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From the River’s Heart

Posted in Art, art and the environment, nature, Photograpy, tagged Absurd, Art, art and nature, art and the environment, art journey, art process, art studio, artist at exit 0, bottle of pebbles, Carnegie Center for Art and History, creative process, driftwood, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, lost and found, plastic, plastic heart, railroad bridge, sense of place, Styrofoam on January 19, 2015| 20 Comments »

Happy 2015 to all from the Falls of the Ohio State Park! This is my first post of the new year which has started auspiciously for me. I am happy to report that I found a new day job! I am the new Coordinator of Public Programs and Engagement at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana. About this time last year I was showing my own river art at this organization. It’s funny how things worked out…I had a feeling that my opportunities were leading me to the north bank of the Ohio River and that’s what happened. I found this plastic heart in the mud of the Indiana riverbank about a week before I was offered the job. I wonder if it has significance?

My relationship with the Carnegie Center for Art and History goes back to the early 1990’s when as a staff member at the Louisville Visual Art Association I helped to install the Indiana version of the Children’s Free Art Classes on the Carnegie Center’s gallery walls. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to have exhibited my own work here with the latest being the Potential in Everything show with Michael Wimmer that was up this time last year! There has to be a lot of serendipity in play here for all the stars to line up as they did and so I am feeling it was meant to be. I will be creating new workshop opportunities and other programming to help the center with its community-minded mission. It’s a new challenge for a new year!

With the new job and a recent cold spell I haven’t had the opportunity to visit the river until this three-day weekend. I heard that 2014 was the warmest year ever recorded across the globe. Today our temps are in the low 50’s which is quite a change from the teens we just experienced. I grabbed my walking stick and collecting bag and made a day at the river. I have been doing various bottle projects and here is a new one. I found a plastic liquor bottle that still had its cap on it. It’s interesting to note that most bottles I find with screw-top bottle caps are discarded with their caps on. By a deposit of Ice Age gravel, I was able to fill the bottle with river-tumbled white and pale yellow quartz pebbles. Not sure how I will use this, but will probably factor into a new artwork soon. Being outside on such a fine day is something else I wish I could bottle for future use when the cold, damp, and gray returns. For now I place the bottle in my collecting bag and move on. There are other things to find and discover.

Next to the flattened top of an aluminum can I found this small, partial jaw bone. I think it’s from a skunk or some other small carnivore, but will need to check the dentition more carefully. After taking this picture, I picked the mandible up and placed it into my bag. This find will factor into something else I put together before day’s end.

The mud and melting ice made checking out the river’s edge problematical and so I headed up the riverbank and into the willow trees. I visited my outdoor atelier and decided to do a little “house cleaning”. I swept the leaves and dirt off of the circular metal platform that has been here for several years. If I could have figured out how to get this object home, I probably would have done so by now. As it is, I like using it as a work surface and place to sit. My other stashed materials are nearby. To me, the platform is still a “U.F.O.”…which stands for “Unknown Floating Object”. I think it has something to do with mooring barges, but could be wrong about that. I also like that it adds a stage-like presence and helps define one small area at the Falls.

Standing on the platform and facing the river, if I look to my left I see the old railroad bridge. There were several trains that went back and forth while I was occupied. The railroad is part of the atmosphere of the place. A large and partially burned log occupies the space between the platform and the bridge. I straightened out my stick and root collection and sorted them on the platform. I then rediscovered my Styrofoam collection. Every time I walk the river, I find new river-polished pieces and add them to this assemblage. There is simply more here than I can use at a time and so anyone is welcome to try making something from what has been gathered.

I grab a few rounded pieces from the collection and decide to construct a figure from what I have here and in the bag. I decide which shapes and forms would make good heads and bodies and set them aside. Once in a great while, some other creative souls find my larder and make something of their own from this junk. I like it when people see the opportunity here.

I usually like starting with the head first. It’s where the most information is focused and my Styro-figures share this with archaic works and folk art. In the case of this figure, I decided on another shape for the head. Collected bits of plastic and potential facial elements are placed into a found plastic bowl. I will decide the features of today’s figure from what I’ve gathered today. Here’s a sequence showing the progression of how the head evolved including what already looks like a found face in the bowl.

The found mandible has a new home on this piece. I split the bottom from an aluminum can to make the ears which does give this figure a monkey-like quality to it. The eyes are a white, plastic bottle cap and the green, plastic bead from a child’s toy. I found two expressive sticks for arms and set the figure up as though it were sitting down with crossed legs. Here are images of this piece finished on site.

I had the best time today. There is still lots of winter before us, but this weekend’s respite helped connect me to the river for the first time this year. I will be curious to see if we even have one decent snow fall this season? Whatever happens during 2015, I will take it all in stride. The year is already off to a positive start! I think I will leave it at that and sign off until next time from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Ice Blossom Ornaments

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Originality, recycled art, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, baubles, beach glass, Craft, Falls of the Ohio, holiday craft project, holiday ornaments, make your own Christmas tree ornaments, nature photography, photography, recycled art, recycled materials, Styrofoam on December 31, 2014| 18 Comments »

I hope all of you out in blogland are having a great holiday season. My own family has enjoyed having the additional time to connect with folks we don’t see often enough. Today is the last day of the year. With no pressing commitments scheduled for today, I thought I would squeeze in one final post before the ball drops later tonight. You may be wondering what an image of a hand holding river polished and frosted bottle glass has to do with anything? Well, that’s the subject of this craftier than usual post. Every year I enjoy sending out original holiday cards and other “stuff” I make and gift from river junk. This year in addition to the cards (which featured the Christmas Bird of previous post fame), I created more of my “Ice Blossom Ornaments”. Friends who were the recipients of these “river treasures” assured me they were blog worthy. We shall see about that.

To make an “Ice Blossom Ornament” you need a bit more than broken glass found at the river or beach…you also need a body or form to attach the shards to. In this case, I like using the Styrofoam fishing floats I find and ironically polystyrene balls that are the remains of former Christmas tree ornaments that have washed into the park. I have seen a few of these original ornaments in various states of decomposition and they are usually covered with a shiny fabric that is glued to the ball. I prefer the balls that have lost their covering. When placement of the glass pieces has been decided, you cut into the ball form using a sharp Exacto knife. The hole I create is traced around the glass shape that I will embed into the ball A drop of glue holds the glass in place. I love using this river-collected glass because all the sharp edges have been worn away and I like the “frosted” surface created from abrasion with the sand and water. The same natural processes that tumble the Styrofoam and coal I use, also works its magic on glass. Even with something as trifling as these ornaments, I like that nature had a “collaborative role” in their making. The ornaments are finished off with the addition of found wire or waste fishing line and the occasional found piece of hardware. Here are some finished examples.

The next two pieces are a little larger and utilize bigger glass fragments. Some of these larger ornaments reference seed pods and marine forms like urchins.

This year I added polished coal to the list of materials used. Coal is after all, stored energy from the sun and suits the “star” image. Also, at the heart of every living star is a potential black hole and this ornament has that going for it as well.

The original ideas behind the “Ice Blossoms” comes from the 2009/10 holiday season. It was an important element in a story I wrote about the very rare migration of the Arctic Hummingbird (Styrotrochildae polystyrenus). When the conditions are just right, the very unusual Arctic Hummingbird times its appearance with the emergence of the Ice Blossom flower. The hummers seek out the concentrated energy found in the Ice Blossom’s nectar. I just happened to be lucky enough to be at the Falls of the Ohio when the Ice Blossoms were in bloom. Here’s an image I captured showing the relationship between the bird and flower.

Later I created another series of ornaments that I used to decorate the trees and vines at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. Some of these images were later incorporated into my Christmas cards.

I liked the idea of ornaments in nature and still feel some of the trees in the park are just as worthy of decoration as the trees we set up for the holidays. Regardless, the next time you find yourself around beach glass and Styrofoam…here’s an idea you can try to reuse both materials. Happy New Year everybody…see you in 2015.

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The Christmas Bird

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Green, nature photography, Ohio River, recycled art, Styrofoam, tagged Art, art and the environment, artist at exit 0, birds, Christmas Bird, creative ornithology, creativity, ecostory, Falls of the Ohio, found art materials, holiday story, nature, nature story, photography, recycled materials, red berries, repurposed materials, sense of place, Styrofoam on December 20, 2014| 14 Comments »

In the eastern section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park I came across a remarkable bird. As far as I know, this is the first documented sighting of the so-called Christmas Bird (Xmasii noelensis) in our area. The bird’s red crest, green collar, and azure-colored wings are diagnostic as is the bicolor beak. I was down at the river on a rather foggy morning when I noticed the bird flashing its wings in mockingbird fashion which is a distant relative of this species.

I was looking for interesting pieces of driftwood and odd items washed up by the Ohio River when I came across this bird. This is a long distance migrant and one that hails from as far north as the Arctic Circle. The Christmas Bird earns its name in a couple of ways. Of course, its complimentary plumage is rather seasonably inspired and it does seem to migrate to the lower 48 states around the time of the holidays. Where the bird will appear is rather unpredictable, however, it is a welcome sight in most any location. Here I have photographed the bird “flashing” its wings against its body while perched upon a driftwood log. The park is in Southern Indiana and the skyline of Louisville, Kentucky can be seen across the Ohio River. After taking this shot, the bird flew off.

I said to myself…”Well, that’s that”. I fully did not expect to see this rare bird again, but I received a “gift” of a rather unexpected nature. Underneath the old iron railroad bridge, not too far away from my initial sighting, I came across this “decorated” nest and recognized its significance. This is a display from the Christmas Bird. Using an abandoned mud-lined nest of an American Robin, (Turdus migratorius), the Christmas Bird has created an assemblage involving red berries and the remains of a string of old Christmas lights that washed into the park with the other river-bourn detritus. From this evidence, I suspected the bird had “claimed” this area. If I in turn displayed patience…I might get another opportunity to photograph this unusual species.

I waited about an hour and the Christmas Bird did appear to my great joy! It arrived at the nest with a red berry in its beak which it added to its growing collection. It is believed that this bird is attracted to the color red. Usually, berries from the holly tree are used, but in this instance I recognized them as the fruit of the Nandina plant. The bird probably discovered them growing in a private garden in nearby Jeffersonville, Indiana. It is suspected by ornithologists that the southerly migration of the Christmas Bird, which brings it to warmer climates, may trigger this unusual nest-like and courting behavior. The Christmas Bird is known for its ability to tolerate extreme cold and it takes a great drop in temperature to stimulate it to migrate.

I was able to observe this bird making about ten trips back and forth between the nest and its berry source. If the bird was aware of my presence…it did not appear to be overly alarmed. Once in a while, the bird with crest erected, would cock its head back and forth trying to differentiate my form among the willow branches. I held my breath and tried to remain still and as unthreatening as possible.

The weather grew damp and cold and the sun looked like it was not going to appear from beneath its blanket of clouds. I made the decision that I had enough images and it was time to leave this bird in peace and go home. On the ride home, I felt I had been given this great gift, the gift of nature which remains priceless and timeless! For me, nothing packaged in a box and wrapped with a bow can equal this living blessing. To all who have followed my adventures by the river this year…I offer my sincerest good wishes during this season of holidays! I hope that at least once in your lifetimes, you will be visited by the Christmas Bird bringing red berries for your nest.

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The Shark Shepherd

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, nature photography, Ohio River, Originality, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged Art, art and the environment, artist at exit 0, beaver tracks, driftwood, ecostory, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, marine ecosystems, nature, photography, repurposed art, sculpture, sense of place, shark fin soup, sharks, story telling, Styrofoam art, the disappearance of sharks, willow sticks on December 9, 2014| 10 Comments »

The following is my latest adventure from the Falls of the Ohio State Park. It’s official now, the month of November was among our top ten coldest Novembers ever recorded. This continues a see-saw trend where one month might set a record for heat (like October did) only to bounce back down to the other extreme. It’s too early to tell about December, but on this recent visit it was cool and overcast. We have since had several days of rain causing the river to swell. Today’s story begins at the westernmost point on the Woodland Loop Trail. This path is bordered by what folks around here refer to as a “creek”, but in actuality is a channel cut into the riverbank by storm water overflow released from the town of Clarksville. I wish it were a creek and perhaps long ago, may have been one. During periods of flooding and high water, driftwood and logs back up into this area and are stranded once the water level recedes. The picture above is a recent illustration of this.

I was exploring this water-cut channel and noticed that there were lots of beaver signs present. In addition to their tracks left in the mud, I found plenty of chewed willow branches. I added some of the nicer sticks to my collecting bag. It made me think about how much the appearance of the black willow trees around here are shaped by the beaver’s “pruning” methods. I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me before…perhaps it was just too obvious. Actually, I think it has something to do with the beaver population rebounding over the last few years. In certain local places, they have become “pests”. Their damning of local drainage canals has necessitated their capture and removal to other more remote areas.

Exploring a bend on the Woodland Loop Trail, I found this deer skull laying upside down on the fallen leaves. It was kind of hard to see, but something in the old brain said to look more closely and I did. After taking a few photographs, I laid it upon the trunk of a large fallen tree for others to discover. Like the beaver, it appears the deer are becoming more numerous as well. After years of finding just their tracks and the occasional bone, this season I was able to spot a doe and her fawn in the park during broad daylight.

I walked to the top of the riverbank to get a better look at the peninsula that has been created at the mouth of the “creek” from the storm sewer’s overflow. Over the years, I have witnessed stringers of sauger and catfish being caught here by the local fishermen. I like how the rising and falling of the river has terraced the mud into a series of graduated steps. I was relaxed and zoning out on the view when I noticed something white that had surfaced and was entering the “creek”. I quickly took a photo and here it is.

I scrambled down the riverbank to get a better view and got my clothes severely muddy in the process. In my head I’m telling myself that for all the world this looks like a shark’s dorsal fin…but is this possible? I remember hearing that there are a few shark species (notably bull sharks) that are capable of swimming up rivers and able to tolerate being in fresh water for extended periods of time. Still, we are a long way from the ocean which also includes navigating a large section of the Mississippi River before entering into the Ohio River… just to reach this spot. I observed the fin submerging as it disappeared from view. Hustling, I reached the general location where I thought the fin was heading and was “blown away” by this sight!

Emerging from the muddy water was this white figure sporting an improbable headdress or mask? The figure was carrying a staff and appeared to have fins on its body similar to a shark. I let this fellow come fully out of the water before my curiosity overwhelmed me and I went in for a closer look.

This strange being did not seem to be afraid of me and regarded me through his dark eyes. His face was framed by what looked like the jaws, teeth, and the head of a shark. My attention kept returning to the fearsome mask it was wearing which I surmised might be a part of some breathing apparatus? A yellow light on its chest would occasionally blink signaling some other unfamiliar technology was present. The staff the figure was holding was terminated by a hand pointing a finger which reinforced the stranger’s mysterious presence.

Using its staff, I watched as the figure drew the outlines of several sharks in the soft mud and then pointed to one of his eyes. He followed this by making a sweeping movement with his arm that seemed to encompass the river and its surrounding landscape. It took me a moment, but I think it asked me if I had seen any sharks in the area? Reflexively, I replied by shaking my head “no” which the figure seemed to understand by dropping his head and shoulders in a disconsolate manner? That’s when I had this mental flash that this guy was a shepherd, a shark shepherd and he was looking for his lost flock? From here on out, I will refer to him as the Shark Shepherd. He next stuck his staff into the mud and walked away from it. I decided to tag along to see if I could learn anything else about my new silent friend.

The Shark Shepherd seemed to have a curiosity about our world. I observed as he approached an improvised tent that someone had set up among the trees. It’s owner(s), however, were not around, but it didn’t seem abandoned in my eyes. Probably made by fishermen and there seemed to be several trying their luck along the riverbank on this windy day. I too have a curiosity about the world and after my encounter with the Shark Shepherd ended…I rushed home to try to figure out what he was doing here so far from the sea? Using the miracle of the internet, I learned a few alarming facts about shark disappearances worldwide.

On average, between 20 million to 73 million sharks a year are taken out of marine ecosystems across the planet. Most of the statistics mentioned the higher number…regardless, that’s too many sharks. Sharks are “harvested” for their fins, cartilage, and teeth. The boom in popularity for shark fin soup has led to an insidious practice where millions of sharks are harvested and often indiscriminately by using thousands of hooks set on miles of trailing “longlines”. Sharks are a valuable bycatch. The captured sharks (which are often caught alive) have their fins cut off and are frequently thrown back into the seas to die in agony. It’s a lucrative business because this was once a delicacy and status symbol reserved for the wealthy back in the day when sharks were harder and more challenging to catch. Now it is within the reach of more people. Through industrialized commercial fishing, millions of mostly Asian consumers can have a bowl of shark fin soup on special occasions. Interestingly, the soup itself needs to be flavored with beef or chicken stock because the fins themselves are a textural element and contribute no flavor of their own. Of course, a bowl of soup is not the only challenge sharks face. Commercial sports fishing, pollution, reef destruction, and overfishing of the shark’s prey base play their part as well.

In the United States, large sharks have disappeared from the Gulf of Mexico. I think this is the reason the Shark Shepherd was this far inland. Along our Atlantic Coast, it has been reported that eleven of the largest shark species have essentially vanished. This has important repercussions for the overall marine environment. You can’t remove this many apex predators from an ecosystem and expect it to function normally. There are cascading effects. A recent study attributes the decline in our East Coast scallop industry is due to the loss of sharks that normally would keep cownosed rays and sting rays who eat scallops in check.

I followed the Shark Shepherd as he explored the area around the newly closed Interpretive Center. There were people around and they did exhibit interest in my friend, but were generally respectful for what was going on. A few folks asked if they could take pictures of the Shark Shepherd and he obliged them. During my internet research, I did find it fascinating that there are places like American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, and the island nation of Palau where sharks are protected. Interestingly, these are all places in the Pacific Ocean where people regard the shark as a culturally and spiritually significant animal. These Polynesian cultures understand that their very identities are connected with sharks. The same, however, can’t be said for the rest of the world who regard sharks as nuisances and or threats. Better to view something with reverence than through fear.

The Shark Shepherd climbed the staircase to gain a better vantage point overlooking the river. I watched him scan the waters, but only an occasional fishing boat presented itself. If he was looking for sharks, well, there probably hasn’t been any here for about 400 million years when this area was a Devonian Age coral reef. I could feel the poignancy of the Shark Shepherd’s search as it failed to bear fruit. After a short while, we reversed our course and retraced our steps. The Shark Shepherd gathered his staff and walked back into the creek where after acknowledging me with one last look back…disappeared into the Ohio River. Although I realized that I would not see him again, I couldn’t help but hope that he and his sharks wouldn’t disappear forever from the oceans of the world.

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Closed for Renovations

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, unusual collection, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, Devonian Age, driftwood, exhibit display, exhibit renovation, Falls of the Ohio, Falls of the Ohio Foundation, fossil rocks, mammoth skeleton, nature, photography, plastic pollution, Prince Madoc, recycled art, Solid Light Inc., Styrofoam, the art of display on November 27, 2014| 13 Comments »

On November 24 the Falls of the Ohio’s Interpretive Center closed for renovations. This is the first large-scale overhaul of the permanent exhibits since the center opened in 1994. Since that time, the state of the art in terms of exhibit display has progressed by leaps and bounds. According to an article appearing in the Courier-Journal, the Falls of the Ohio Foundation has raised six million dollars to pay for the new updates which are expected to be completed sometime in the fall of 2015. Louisville’s respected museum design company, Solid Light Inc. will handle the redesign and installation. The Interpretive Center will be employing the latest interactive technologies and refining its focus to better educate visitors about the significance of the Falls of the Ohio area. Four new themed exhibits will take the place of the old static displays and are named “The Devonian Sea”, “A Changing Land”, “Converging Cultures” and “The Falls Today”.

I am looking forward to checking out the new exhibits once they open. But if I may for a moment, pause and reflect upon the demise of the original beloved centerpiece that was once on display in the Interpretive Center’s main hall. In style, it does harken back to a tradition when collections of natural history specimens and objects that provoked wonder were kept in Wunderkammers and cabinets of curiosity. This eclectic display has never failed to fire up my imagination. Yes, it is a mishmash of objects (both real and artificial) and it jumps all over the timeline. This is actually one of the reasons I find this display so appealing. My experience of the Falls is one where all this history and information exits simultaneously in the present and I felt that from this art-like installation.

old fish display at the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center

I love the scale of the mammoth skeleton and the taxidermed fish and birds lifting to and flowing from the ceiling. With this display it was easy to adjust for scale and you received a truer sense for just how big the Devonian sharks were and how truly huge an Ice Age elephant was. I’m not sure that a projection or video could convey this as much as something you could make a true physical comparison with that is sharing the same space with you? A walk around the centerpiece revealed beautifully fabricated and delicate Devonian Age sea creatures inhabiting a coral reef. The displays under glass contained specimens and relics that were a tip of the hat to many of the great 19th century naturalists that helped put the Falls of the Ohio on the map. In essence, a lot of the information you needed to know about the Falls was contained in this single display.

Of all the elements in this centerpiece, perhaps the most controversial was the inclusion of a life-size figure of Prince Madoc. He was one of three figures presented which also included a representation of a Native American and a pioneer figure that might have also been a portrait of John James Audubon? In case you have never heard of Prince Madoc…he potentially was a 12th century Welsh explorer and he and a band of his people may have been early European visitors to North America. There is a persistent legend about a group of blonde hair blue-eyed Indians that may be descendants of Prince Madoc. An old Native American story has this band being routed in battle near the Falls of the Ohio and is the connection to our area. When President Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark west to explore the continent…he asked that they keep an eye out for evidence of this story. I have a good friend who couldn’t bear to look at the Prince Madoc figure and not because it wasn’t done well. To him, it was a travesty to include this in a tableau that included factual elements. To date, there is no convincing evidence, no archeological proof that Prince Madoc ever came to this continent. I guess the veracity of the story never bothered me and I just liked the tale because of its association with the Falls. To me, this is what history is about…some parts fact and some parts myth. The Prince Madoc figure was there to add an extra dimension of imagination I could appreciate.

Prince Madoc may have been banished from future displays, but the mammoth skeleton was kept. It was taken down and repositioned so that you have to pass between its legs and under its ribcage to enter into an auditorium. I’m sure the new displays will be incredible, but I do hope they will also inspire visitors to use their own imaginations to some degree.

Having touched base with the Interpretive Center, I decided to connect with my own peculiar low-tech universe. On this day it was sunny and windy and I made my way under the willow trees which provided some shelter from the breezes. My larder of river-polished polystyrene chunks as white as the recent snowfall was there waiting for me. I got an idea to make a particular figure from other items I found that day, but the piece I started crumbled to pieces. A rare but not unheard of temporary setback. I will return to it when I find the right form for this figure’s body. On to improvised plan #2. I looked around my pile and selected two new pieces and joined them together as head and body. The addition of beaver-chewed willow stick limbs and some stones for eyes and plastic for the mouth and you have the basics of a figure.

This is the second piece I made and he is decidedly less complex than the sculpture that fell apart. I kind of like this guy as an abstracted representation of a figure out in the landscape. I walked him through the land and stopping here and there for different photo opportunities. Here are a few more pics from this day.

To me, this figure has a sort of benchmark quality to it. Here it’s posed next to some typical river trash. There are places out here that “bleed” red from some oxides that originate beneath the sand. I did keep the plastic wheel I found and added it to my ever-growing collection of toy wheels. I have several hundred of them now and hope to create a grand piece with them.

Up on the fossil cliffs that overlook the river, I found a nice hole for my figure to stand in. I tried to set the figure up by positioning the legs in a naturally occurring crack in the stone, but the wind was just too strong to allow this to happen. A single fisherman shares the scene with my latest creation.

For this image, I simply liked the piece of driftwood my Styro-figure is posed next to because of its worn and polished sculptural qualities.

Here, I’ve set up the figure under an anonymous driftwood construction. I liked the way the propped up driftwood defined and framed a space for my figure to exist in. On this particular day, there wasn’t a made up story that came to mind. For most of my Falls forays…this is the typical way the day goes. It’s about being outside and reacting to the elements and conditions I come into contact with on the river’s edge. This is how I interpret what is happening at the Falls of the Ohio. I am already looking forward to my next visit and sharing it with you.

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The Long Walk West

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, tagged 1966, Art, artist at exit 0, blogging milestone, Clarksville, Falls of the Ohio, found materials, George Rogers Clark, glass assemblage, Louisville, material culture, nature, nature and culture, nature walk, Ohio River, photography, sense of place, The Courier-Journal on November 17, 2014| 13 Comments »

On the occasion of my 400th riverblog post I thought I would try something a little different. I’m thinking that reaching a personal blogging milestone is worthy of some observance . It took me a little more than five years, 399 posts of original content, over 4000 published images, nearly 2500 comments, and deleting more than 30,000 blocked spam requests, etc… before I filled all the free space on my original WordPress blog. I finally had to lay down some coin in order to purchase additional storage space to continue. For me, this has been more than a great bargain. When I originally began posting about my trips to the Falls of the Ohio, I had no idea of how much it would shape me as an artist, but without a doubt, it has. I now view this blog as being more than just a vehicle for publishing the things I’ve made and experienced and has become a medium in its own right. To everybody who has participated either at the river or by visiting and commenting…the Artist at Exit 0 thanks you!! And now, from the intersection of nature and culture…on with the show.

One of my best friends gifted me this extensive article about the Falls of the Ohio dating back to 1966 that originally appeared in The Courier-Journal’s Sunday Magazine. The C-J is published in Louisville and for a time was one of the best newspapers in the country winning many Pulitzer Prizes for its original reporting. Like many fine newspapers across the land it is no longer locally owned and is a shadow of its former self. Still, it survives and dutifully arrives at the doorstep of its subscribers seven days a week minus the Sunday magazine feature. I was really fascinated by this article because it predates the Falls of the Ohio as an Indiana state park by many years. I was surprised to see an area on the lower right of the aerial view labeled “Fossil Trees”. This was the first reference to this I had come across. Supposedly, this area is composed of slate containing the fossilized remains of Carboniferous trees. It occurred to me that there was a lot about the northern bank I did not know about and decided to go exploring outside my usual confines.

I walked past the Woodland Loop Trail and heading west by hugging the riverbank. Along the way, I came across this makeshift and abandoned shelter created from found plastic and a quilted mover’s blanket. The remains of a small campfire marked where someone sought temporary refuge here. On more than one occasion I have come across folks in the park that are down on their luck and camp out here during the better weather months.

As the magazine article from 1966 shows…people have been camping out and utilizing the abundant driftwood resources for a long time. I have to admit, in all my years of coming out here, I haven’t seen anyone enjoying a fish fry like this. That was 48 years a go, but seems more remote to me than that. Among the many changes here, it is recommended that you limit your consumption of the local fish.

Such a beautiful sun-shiny day and unseasonably warm too. As I write this our first snowfall of the year lies on the ground. Another article in last week’s paper caught my attention. Apparently, this past October was the warmest October in the last fifty years and the fourth warmest ever recorded. As I meander back and forth along the riverbank, it’s odd bits of trivia that come to mind. I remember that I was living in Ft. Knox in 1966 and having a great time in Mrs. Songster’s third grade class at Van Vorris Elementary School. Back then, my nature experiences were shaped by stalking the woods and creeks on this extensive military reservation.

As I kept walking westward, I would come across sections of the riverbank enlivened by the bright yellow fruit from the horse nettle plant. These cherry tomato sized marbles look tempting, but they are highly poisonous. I came across places on my hike where there were thousands of these fruits ripening. I have always liked this view with the skyline of Louisville hanging on the horizon. The city with its tall buildings looks diminutive and fragile balancing on the edge between the sky and water.

The blackened root mass from a downed willow tree has an almost menacing presence on the riverbank. A few turtles slide off logs into the water. Goose Island and the Lower Tainter Gates are across the way. I realize that this is the furthest west I have ever walked on this side of the river. Previously, I have always limited my activities to the park proper. Although I don’t see any signage demarcating boundaries, I am assuming that I’m now on private property?

I come across some wonderful homes that must command spectacular views of the river. A couple of these dwellings sport their own boat ramps. I stay nearest to the water and respectively move my way through. Nobody challenges me and I keep moving forward. I know there is an area up ahead that is administered by the Falls of the Ohio State Park. After all these many years, it feels good to have other places associated with this special place to explore.

After a leisurely walk lasting several hours I reach the boat launch area by the George Rogers Clark home site. The famous hero of the Revolutionary War and founder of Louisville and Clarksville, retired to a small cabin that overlooked the river. This boat ramp is right across the river from the Lower Tainter Gates and Hydroelectric Plant and gets lots of traffic from fishermen. I decide that the areas I want to explore are still a long walk away and I modify my plans. If I want to reach the spot where the fossilized tree remains are found, I probably should park my car near the ramp and walk westward from here. For the time being I feel satisfied and retrace my steps back to the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

The walk back is gorgeous. On the return trip I collect lots of beaver-chewed willow sticks and a nice length of barge cable. I will use these materials to make something. Happily, I can report that I did not find nearly as much trash along this walk. I did, however, make one small project from found materials and here it is.

I found all this clear bottle glass lying in close proximity and created this small assemblage on the mud. I made this to enjoy the play of light through the glass as well as appreciate the highlights on the water. This piece consisted mostly of bottlenecks and bottle bottoms which are the strongest parts of a glass bottle. I wondered what if some archeologist in the future found this assemblage…would they think it had any aesthetic reason for being or could this be part of some unknown ritual? This area along the Ohio River has been in constant habitation for thousands of years and the bottle pieces are now a part of that record. My concept of art has greatly expanded since my student days. On the back page of this 1966 magazine I find an amusing advertisement that reminds me of how far I’ve traveled from the traditional practice! I guess being your own art teacher involves nude women? If only my art education had cost a mere $6.00 dollars a month. For better or for worse, who knows where I would be now?

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The Giggle Bowl

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, unusual collection, tagged absurdity, Art, artist at exit 0, bird nest, children's nature story, driftwood, ecostory, Falls of the Ohio, flotsam and jetsam, found materials, found objects, material culture, nature, nature and culture, nature photography, nature story, odd collections, photography, recycled art, repurposed art, sense of place, smiley faces, storytelling, Styrofoam, Styrofoam art on November 6, 2014| 6 Comments »

The Falls of the Ohio State Park has experienced its first light frost. With the colder temperatures arriving, a maturing autumn anticipates the winter to come. Although there are still some leaves left on the black willows and cottonwood trees…they won’t last much longer. Already the curled up, shed leaves of the willows are gathering and forming brown islands around the parent trees and defining the spaces the willows occupy in this sandy area near the river. As I walk through this habitat, cocklebur and various other seeds attach themselves to my jeans and shoe laces. Picking and rubbing off the various prickly and sticky hitchhikers, it’s amuses me to think of myself as an agent of seed dispersal!

A circular grass ball lying on the ground catches my eye. Picking up the object I discover an intact bird nest. Did it dislodge from some fork of a tree branch or is this from a ground nesting species? I marvel at its construction and note its exterior is made from dried, interwoven grasses which contrasts with the well-defined interior composed of tiny twigs and rootlets that give structural strength to the bowl. I wonder which species created it and were they successful in raising offspring? The nest is now spent like the willow leaves and I place it on the ground to be reclaimed by nature.

Along my walk, I find various mushrooms and fungi growing on the decomposing driftwood. I admire the variety of forms present. Although the notion of decay hardly sounds optimistic…in this instance it is. The fungi are great recyclers and return needed nutrients back into the environment. These mushrooms are not lesser than, but rather co-equal to the many other interesting life forms that make this place their home. I come across other signs of life along my hike.

There are still a few butterflies around like this Comma. Although nectar from flowers is absent, there are still what I call “butterfly licks” on a few of the willow trees. These licks are sweet spots along the trunk or branches where the tree exudes a sticky sap that attracts insects. With its wings folded upright, this Comma looks much like a dried leaf itself. There is a good chance this butterfly will hibernate and overwinter here before “passing the torch” to the next generation of Comma butterflies in the spring.

Along the riverbank, I find lots of evidence that beaver have been in the area. They have been feeding off the willow trees growing nearest to the water. Beaver are very wary and are probably active at night or very early in the morning. In all my years walking throughout the park, I have only seen them on a couple of occasions. The photo above shows a willow branch that has been gnawed away from the tree and its bark has been nibbled off for food. Their teeth leave “tool marks” on the creamy, ivory-colored wood. By the end of today’s hike, I have collected a nice bundle of beaver chewed sticks to use in my art. And speaking of art…I walked by a couple of projects I worked on in my previous post. The rock ring in the water is still holding up, however, the “Silver Star” made from overlaying driftwood lengths in the sand is a shadow of its former self. Here are a few before and after images.

It’s a big difference and doesn’t appear to be the result of natural wear and tear…unless we accept that there is a naturally destructive side to man’s nature? Of course, this is just a pile of sticks arranged in the sand, but on a much larger, planetary level can we say that the wholesale changes we are making to the environment are natural and inevitable? I’m in the “no” camp because another aspect of our complex natures is the ability to discern right from wrong. Still I wonder when our instincts for self-preservation will start kicking in? I was beginning to mull this over more when I heard what sounded like someone playing strange music from an unfamiliar instrument. I was pretty sure my ears weren’t hearing things and so I walked around until I found its source. You can imagine my deep surprise when I came upon this interesting character in the willow habitat.

He introduced himself as the “Giggle Master” and he said he heard me talking to myself about serious things and grew concerned. His method of revealing himself was to play a tune of his own composition from this combination oboe/recorder that grew from the middle of his face! By breathing in and out and working the finger holes on his instrument he could produce a variety of sounds some of which were quite unique and appealing. When I had adjusted to the idea that a strange being about a foot or 20 or so centimeters tall was talking to me…I relaxed my guard and decided to see what would happen next? The Giggle Master told me to follow him and that he had something to show me that he believed would lighten my mood up considerably.

I followed my new friend to his shelter under a willow tree and he introduced me to his “collection”. Like me, the Giggle Master is a finder and collector of odd river-deposited items. He said it gave him great joy to assemble various odd collections where the sum of the collection is greater and more interesting than the parts. I understood this perfectly because I have many unusual collections of my own river junk. Some of which have been presented in this blog like my Squirt Gun Collection or Collection of Fake Foods. You can see other collections I’ve formed and appear in my Pages section.. I have to say that the collection my friend was presenting to me was indeed unusual. I asked what he called it and would it be possible to photograph it and present it to the wider world? He said that he had no objections and so without further ado…here is what my friend called “The Giggle Bowl”.

We moved to the fossil beds for our impromptu photo shoot. The Giggle Master told me that he had been collecting these “smiley faces” for a few years and now had enough to fill a found plastic bowl. He went on to say that although he recognized that this was mostly waste plastic with all the accompanying bad baggage…it was also important to be able to step back and just appreciate the absurdity of it all. The Giggle Master told me that taking oneself too seriously has potential consequences of its own. He also told me that maintaining a healthy sense of humor would balance out the dark moods and I began to see the wisdom in this. The Giggle Master said that he was appearing to me now because through some sixth sense all his own he could tell my own thoughts and feelings were beginning to sink below the horizon line. He believed every person’s well-being would benefit from having a good laugh. I have to admit it worked on me! Okay, let’s spill the bowl and take a closer look at this goofy collection.

Okay, I confess that I have no idea what or how these smiley faces were used? In their mouths, they have what look to be squeakers, however, these balls are too hard to squeeze. The one with the red cap has a small stone lodged in its mouth and was made in China.

I frequently am grateful when something I come across says what it is. In this case, these are three lightweight foam “antenna balls”. Yes, for a while, there was a fad where people decorated the ends of their cars’ radio antennas with these novelties. I like the one sporting a jester’s cap.

I’m calling these simply “face balls” because they are obviously not the more traditional “smiley faces”. They floated into the park via the Ohio River from parts unknown.

The Giggle Master was slightly alarmed because he realized he is missing the third smiling face from this series of objects. I recognized that these are fishing floats and the missing float is larger still. It will turn up somewhere.

Here’s a trio of smiling faces. The yellow one in the center is a simple ball, but the top and bottom pieces belong to something else I don’t recognize…do you? The top piece looks to be a tiny container and maybe once held candy or soap-bubble solution, but there is no other information about it including its country of origin.

After the photo session was over, we returned to the willow tree where I first met the Giggle Master. He stored his collection in a hollow formed in the tree’s trunk. Before departing from my new friend, I thanked him for the much-needed laugh and wished him happy hunting as he expanded his silly collection. No doubt the river will continue to supply new items. He replied with a few notes from his…”nose instrument’. As I turned for home, I looked back one last time and could discern a slight smile on his tiny face. Until next time from the Falls of the Ohio.

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Stone Rings, Wood Stars, and a Very Rare Bird

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, birding, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, sculpture, tagged Art, art and nature, artist at exit 0, driftwood, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio State Park, fixed wier dam, found materials, found objects, natural materials, nature, nature and culture, nature excursion, Ohio River, photography, rare bird, recycled art, sense of place, site specific art, stone ring on October 26, 2014| 2 Comments »

What began overcast and dreary blossomed into a gorgeous, sun-filled autumn day. The exposed fossil beds by the Upper Tainter Gates are now covered by water rushing at break neck speed. The Ohio River has once again reclaimed its ancient limestone bed with man’s help. The Falls of the Ohio are like Niagara Falls which can also be regulated with the flip of a switch. There’s a good chance that I won’t be visiting that side of the park again until next summer’s heat returns. Today I concentrated my attention and energy along the riverbank under the Conrail Railroad Bridge. This is an area where I have had good luck finding materials to work with and many of my best bird sightings have also occurred here. The autumnal migration is under way. Many of the birds that had passed this way going north in the spring are now moving south towards wintering grounds in exotic locations in Central and South America. I ducked under the Black willow trees whose leaves are turning bright yellow and was soon rewarded by a bird species new to me.

This is the Fan-tailed Gnatcatcher and this is the first time this species has been recorded in the park. I had the greatest luck hiding behind the trunk of this willow and was able to observe this bird at extremely close range. If it spotted me…it demonstrated no concern at all and continued its search for small insects and spiders hiding among the furrows in the tree’s bark.

The Fan-tailed Gnatcatcher is a diminutive bird. I watched as it dutifully searched the tree for food. It had no problems going down the tree head-first in nuthatch fashion. In this species, both the male and the females are similarly marked. This young bird (identified by its lack of a feathered crest on it head) was just an egg a couple of months a go and has flown here from northern Canada.

I was literally at arm’s length to this bird and it was a such a treat to observe something new and at close range. I loved the coloration on this bird. The tail feather’s blue fan is balanced by the bird’s bright blue beak. Rusty-colored wings are set off by the arctic-white hues along the head and body. Like many bird encounters, I was only able to observe this bird for a minute or two at the most, but it was an experience that will last a lifetime. As it flew off…I wished the bird well on its long journey and I hoped I could count its kind again among the park’s willow trees.

I lingered in the moment for a while. No sense in rushing things. When I was confident that no other birds were in the area, I moved back to a spot where the Fixed Wier Dam joins the Lower Tainter Gates. This would be the site for my next project.

The dam at this location has curtains of water flowing through openings that are lower than the top of the wall and represents the true water level of the river. This flow feeds a small channel that leads back to the river and is a favorite place for fishermen. I had earlier noticed among the large broken sections of concrete and loose rock that some other creative soul(s) had started what looked like a stacked stone ring in the water. There was the remnants of a foundation and I decided to build it back up for a look-see and to elaborate on it if possible. I guess this in effect is a collaboration with an anonymous individual. The image above was taken after I began reconstructing the ring.

As I kept building up the ring, I would document my progress. This is one of my favorite shots from the series. Here I was able to center the sun’s reflection within the ring’s interior. In my mind it became a portal to some other place far beyond the river. The image of a passage way or tunnel is one that recurs in my Falls projects.

I would have added the rectangular rock in the foreground, but it proved heavy and sunk into the mud. Interestingly, the water within the ring was much calmer and created a safe harbor which contrasted with the swiftly flowing water around it.

The ring’s slightly irregular shape was determined by its placement. The ring is situated on the edge of where the water cascading off the dam’s wall has worn a deeper channel in the shallow bottom. Since it was such a beautiful day I decided to spend more time at the Falls. I made one other site-specific work where the center is a point of focus.

What I love about the driftwood at the Falls of the Ohio is the way it changes color as it ages. After a summer’s worth of sunlight, the wood here takes on a silvery-gray color. I collected lengths of wood from the immediate area and laid them in the sand. The silver driftwood radiates away from a central point. While I was engaged with my “Silver Star” four very nice people stopped by and asked directions to the fossil beds. These park visitors became interested in what I was doing. I appreciated that they wanted to participate and play along in their own way. Here are a few additional images. I’m assuming they are two mothers with their daughters enjoying an outing to the river? Here one person is photographing the cast shadow on my wood piece.

I think I may have inspired the daughters to attempt their own project? Before too long they were picking up pieces of driftwood and making a make-shift shelter of their own design.

The girls looked very happy under their driftwood shelter! When my sons were younger, this was a favorite activity of theirs and this day brought back those good memories. This park is such a great playground and allows one to exercise both your body and imagination. I wonder if these ladies ever found the fossil beds? It probably doesn’t matter since it looked like a good time was had by all. Soon enough it was time to go home and I gathered up my collecting bag and walking stick and admired the late season flowers as I walked back to my vehicle. Thanks for tagging along and I hope to see you next time from the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

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Goose Island Coal Man Hike

Posted in Art, art and environment, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, Ohio River, tagged Art, art walk, artist at exit 0, carp, coal, coral, culture and nature, Devonian fossils, Falls of the Ohio, fixed wier dam, fossils, found objects, Goose Island, nature, photography, tainter gates on October 17, 2014| 10 Comments »

I waited a few days to return to the exposed fossil beds on the Kentucky side of the Falls of the Ohio State Park. My earlier trek went so well that I was determined to walk a little farther dragging my collecting bag full of water worn coal with me. I had the same idea as before, namely creating figurative images using the coal in site specific areas. Today I was determined to walk around Goose Island which is accessible by foot in the summer and early fall when the river level is diverted towards the locks and thus exposing the many layers of this ancient Devonian reef. It won’t be too much longer until the autumn rains replenishes the water along the Ohio River Valley and submerges this part of the park again until next summer.

As before, I crossed over at the Lower Tainter Gates in the eastern section of the park. I walked along the Fixed Wier Dam reaching the area where some waterfalls that flow into Whiskey Chute remain. This is where I created my first coal figure of the day. From above, the figure appears to be dancing and this is one of my favorite images from this new series.

Going around the waterfalls, I walk through ankle to knee-deep water and continue following the dam’s wall westward. Strategically placed notches at the top of this concrete wall provides a flow of water to a small wetlands area that harbors a variety of life. In this place natural waterfalls and cascades have been replaced by artificial ones. As I wade through it is a bit humbling knowing that the level of the Ohio River is at the top of this wall. I saw many water-loving birds including Belted Kingfishers, Blue-winged Teal, Caspian Terns, Double-crested Cormorants, and Great Blue Herons that favor this part of the park.

Many of these birds were here because this area also attracts fish. Numerous grass carp were eating algae in the shallows and small schools of juvenile fish were startled by the sudden appearance of my all too white legs as I walked through their space. If I stood motionless for a while, the carp would return and I could observe them more closely.

Goose Island has sandy banks. As I was wading along the southeast side of the island, I set up this figure with up raised arms in an open spot among plants that were growing in a row parallel to the water’s edge.

I left the water and walked along the edge of the island walking westward. This section has a cottonwood habitat. I came across a large cottonwood tree that had fallen off the high bank and was now bleaching in the sun. Driftwood snagged around this tree’s root mass marks how high the water can get when the river is flowing. There was a strong smell of urine around this shrinking pond and the many deer tracks proved these animals frequented this place. Hundreds of tiny toads were hopping through the grass near this waterhole! I had never seen anything like this out here before. I wished I had taken at least one image of these toads in my hand for scale. Although they were tiny, they also looked like perfectly formed adults that had been miniaturized.

Continuing my walk on Goose Island, I can see the wall of the Fixed Wier Dam and the hydroelectric plant in the distance which is situated on Shippingport Island. The plants in the foreground with their prickly, ripening seed pods are Jimsonweed. Along the sandy bank, I could see slides where beaver have dragged their tree cuttings from the nearby woods into the water. There is probably evidence of a dam nearby, but I did not see it on this trip.

This is as far as you can walk in this part of the park. Goose Island’s western edge ends at the Upper Tainter Gates. This is a popular area for fishermen who reach this spot by boat. I did see several Osprey circling the sky here. There is a small section of sand dunes on Goose Island that are shaped by wind and wave. In the above image, bird tracks crisscross the sand. I placed my final coal figure of the day here at the edge of a dune. This time the figure has been turned on its side. Plumes of sand were blowing up and away at the dune’s edge by wind. In the image below, the distance from the top of the dune to the riverbank on the right is deceiving. I estimate that this is a seven or eight foot drop and a short roll to the river.

From this area I start my hike home on the north side of Goose Island and start heading east. It has been a great day interacting with this environment. I have several other images to show before closing that were shot on this walk. Fortunately, there isn’t as much plastic junk to find on this side of the park, but of course there were a few things that caught my eye.

Here’s another squirt gun to add to the collection.

A goofy blue plastic hand rests on a fossil bearing rock . If you look closely, you can see bits of a crinoid stem by the thumb. I did take other images of fossils along my walk. Here are more crinoid pieces found near the Upper Tainter Gates. Crinoids are often described as sea lilies and were sessile marine animals that filtered and captured small animals from a flower-like calyx.

On the walk home, I kept walking by different fossil corals exposed in this ancient limestone. Corals are colonial animals and you get a sense for this in my next image.

The park prohibits collecting fossils and I begin to wonder if this heavy bag of coal that I have lugged around the island would count? Technically speaking coal is a fossil material. Although I found all my coal within the park, it did not originate here. I retrace my steps crossing the exposed fossil beds and by the time I reach my vehicle…I am one tired guy. If my luck holds, I might be able to take one more walk out here before this area becomes the bottom of the river again. If it doesn’t happen…there is always next year!

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Fossil Beds and the Coal Man

Posted in Art, art and environment, birding, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, Ohio River, watershed, tagged Art, artist at exit 0, carbon, cascades, coal, coal images, Devonian Age, exposed fossil beds, Falls of the Ohio State Park, fossil corals, nature, photography, sense of place, site specific art, Taking a walk on September 30, 2014| 10 Comments »

Two years have passed since I last set foot on the fossil beds on the Kentucky side of the river. I had to wait until I fully trusted a bum knee to be well enough to walk upon the hard, irregular limestone surface that for most of the year is underwater.

This is after all, the bottom of the Ohio River and accessible most summers when water is diverted to fill water levels at the McAlpin Locks and Dams. The Ohio River is a managed river for much of its length. Closing the snow plow shaped tainter gates helps regulate water levels for commercial navigation and flood control, but it also exposes the majority of the fossil beds to inspection at the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

I have rolled my ragged jeans up and I’m wearing a pair of shoes for sloshing through knee-high deep water at best. As I move under the old iron railroad bridge, I walk past the gigantic concrete and metal gates holding the river back. Something in their hieratic designs reminds me of ancient Egyptian art. Here on a massive, civic-project scale, abstracted silhouettes of seated pharaohs serve the gods of engineering. My goal today is to reacquaint myself with this unique environment and mark the day in some way.

From experience, I know that there are far fewer materials to access on this side of the fossil beds. Most of the Styrofoam, plastic, and driftwood I frequently use is driven by wind and river currents to the Indiana bank where I’ve preformed most of my projects.

Being out in this environment with its varied materials often inspires me to want to make something, but what will I do today? I take advantage of the river polished coal I found around the railroad bridge and envision an image I can work with site specifically.

I have come to like working with coal as a material because it is timely and is also invested with so much meaning. In Kentucky, coal is currently a big political issue and many good people truly believe there is a war on coal and climate change is a not supported by the facts.

Anthracite is a deeply, shiny-black crystalline material out of the mine… but the river can tumble it into dull, but smooth feeling, egg-like forms. I prefer the more river polished pieces of coal.

I’m guessing I’ve picked up about 10 or 12 pounds of coal which I carry in a canvas collecting bag. Okay, I have my material and my feet are already wet. With walking stick in hand, I walk along side the high walls that separate the Ohio River from the now exposed Devonian Age fossil beds.

Wall seperating Ohio River from fossil beds, Falls of the Ohio, Sept. 2014

The dam’s concrete wall that separates the river from where you are standing on the fossil beds is maybe 18 to 20 feet tall? It’s up there and sobering as well because the Ohio River’s waterline is just below the top of the wall which is just on the other side! A series of pre-formed notches along the top of the wall allows water to flow over a section of the fossil beds.

A small wetlands area has been encouraged here that draws many water-loving birds. Among the species I observed on this day included: the Belted Kingfisher, Caspian Terns, Great Egrets, Osprey, Great Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorants, Canada Geese, Killdeer plovers, Blue-winged Teal, Mallard Ducks, Black Vultures, and an American Coot.

Although it’s not hot today, there is little to shade you from the intense light out on the open fossil beds. Most of these beds are high and dry, but the surface is pockmarked in places with potholes that hold water. Most of the shallow pools that caught fish when the river level dropped have been cleaned out by the water birds.

In the above photo, a large log has become stranded on the top of the wall placed there when the Ohio River was receding from flood stage. It was in this area that I set down my heavy collecting bag and laid out my first Coal Man design on the fossil surface.

The figure has a marionette-like presence, but I relate more to it as a simple sign for figure. In my head I’m seeing an ancient landscape marked here and there with this contemporary pictographic/petroglyph. The Falls of the Ohio have been occupied by man for thousands of years and I like relating to this history. The water is shallow and green from algae. Molted bird feathers define the circumferences of many of these water holes. Annoying small flies and gnats fly around the potholes and around your head seeking salt or other moisture.

This figure has been laid out on a table-like boulder surrounded by very shallow water. It’s a very temporary site-specific expression on a very tiny island. I have heard people describe the exposed fossil beds as being a “moonscape” and it does feel like this landscape could be from another planet.

Many of the fossil beds are in layers or courses and here I am trying out some of the pictorial possibilities using my now seated Coal Man. The Interpretive Center is the structure in the far distance. After a while, it’s time to cool off a little and have a good sit. There’s a series of small cascades up ahead that are the nearest to imagining what the Falls may have originally looked like and I head that way.

I see in my mind’s eye, each different Coal Man design introducing a different feature on this side of the park. I have been wading in shin-high to knee-high water to reach this place. It’s like an oasis on the exposed and fossilized ancient coral reef. I like resting here and having a water and snack break. If you remain inconspicuous you can often spot many different bird species here. The shallow but swiftly flowing water has small schools of baby fish seeking places of safe harbor. I’ll bet the oxygen levels in this water is very high?

I cool off wading and exploring this area before moving on. This space has a bit of the amphitheater feeling about it. The cascades take on a larger horseshoe formation connected by many small waterfalls. In the recent past, much larger cascades existed and put on a water show that I wish I could have seen.

Time to move on and dry off. Today, I’m only planning on walking to the beginnings of Goose Island where I will make my final images with this Coal Man. I definitely see returning out here again soon while the river level remains low. It won’t be too much longer before autumn rains and winter snows replenish the Ohio River and re-submerges these fossil beds until next year.

So far, I had kept the Coal Man dry. At this location which was the extent of today’s visit…I took advantage of clear, shallow water to create these pictures.

The wet coal turned deep black and I liked how many of the images graphically benefited from that. I guess this is Carboniferous Man swimming above the Devonian Age? From here I bagged the coal and started the walk home over the fossil beds.

Before closing, here are a few actual fossils I photographed along the way. This was once an active coral reef over 300 million years a go. Life was in the oceans. The species first discovered here have greatly expanded our knowledge of life at this time. This was the high point for corals and sponges and also gave rise to the first fishes.

This was my last river excursion of the summer. It is amazing how quickly this year is flying by! I was really happy that my left knee did not give me any problems. I am feeling encouraged and I still have this bag of coal I can keep playing with on a future visit. Thanks again for coming along…from the fossil beds at the Falls of the Ohio State Park…so long for now.

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Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog

Art and images from the Falls of the Ohio.

Posts Tagged ‘artist at exit 0’

From the River’s Heart

Ice Blossom Ornaments

The Christmas Bird

The Shark Shepherd

Closed for Renovations

The Long Walk West

The Giggle Bowl

Stone Rings, Wood Stars, and a Very Rare Bird

Goose Island Coal Man Hike

Fossil Beds and the Coal Man

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