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Posts Tagged ‘found materials’

Black Snow and Coal Stars

Posted in Art, art and environment, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Ohio River, public art, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 24, 2012| 11 Comments »

I’m getting out here a little later than I was aiming for and now the summer heat is awake too.  I’ll take my precautions and take it easy under the shade of the willow trees.  There’s been another fire on the margins of this immense driftwood pile.  My guess is a hot cigarette butt flicked casually away landed on tinder and poof!  The wind probably did not encourage the flames this time.  It looks like it either went out on its own or firefighters were successful in quickly containing it.  This area under the railroad bridge still smells a little smokey.

In many ways this post is an extension of the last one…minus the ropes.  I guess I’m guilty of multitasking out here.  I often have more than one project going on at a time.  For example, I have a series of coal related investigations I have been doing that provide some relief from the Styrofoam.  Some of these  projects might make it into a coal-themed art show I’m participating in at the end of the year.  It will be interesting to see what the other artists come up with.  Last year we traveled together to see and talk with people whose lives were touched by their contact with coal.  Of course the issue of mountaintop removal was in the fore front.  Although I’m interested in the many controversies that cling to coal…I’ve also enjoyed working with it as a potential art material.  The coal that washes up at the Falls of the Ohio comes from the commercial barge traffic floating small mountains of crushed coal to the various hydroelectric plants along a channelized Ohio River.  Apparently, the river’s  current is strong enough to move these stones along and shape them.  And like Styrofoam, coal can be tumbled smooth and round in the process before it reaches me at the Falls of the Ohio.  I have found pieces as round as a chickens’ eggs and as flat as coins.

I’ve been collecting the coal I come across and looking for areas by the river that have more deposited on the sand.  First, I started with a few star shapes, but a remembered conversation I had with a friend created a different connection that I drew inspiration from.  My friend lived as a child in a small town in Pennsylvania associated with the steel industry.  He recalled that in winter, the whiteness of fresh snow would soon become gray and black due to air borne coal ash and particulates.  It was everywhere and got into everything.  That’s when I hit upon the idea of making snow flake-like designs from coal and photographing them.  Here are a few more from this series.

I’ve been placing these near well-worn paths that fishermen take to the water’s edge.  They call into attention and work with the small areas they occupy and provide visual interest.  I like that they have this public participatory aspect to them. Here are a few more sample images of the coal flakes before they “melted” back into the sand.

The white flecks in the sand are bits and pieces of ground-up mussel shells.  They mostly come from one foreign species that can out compete the local clams and deal with the present conditions.  Also mixed into this sandy matrix are pieces of river polished glass and small bits of plastic.  Here’s another project involving coal and Asiatic clam shells and a found coffee creamer jar.

I’ll conclude with two star images that were made along with the coal flakes.  The first one looks a bit like a starfish fossil…

…and this last is just simply a star!  It’s getting too hot to hang out and so I pack up and leave after a few hours fun.  That shower is going to feel good today. Have a great week everybody!

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Soul Man

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, unusual collection, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 10, 2012| 10 Comments »

The heat and the relentless light of the sun makes it official.  It’s summer at the Falls of the Ohio.  Now I need to plan my forays a bit more carefully if I want to get the most from each trip out here.  Earlier in the day is better.  You miss most of the heat, there are fewer people (except for the die-hard fishermen) and the chances are better you might see some wildlife…especially birds.  Luckily, if you don’t make it out here early enough…the trees are all in full leaf and the shade provides needed relief.  I wonder what kind of summer is boding for this year?  So far we have had the warmest spring ever being nearly a full seven degrees above normal temperatures.  Yikes!!  No doubt, summer will find a way to be memorable.  Anyway, when I’m out here I try to take some precautions in the form of drinking water and sun block.  Once my mind engages on something…I tend to forget my body.  This post is about another “personality” that I ran into on this day and the following is his story.

I came across this fellow several times during this day.  The usual protocol when encountering a stranger is maybe a quick nod of the head and each party then goes their own way.  I would have been happy to stick with this, but I kept bumping into this guy seemingly everywhere I walked.  One very curious thing about him (or her and how do you tell?) was that “he” was picking up old shoe soles and sticking them under his belt.  Here’s another view showing this.

Truthfully, I was at a loss to explain this to myself and the best I could come up with for this strange behavior was that this guy forgot his collecting bag and had some type of project that required shoe soles?  I’ve already noticed that a lot of wayward shoes wind up here courtesy of the Ohio River.  If you don’t believe me, check out my special collections area under “The Shoes You Lose” and you will doubt no more!  I haven’t added images to either collection in a while, nevertheless the lost shoes keep on coming.  Just for kicks, here are a couple additional shoes I saw on this trip that piqued my camera’s interest.

Here’s another shoe found near the previous one.  See what I mean?  I could go on and on about the shoes alone.

After my first encounter with this odd character I ran into him near a willow tree by the river’s edge and he was doing the same activity as before.

This time I abandoned my typical reserve and engaged the guy in conversation.  I think I said something like,…”Hey mister, I can’t help noticing that you are collecting shoes and shoe soles and although I know it is none of my business…what are you going to do with the footwear?”  I further added, ” I see you have tucked a few more soles into your belt since I saw you earlier.”   The Sole Man (my mental designation for him) smiled easily from his green mouth and put me at ease.  I had nothing to fear from him.  We walked together for a while and he told me what his angle is and why he does what he does.  Spotting another lost sole in the sand, my new friend bent over and lifted it up.

Upon picking the sole up, the “Sole Man” flung it over his shoulder and said follow me.

We didn’t need to walk far.  The Sole Man had a spot in mind where he told me he was going to deposit his shoes.  In the full light of the sun he selected an area marked by two shattered plastic drums, driftwood, plastic junk, and the tell-tale white beads from Styrofoam that had been deposited here by the Ohio River.

One by one my new acquaintance dropped his shoe soles in his selected spot.

He told me that he does this as a form of meditation.  Seeing all the junk from our material culture wash up here at the Falls of the Ohio has bothered him for years.  He couldn’t understand why anybody would do this to the Earth?  Fixating on all the debris was just making him madder and angrier which has  its own consequences.  He carried these shoe soles here because he wanted it to be visible so that others might see and reflect as he had.

He hit upon the idea that collecting and carrying these soles might provide him some peace of mind or insight into his fellow beings?  Each sole was a record of a lived life with their scuff marks and pressure points compressed into the very sole itself.  The sole was a record of an individual’s life experience and no two souls were bound to be alike. The old adage about not knowing a person until you walked in their shoes hit home like never before.  I asked him was it working…making him less angry?  He said that it did.  His negative feelings were replaced with something akin to empathy for he understood that he was not much different from the former owners of these shoes.  It made him feel less “high and mighty” and more of an equal stakeholder for the many conversations to come.  After a few more photographs, I bid my new friend good luck.  Leaving him, I placed one foot in front of the other and headed for home on this hot day.

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Bonus Feature #301…How to Make a Styro-Bird

Posted in animal art works, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, Originality, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 2, 2012| 7 Comments »

I enjoy processes and since I had additional images relating to my last post…I thought I would throw them in for fun.  I also harbor this very idealistic idea that everyone is born creative…it’s just that most people don’t view themselves in this way which I believe is at the heart of our environmental dysfunction and a great shame.  Somehow we have replaced creating with consuming. The following images hopefully show that you can create magic out of nothing.  There isn’t anything technical happening here.  If you can do Mr. Potato Head than you have the basic idea behind creating this bird.  The materials are not manipulated greatly.  I like nature to form the shapes I use. The only carving involved is in cutting slots into the body to hold the wings.  I did shave away one wing to make it thinner. I did poke holes in the head for the eyes.  I shortened the willow roots for the legs and the beak is held in place with a wooden peg just as the head attaches with its own little stick which also helps the head to swivel. Now I know this sounds a bit flip, but the hard part is seeing the possibility behind something that’s intrinsically worthless and imagining what else this could be?  Looking at the following series of images at home, I’m struck by the altar quality of the log I have spread out my materials on at my temporary outdoor studio.  I do feel that being an artist is a reverential activity.  I like to think my “art” is somehow in the service of life.  I believe you will recognize most of the components of this bird, but they include Styrofoam, wood bark, dried willow rootlets, the plastic nose cone of a small bottle rocket, plastic and foam “gaskets”, and charcoal for the eyes.  All materials were found on site at the river.  I found the little bowl that morning and it’s great to hold the little pieces I use.  I’m not a great photographer in the classic sense in that I don’t concern myself greatly with exposures and settings.  My camera is set on automatic.  I do, however, try to create an interesting image or composition that “says” something to me about that day and this place.  Give it a try…it’s fun to do!

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The Brown-winged Robin and Other Birds

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, nature photography, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 2, 2012| 9 Comments »

Since my last visit to the Falls of the Ohio State Park the willow fuzz has peaked.  Cottony drifts have gathered in places that offer some protection from even the slightest breeze.  The way the light shines on this gossamer surface is magical!  Before venturing into today’s avian adventure…a personal blogging milestone announcement as this is officially post number 300!  I hear the champagne corks popping already.  I had little in the way of expectations when I started this Riverblog, but I have been happy with this medium for describing my project.  In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if blogging would hold my interest, but it has.  I have also enjoyed the wide community that is out there and I thank everyone that has stopped by or left a comment.  As regular visitors know…I’m a big bird watching fan and I enjoy the many challenges that this hobby presents me.  A once in a lifetime experience can begin with a quick flash of the wings that may last just seconds.  It causes me to be acutely present in the moment.  Venturing down to the river I see the resident flock of Black Vultures has returned for another season.  I photographed this wary pair looking for dead fish or anything else edible.

The foreground in this image is willow fluff covering the sand.  I find the two vulture species that hang out at the Falls to be really interesting birds and I have posted on them many times before.  There are more furtive species out here as well and I had the good luck to stumble upon a small mixed flock of warbler species.  Among this group were several Magnolia Warblers and I have a few images of them.  I love their coloring with their black streaks on their bright yellow breasts.  Magnolia Warbler is a misnomer since they don’t seem to favor that tree in my experience.  I found these warblers to be very tolerant of my presence and I was able to follow them as they moved from one willow tree to another in their search for small insects.

Warblers are tiny always on the go creatures and their many species are a highlight of the spring migration.  Many of the warbler species I see are passing through our area to points mostly north of here.  I came across another seldom seen bird that I hope you will enjoy.  It’s called the Brown-winged Robin and it too is traveling through the heartland.  I have a series of this bird too beginning with a specimen I found wading through the willow fuzz.  Is this pre-nesting behavior?

Here are a few more shots of this rare bird in the environment at the Falls of the Ohio.  The brown wings are diagnostic as is the bright red beak.

There are many more bird species both real and imagined that I look forward to presenting in future posts!  I hope to continue to share with you the great variety of life that I find in this relatively small place as it reveals itself to me.  One other announcement for folks in my immediate area.  I will be presenting my project at the Pecha Kucha event at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Clermont, Kentucky the evening of June 5.  This will be an outdoor event and coincides with the transit of Venus occurring on that night.  Essentially, this slide show presentation form I believe began in architectural circles and speakers have 20 slides at 20 seconds a piece to present a topic.  It goes by fast so you need to be pithy which can be a challenge! If you are interested in more information just click on my Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest link in my blogroll.  I hope to see some of you out there and thanks again to all who have checked out the Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog over the years!  Now for more willow fuzz!

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At Play on Earth Day

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 24, 2012| 6 Comments »

The stars were in alignment and I got to spend a nice Earth Day at the Falls of the Ohio.  It was a little cold and windy…nothing layering in sweat shirts couldn’t handle!  I found so many interesting objects and spaces that I filled up my camera’s memory card.  I now find myself with a richness of images I couldn’t post in one go…and so I will try to keep it focused in some way.  As proof that everyday should be Earth Day…the official celebration in the park has been moved to May after the Kentucky Derby.  Supplanted by a horse race!  Last night was Thunder Over Louisville which year after year is usually the largest fireworks display in North America and kicks off the two weeks long Kentucky Derby Festival.  Thousands of people were out here partying on both banks of the Ohio River.  They left their trash after the event, but fortunately it looks like the clean up crews are doing a good job and keeping this stuff out of the park.  After all, it already has enough detritus of its own.  Of late, I’ve been really fascinated by how these big barge cables and ropes that wash into here weather over time. They are made of tough stuff, but the river wins in the end.  Sometimes they unravel and drift beautifully from willow root to branch like mutant Spanish moss.  Some of their colors can even be shocking compared to the neutral earth tones of their surroundings.  Here’s one such scene I’ve been trying to describe.  This is one of my Earth Day photographs.

I later came across a nice length of barge cable stretched out across the sand. For fun, I started coiling it and taking pictures of the different configurations I came up with.  Here’s the way it looked stretched out.

When I look at my pictures at home, many of these cable fragments reference fossils.  I get a strong feeling of ancient sea lily crinoids and nautilus-like ammonites preserved in the rock that was silt millions of years a go.  I also played with the spiral form and activated an intimate space with its spring-like energy.

Creating a tighter spiral evoked ammonite shells and wavy tentacles.  Ammonites were coiled cephalopods with some resemblances to our squids and octopi. The ammonites were so successful for so long.  Beginning somewhere in the Devonian they prospered and radiated out to fill all the world’s oceans until the Cretaceous Period crashed.  Their run lasted more than 330 million years and now they are all gone.  We have a way to go to match that record.

In most of the places I walked today I could hear the Northern Orioles singing.  I tried imitating their call notes and once in a while I could get a bird to reply.  I saw various warblers, vireos, woodpeckers, wrens, and more…however, the most memorable bird event happened at my feet.  I stepped too near the nest of a Song Sparrow and flushed the bird that was hiding with its clutch of eggs.  Here’s a photo of the scene.  Can you find the bird’s nest?  Look closely at the dark spot on the left side of the young willow greenery.

And now…lets look a little deeper and closer at this spot.

Inside were four tiny eggs tinged in green and speckled with brown spots.  I’ve read that the Song Sparrow is heavily parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird which opportunistically lays an egg of its own among the sparrow’s clutch.  The unsuspecting parents raise the cowbird as their own.  As far as I could tell, this nest was in good shape.  Perhaps having a really obscure nest site has so far protected it from the cowbirds which are common in our area?  Walking further, I came to another nesting site of a different kind near my outdoor studio.  Like the Song Sparrow…this spot was also well hidden.

The tire swing helps give it away otherwise it easily blends into the natural driftwood environment.  I imagine a family coming to play here because there is evidence of children… including a misplaced fuzzy duck toy.  The kids keep raiding my Styrofoam cache, but haven’t made anything back at their fort!  Walking around the structure, I find the door is closed.

I even crawled up on the “roof”  for a look.  The builders have taken a natural space created by interlocking logs and enclosed and defined the space by leaning and propping up other found wood.  It all blends in perfectly.

I moved a few planks and logs aside and could see the interior.  I set the duck back up and snapped this shot.

Because my driftwood structure neighbors like to borrow the Styrofoam I’ve collected…I decided to leave them a present using the biggest polystyrene chunk they dragged over here.  First, I need to improvise a head.

After finding some appropriate limbs…I set the figure up in the corner of the log fort.  I thought it looked pretty good against the new green leaves of the willows.  In my head I heard this little bit of imagined dialogue…”Wait, wait…it’s not yet Earth Day!  That’s been postponed until May 12.  Come back then and bring the family.”…as he waved all wild-eyed and everything.

I’m not sure how long this guy will last?  It would be nice to think that the kids who play here could see this figure as a part of their creative environment.

The root mass from this great log makes up one “wall” of the driftwood fort.  Here’s another view looking back before I moved on to the rest of my day.

I’m going to bring this post to a close with two photos of a willow tree I saw the other day.  These trees are buffeted by the elements and begin to take on character and personality as their will to survive kicks in.  With their branches reaching for the sun…their incredible roots hang on to the mud and are sculpted by the Ohio River.  It’s good to think of trees during Earth Day.

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Guardian of the Bottle Tree

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 24, 2012| 12 Comments »

On a variable day where the sun played hide and seek among the clouds,  I visited the Falls of the Ohio to see what there was to see and experience.  Thus far, Spring is shaping up to be much warmer than normal and many different  plants in the city where I live have flowered early.  I was curious to see if this pattern was holding true with the trees out by the river? Upon arrival, I could see that the trees hadn’t “leafed-out” and so I directed my attentions to a slightly high and wild river.  I began looking for river treasures when I met this strange fellow.

He called himself the “Guardian” and he was doing the same thing as me.  Namely walking along the edge of the river and picking up objects that were washing ashore.  The water level has been high and many of the youngest willow trees were poking out of the sand like large hairs on the back of some big animal you can’t totally see because it’s that huge.  I tagged along with the Guardian and we conversed freely.  It’s funny how no two beings react in the same way to the “treasures” the river offers up.  For example, people are always trying to give me driftwood that they think I will like.  Rarely, am I attracted to their finds.  Driftwood aesthetics is a matter of personal taste as is the attraction for all the other stuff that washes up here.  I didn’t think anything at all as the Guardian started collecting plastic bottles.  While those bottles held little interest for me…the polystyrene chunks I was stuffing into my collecting bag held no interest to the Guardian whatsoever.

The Guardian was keying on green plastic bottles in particular.  I had to know why these bottles and what was he going to do with them?  And then there was the added mystery of his name.  If he’s the Guardian…what is he guarding?  My new friend said he would be glad to tell me, but it would in fact, be easier to show me.  Together we walked up the shore to the tree line where my new friend had a project he was working on.

I was amazed to see that he had planted a river-polished cedar trunk into the sand and had attached his green plastic bottles to the nubs that were once branches of this tree.  Judging by his project’s progress…he had been hard at work before I ran into him.  Here’s another view that shows where he positioned his bottle tree.

He told me he had been doing this activity once a year for many years and that he is called the Guardian because he is the protector of this particular ritual.  It’s purpose is to awaken the coming of Spring after a period of dormancy.  There are other beings like himself that are scattered across the planet and serve the same or similar functions through their various rituals.  As he added new bottles to his tree, the Guardian chided me in a friendly way saying did I think the seasons just transitioned on their own? The Earth in fact needs the help of all who love her to keep her from falling into neglect.  The Earth needs to know that folks do care because that extra bit of genuine concern is important and provides the extra energy needed to sustain everything that lives.  Otherwise, this huge task is simply not worth it and the world slips into apathy and falls back asleep.

As the Guardian spoke to me, large dark clouds started gathering overhead.  The first large drops of rain began falling in the sand around us.  It was time to go and I parted company with my new friend.  I thought about what he told me.  I guess I hadn’t considered that the very planet might also be alive and would respond positively knowing that others simply cared.  As I walked home I said a little prayer of my own inside my head and awaited the further greening of the world.

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Goofy Guy

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 19, 2012| 10 Comments »

Welcome to another adventure set in the western section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park.  As promised, here is what amounts to part two of my last entry.  On this particular day I was involved with two sculptures made using found materials. The first was the Banana Palm Mockingbird that I was photographing when I was taken by surprise by this odd character that I call the “Goofy Guy”.  He walked out of no where (scared the bird away) and announced himself to me.  I was working intently with my camera and not paying much attention to what else was around me.  Let that be a lesson to me in letting my guard down.  Anyway, here is a picture of him.  Luckily, my absurd visitor was a very friendly chap!

You can see why he’s the Goofy Guy with his asymmetrical face and huge smile.  He seemed really curious about what I was doing and so he tagged along with me for an hour or so.  One of the first things he did was show me this tree that a beaver or beavers had gnawed.  It never occurred to me that beavers might be capable of climbing trees?  I could have this all wrong, but I’m not certain what else is around here that could do this type of damage? Might be some other mysterious critter that I have yet to come across.

I was working my way down the river bank and snapped this image of my new friend standing on a set of concrete steps.  Hmm…another mystery presented itself.  Although I have always acknowledged in my brain that these steps are out here…I have not considered for very long why they are here to begin with?  Obviously, this thing did not just float in with the high water!  In different areas out here, you do come across building foundations that preceded the formation of the state park.  Is this evidence of that or did someone go to great trouble to dump this here like so much back fill?  It certainly would take some energy to do this.  On the other hand, if these steps actually were attached to a building…who would build a structure this close to the Ohio River and for what purpose?  Is this the remains of a boat house?   Where is the rest of the house?  The mystery just deepens!

Since it was an unseasonably warm day…the Goofy Guy decided to cool his feet off.  Waves from the river were lapping the shore line.  If my friend isn’t careful he could easily fall into the river.  Then again in his case, he would just float off to some other distant place.  I believe the flower-like object on his head may be part of some large bubble wand…I just thought of that.  Over the years, I have collected many smaller wands and I should show you that collection at some point in this riverblog.  Always good to have something saved for a rainy day.  I’ll add that to my other esoteric river collections.  If you notice, Goofy Guy is missing the talisman he had on his chest.  It must have fallen off while we were having fun.  I think it was a plastic cookie cutter perhaps to make gingerbread men?  The day was wearing on and so I was working my way back to the Interpretive Center.  I was soon to say good-by to my new acquaintance, but before that happened I created a last series of images of him.

We stopped by a large tree that fell over a year or so a go and Goofy Guy climbed up on the tree’s root mass.  To me, he looked like a preacher on his pulpit.  I wondered later what topic he would elaborate upon and hoped it would have something to do with respecting nature and environmental responsibility.  This image shows the tree better.

Tired, thirsty, and hungry I bid my friend farewell.  I wonder if he is still hanging out or did he attach himself to some other people?  The next time I’m in this section of the park…I’ll make a point of looking him up.  Thanks for hanging out with me and engaging the many mysteries surrounding this special place in the world.

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Palm Saturday

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, birding, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, public art, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2012| 8 Comments »

Dear readers…I have so much to post and have fallen a couple of weeks behind.  The work a day world has been extra busy (and rewarding) of late.  Still, I have made time to go to the river and “do my thing” to maintain my peace of mind.  It’s time now to post my images and tell a story.  The following post occurred two weeks a go when the river was high and I decided to spend the day in the western section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park.  At this point, I was fairly certain that the materials I found and cached at my outdoor studio in the eastern section were either gone or the river was about to take them.  I ventured forward-looking for “fresh” materials and opportunities.

My walk took me past the marvelous tree that the local kids (among others) like to use as a hang out.  I can imagine many potential childhood memories centered around this tree for the folks who grew up with it.  On this day everything was quiet and in fact I didn’t see anybody out here at all.  That bodes really well if you want to see wildlife.  It has been so unseasonably warm…that I wonder how that will affect how spring unfolds this year?  Later we would set several records for high temps in the lower 80’s for early March!!! Technically, it’s still winter here…very odd indeed.  I had heard that a pair of bald eagles were attempting to set up a nest in the far western section of the park and I was hoping to see at least signs of the birds.  I wasn’t lucky on this day with the eagles, but I did come across a few other interesting wildlife objects courtesy of the Ohio River.  For example, here’s the first goldfish I’ve found out here.

This fish stood out against the river pebbles like a red beacon.  I could have found it with one eye closed! We have other invasive carp species out in the river now, but this was a new one.  An actual goldfish probably wouldn’t stand much of a chance against the river’s natural predators.  The non-native carp that have entered the river system eat constantly and grow really fast and large.  It will be a great challenge to rid the river of them. I picked up the neon goldfish and dropped it into my collecting bag.  Here’s what I came across next in the way of wildlife.

Swimming at the river’s edge I stumbled upon this golden sea turtle.  It was playing among the bubbles and rootlets.  Again, here was an image that was unnaturally beautiful…like the current weather.  The pattern we have been experiencing is that the river will rise and then fall in quick succession as the Army Corps of Engineers regulates the water level for commerce and flood control.  Walking even further west I came across this “elephant’s graveyard” of plastic and my heart sank.  You can pick this stuff up all day long and it seems the next day gives you a fresh supply. Sometimes it feels like you are rolling that proverbial rock uphill only to have it roll back down.  What’s happening up river from us?

As you can see…it’s not a pretty picture.  Mostly plastic containers like old milk jugs and laundry detergent packaging.  As this plastic weathers and breaks down from UV light, the pieces keep getting smaller and smaller without ever completely disappearing.  The next stop could be the Gulf of Mexico. I found one other notable object and set it up among the still bare branches awaiting the new leaves of the year.  This is also the first time I have come across one of these things.

It’s either an artificial palm or banana tree?  As the day continued to warm I wondered to myself about how plants might be reacting to climate change?  Are the warmer weather plants moving northwards and what else will this change? While I was musing on this I received an answer in a most unlikely form.  My “banana palm” was visited by an unusual bird.

Here’s another first! Leave it to the only Banana Palm Mockingbird to find the only banana tree around here.  I watched transfixed as the bird explored the tree and the surrounding area.  A bird of this species is more likely to be seen in Central America than mid America.  I don’t know much more about it.  I saw it investigate the river’s edge for food and here are a couple more images to prove it was here.

Here’s the mockingbird with Louisville’s skyline visible on the opposite shore.

The mockingbird didn’t hang out for very long and soon it was time for me to head back.  I’m going to be off for the next couple of days and will attempt to post more of my adventures…if the call of the river doesn’t get me first!  Have a great weekend everybody!

 

 

 

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The Water Weasel

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, recycled art, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 3, 2012| 12 Comments »

Twenty four hours later, people in the Kentuckiana area are still trying to absorb what happened yesterday.  A monstrous tornado completely wiped out several small communities including the town of Henryville which is about twenty miles from my home in Louisville.  It’s a scene of complete destruction and there was loss of life all along the course of this twister.  Believe it or not, we were anticipating that this could happen.  Meteorologists were telling us that the conditions were right for violent storms. I was sent home hours early from work as were many other people in town to take shelter in our basements and safe places.  I wonder how much worse it would have been without the advance warning?  Thus far, we are more than double the usual tornadoes normally seen in the early spring.  Throw away your Farmer’s Almanac…I’m not sure it describes the physical environment we now live in.  It seems we are living in extreme and unstable times.  Pick your poison, too hot, too dry, too wet, too many powerful storms, too many natural disasters.  I hope this won’t be a dangerous spring…but it is already off to a bad start.  My heart goes out to all the people affected by this tragedy.

I’ve watched the local news on television and read the morning newspaper.  I feel like escaping and so I go to the Falls of the Ohio.  I see just one other person all day, otherwise, it’s sunny, windy, and the river is rising.  The tall figure I made last weekend is gone!  Not a trace…nothing.  I guess it got up and walked away.  To haul something that big out of here takes some effort and commitment.  I head down to the water’s edge which is creeping up the bank.  As the waves crash against the shoreline, I’m scouting for the flotsam and jetsam the river gives me as gifts.  Here are a few of today’s finds.

I believe this might be a teething ring for a doll?  It’s tiny and the black object next to it is an ordinary plastic bottle cap which is a good gauge of scale.

And now for another object whose identity I’m not sure of!  My guess is this is some plastic toy vegetable?  Anyway, I dropped it into my B. Deemer Gallery collecting bag and moved on.  My fake produce collection keeps getting bigger!

In my hand, I’m holding a plastic smiley fish!  Probably a child’s bath tub toy. And now, for my favorite find of the day!

When I find something like this I wonder how long it’s been in the river?  It could be years based on the patina it has acquired.  I was admiring the frogman when I saw something else moving along the driftwood.  I froze so I would not scare it away.  From memory I quickly recognized it as a Water Weasel which is a seldom seen animal in these parts.  Carefully, I eased my camera up to my eye and recorded these images in quick succession.

The Water Weasel is an unusual mammal.  It’s always on the move and it’s always hungry.  Rarely do you see more than one of these critters at a time.  It can probably only stand its own specie’s company during the mating season. The Water Weasel is also extremely secretive and so it’s exceptional to spot this guy.  As it comes closer to my position…I realize why it hasn’t seen me.  The weasel is chasing something and is focused on its quarry.

The Water Weasel has relentlessly pursued its prey across wood and sand and made its kill.  This time the victim is a small White-footed Mouse that had the misfortune of crossing paths with this predator.

The mouse disappears with a few bites and with a quick lick of the lips the weasel vanishes into the nearby driftwood mound.  The whole predator/prey relationship crosses my mind.  It’s not about picking winners and losers…nature is indifferent and has no stake in the outcome.  I notice it is getting colder and the wind has picked up again.  I can hear the logs crashing into one another in the river and making that sound which I associate with the grinding of teeth.  A drop of water falls from my runny nose.  It’s time to go home and cross the bridge back into Louisville.  I wonder how high the river will rise?

Postscript:  The Water Weasel is similar to another small mammalian predator known in folklore as the River Ghost.  Here is a preserved specimen from the collections of the Museum of Unnatural History.

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Winter’s Giant White Ant

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 19, 2012| 5 Comments »

On a warm Saturday morning in mid February, I was exploring the eastern section of the Falls of the Ohio State Park.  At first glance, I had the place to myself and I began my systematic sweep of the shoreline looking for whatever the river had temporarily marooned here.  Usually, I will walk down to the water’s edge first and then I comb the bank walking back and forth until I hit the treeline.  This typically takes an hour or so and my collecting bag quickly fills up with all kinds of river treasures both natural and artificial.  This morning was to prove to be a memorable one when I came across a creature new to me and I believe science as well?

Years of bird watching had trained me to key on the slightest movement that might betray a creature’s location.  Such was the case when I came across this extraordinary insect that was exploring the same territory as me!  I saw a little motion from the corner of my eye while scanning the riverbank that proved to be this very large ant’s wiggling legs.  This is not my first encounter with a large insect at the Falls of the Ohio.  Previously, I had discovered five other giants of different species all belonging to a genus I had dubbed “Polystyrenus”… because their exoskeletons look like they are made from weathered Styrofoam.  The following is my report complete with photographs and observations made in the field.

I would estimate that this insect’s body, (which looks to be an  “ant”), to be about a foot in length.  Of course, the articulated legs make it seem bigger.  Its eyes appeared to be simple and its mouth parts seemed feeble.  I surmised that whatever it fed upon didn’t require the shearing power of larger mandibles.  I could be more certain of this, but I refused to “collect” or kill this creature in the name of science just to complete a more thorough morphological examination . The thought crossed my mind that this could be the young of the Giant Blue Ant I had seen here a couple of years a go?  I also noticed that many of its legs were different from one another and each appendage might be a different tool like blades in a Swiss Army knife?

While the ant explored its world I discreetly followed along.  My camera is equipped with a telephoto lens nearly as big as the bug.  Still, I found this particular specimen to be amazingly tolerant of my presence.  I watched it while it moved to the river’s edge, but I could not gauge its purpose here.

Interestingly, I did observe it checking out a couple of frayed barge cables that were snagged and unraveling among the willow branches.  It seemed very intent with the fiber strands and used its six legs to gather up the strings into a ball.

Here’s the ant on a different branch.  I wonder if it is responsible for the cuts on this cable?  You can see an intact length of this heavy rope on the sand below.  Could this be some form of play?  This is a question to be answered later.  I never saw the ant do anything else with these two cables .  Does anyone out there have a hypothesis?  Moving on, I did get some very interesting images of the ant either feeding or drinking that show how unusual this ant is from its smaller kin.

On several occasions I was able to observe our remarkable ant taking “sustenance” from iridescent water which flowed in rivulets from the sand below.  What is this stuff?  Is it petroleum pollution or the oils and minerals leaching from other biodegradable materials breaking down below the sand?  As it fed, the ant was at its least cautious.  Perhaps it was drunk?  I walked up to it and was able to take this aerial view.  The rainbow-effect on the sand contrasted nicely against the whiteness of the insect. You can easily see the basic insect body plan with its head, thorax, and abdomen.  Of course, all true insects have six legs.

Here’s another image that comes as a revelation and shows clearly how it feeds.

Like a butterfly, the ant unveiled a long proboscis or feeding tube and lowered into the sheen.  Its abdomen pulsed while it sucked.  I kept thinking about what this stuff is that bubbles to the surface and could it be responsible for the appearance here of these large insects?  Is this some local version of the “Godzilla-effect” where pollution mutates the endemic creatures into giants?  Well, at least I think Clarksville, Indiana will be safe from this ant for the time being.  Now if millions of these ants were to show up at the same time…then this story could change.

After imbibing this strange brew, I observed the Giant White Ant exploring the park.  A previous visitor had found an orange life-preserver and placed it over the branch of a tree.  Here the ant gets on its “hind” legs to investigate the ring.  This ant displays a lot of curiosity about its world.  For a short-time, I lost track of the ant which is able to walk across the driftwood more quickly than I, but I was able to relocate it when I came across this shattered plastic barrel.  It kind of looked at home here and so I left it be and moved on.

That’s it…I have more pictures, but they don’t reveal anymore about the Giant White Ant’s behavior.  Of course, I hope to see it again provided it manages to evade its enemies and stay alive.  What will the “Godzilla-effect”  produce here next?  I wonder if E.O. Wilson has encountered anything like this before in all his researches?  I’ll close now with a final image of my ant.

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