gravel that were several inches deep in places. When I open up each empty bottle there is this heavy malted alcohol aroma that get neutralized by the coal. I’m still working on my coal piece and in the meantime…my exhibit at Bellarmine University with Scott Scarboro opened a couple of nights a go. I’ll post a few shots of the installation in my next post, but in closing here is one view of materials in my church studio room on Barrett Avenue. See you soon.
Posted in Art, art and environment, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, Ohio River, recycled art | Tagged Art, artistatexit0, Bellarmine Universtiy, bottle, coal, driftwood, Falls of the Ohio, fire hose, Ohio River, recycled art | 3 Comments »
September 7, 2011 by artistatexit0
It’s the Falls of the Ohio State Park in late summer. We haven’t had any significant rain in a few weeks and the fossil beds are exposed as the river has retreated away. This isn’t a permanent condition…just the way it is during this season. Visitors are walking over the rocks and admiring the many ancient fossil corals that during the rest of the year are under water.
The best time to get a sense of the extent of the fossil beds is during summer. From the top of the riverbank you can get a good overview of the area. You can see across the fossil beds to the high wall that keeps the Ohio River at bay. Bird watchers are scoping the rocks and the top of that wall on the look out for seasonal birds or that once in a lifetime rarity. Well today was their and my lucky day! I was sitting by the picnic table when in the far distance I noticed something large and white winging its way across the ancient limestone terrain. At first I thought it was a pelican, but it clearly wasn’t big enough. That’s when I heard one of the bird watching flock who also spotted it say that he thought it was a heron or egret of some kind. I grabbed my camera and hustled down to the river.
I watched the white bird circle the area by the lower tainter gates and I anticipated its possible landing spot. As I approached the area my mental field guide was going through all the possible species. Great Egrets are seasonally common here and while they are white…they do not possess a black bill. One white wader that does have a black bill is the Snowy Egret, however, it is smaller and has black legs with yellow feet. Snowy Egrets come to the Falls but they are less common. It couldn’t be a Whooping Crane because I couldn’t see any black tips on the wings. For a moment, I even thought this bird might even be an albino. Nevertheless, it was shaping up to be a mystery which are among the most fun birds of all.
I saw the bird alight in the sedges and grasses near the river which is where I took these photographs. This beautiful bird was distinctive with its black bill and white head crest. It’s tail feathers were also tipped in black. I watched it catch and eat grasshoppers that were numerous in the weeds. For the moment, I would concentrate on taking pictures and being discreet. I could always identify it later in the comfort of my home, but already I knew it wasn’t a bird normally found here or in our country. This bird’s beauty was enough and knowing its name wouldn’t make it more beautiful. Time stood still until the bird spooked or just decided to fly off. Later that day I saw the heron return to the river and I hung around hoping for just this opportunity.
I was struck by the great contrast between the snow whiteness of the bird and the dingy black of the tire resting in the water. I thought the heron was exhibiting signs of distress or anxiety, but I was surely projecting my own feelings onto this animal…or maybe not!
In one of the most curious bird behavior moments I have ever observed, the heron walked over to a group of discarded plastic bottles and started hitting them with its bill. I guess it was just checking them out? A passing fisherman came too close and the bird was gone for good. I took a deep breath and hoped that I had a few good images and turned for home. The bird turned out to be the Black-billed Heron which is more accustomed to being found around the heat of the equator. Few confirmed records exist of this species being seen this far north. But since it’s been hot just about everywhere this year, the right conditions were present for it to make this appearance. This same individual would create quite a bird watching stir wherever it was sighted in the United States and even made the cover of several bird watching magazines. The Falls of the Ohio was as far north as this bird was seen and for me it was a happy privilege to see a bird that even John James Audubon never saw.
Postscript: Readers familiar with the riverblog know that the Black-billed Heron was made with materials deposited at the Falls of the Ohio. These found materials include: River polished Styrofoam, plastic, sticks, river tumbled coal, the black tail feathers were cut from the soles of cast off shoes. Thanks for tagging along on this avian adventure!
Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam | Tagged adventure, Art, artistatexit0, birds, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, garbage art, heron, nature photography, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam | 12 Comments »
August 31, 2011 by artistatexit0
August has been the toughest month and I have two measly posts to show for it. The ankle is better and thanks for all the well wishes I received. I guess my other newsworthy item is that my trusty camera broke while on expedition to the Falls of the Ohio. I received the dreaded “lens error restart the camera” message and of course everything I tried after reading whatever I could about fixing it…didn’t work. Now, I will need to have the pros look at it. Although I have never dropped my camera, I am, however, guilty of working in a dusty and sandy environment. I’ll bet a well placed grain of sand is all it takes to render the most precise instrument useless. If my camera proves to be a lost cause…then this was its last adventure.
A couple of weeks a go I was approached by a person who was looking for a friend that was last seen at the Falls of the Ohio. The missing individual had made a phone call to his friend stating where he was and that he would remain at the Falls for a while, but had not been heard from since then. I was being asked to guide the concerned friend to the places mentioned in their phone conversation. Perhaps the missing individual would still be there or some clues as to what happened to him? Our journey took us to the western section of the park over the sweltering fossil beds. Like I mentioned earlier, August has been a bear.
We walked by large areas of purple loosestrife flowers that were growing in the moist soil and sands near the edge of the river. For a few moments, we lingered over the flowers and watched all the insects drawn to them. There was a profusion of butterflies and more than a few exotic wasps and bees. Each year it seems the loosestrife flowers are spreading and their nectar should make the insects very happy. The place we were walking to was just a head of us. I featured it in a recent post called the “Mahalo Tree House”. It’s a wonderful old cottonwood tree that recently was turned into a “club house” by kids I think? Here are two recent views as we approached the tree.
My guest became excited to see this unique tree house and mentioned to me that it was exactly as described in his friend’s conversation. We walked over a couple old fire pits that proved this site had been occupied recently. I made a few mental notes of other changes I observed since my last visit, but kept those to myself.
My companion grew excited when he spotted the plastic rabbit in his clay niche. This was one of the details mentioned by the missing friend. There was another clue as well.
The garbage bag that had been left behind during my last visit was now full. Who was going to carry it up the bank to dispose of in a responsible manner? There were other signs that started to make me feel uneasy. What do you make of this?
Do you think it is respectful to the tree to spray paint it? I think not. There were other ill omens all around us. Someone or some group had been decorating the place with found bones. Several clusters of bones were hanging on the end of strings attached to the tree. Here’s an example of this.
The oddest bone creation, however, was the weird face we found. It was made from a pelvis and vertebrae that I think originally belonged to a small deer. Some man-made elements in the form of fishing float eyes and a fake flower were also added. It took me a moment to register where the eyes might have originally came from. Black magic marker was used to draw additional designs on the bone. The head’s eyes had a way of following you around the interior of the tree house. The bone additions definitely made the place seem primitive.
My guest and I were feeling uneasy when we made the discovery. We found the missing friend or what was left of him behind the main trunk of the cottonwood tree.
It was too difficult to tell if the friend had succumbed to natural causes or had help of some kind? All that was left were the bones and fortunately none of them was used to decorate the tree. One part of the mystery had been solved…the friend had been found. It was decided to leave the remains were they lay so that law enforcement could conduct their investigation.
All that was left now was to say good-bye and retrace our steps along the river. My companion was quiet for the most part. The one time he broke his silence was when we passed two barefoot boys playing next to the water. The surviving friend said it reminded him of his own childhood when he and his late sidekick would skip rocks off the surface of the Ohio River. Here’s hoping September will be a kinder month.
Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, public art, recycled art, sculpture | Tagged Art, artistatexit0, bones, Falls of the Ohio, found art, found materials, loosestrife, nature, recycled art, Styrofoam sculpture, tree house | 9 Comments »
« Newer Posts - Older Posts »
We have had a warm and mostly dry autumn thus far at the Falls of the Ohio. I’m taking advantage of another lovely weekend to go exploring along my favorite spots on the riverbank. I usually begin by going down to the water’s edge to see if anything new has washed up. Here are a few of the objects I came across and added to my ever burgeoning collecting bag. Some of my finds I will use in my sculptures while the more interesting objects will enter one of the various river collections I have been assembling. As usual, I find some doll or doll element along the river’s edge . Aside from plastic balls…dolls are the toy that I find the most which has always struck me as being odd. 
First, I came across this tiny doll with purple hair. If you look closely you can see burrs that are snagged in her hair-do. Later, I found this larger doll that was buried in the sand. I flipped her over and took her “portrait” and then walked away. It’s very possible that I will find her again in a different context. 
My most interesting find of the day was this plastic ax-head. I’m always on the look out for any real artifacts from the Indigenous people who lived here for thousands of years before Europeans arrived, but I have never found even the slightest fragment of pottery or the flakes left over from chipping projectile points. I think the river here is just too dynamic for those kind of discoveries. Nevertheless, this plastic ax-head says a lot about the time in which it was made. First, it is made of hollow plastic which is of course not nearly as durable as flint. Second, it clearly says where it was made which in this case is Hong Kong. Lastly, it promotes an inaccurate characterization of who are native people are. Here are the images that are on this souvenir tomahawk. 
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 