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Encounter with Headhunters

Posted in Absurd, Art, art and environment, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 29, 2012| 4 Comments »

Summer has transitioned to fall.  Everyone has noticed that the days don’t seem to be as long as they were a mere month ago.  This is all the more reason to get out into nature.  Perhaps you have felt that subconscious pull tugging you out the door? The sun is not as insanely hot and the light is intense and clean.  There is just the barest yellowing along the margins of the river’s cottonwood leaves.  More colors will follow.  Right now there is an urgent purposefulness to the world as life prepares to overwinter.  The flowering grasses are alive with flying insects gathering pollen and nectar.  Spider predators are behind every leaf.  After absorbing some of this energy…I headed up to my spot under the willow trees and wondered about making something interesting from my river cache.  I was so happy and absorbed to be back at my outdoor studio that for a moment I lost track of the fact that something was now moving on the left side of my peripheral vision.  Thinking it might be an animal, I carefully brought my camera up to take some quick pictures and this was what I captured.

In quick succession, I had two images in my camera before I realized what I was photographing!  Appearing out of a myth was a member of the Pang tribe!  The Pang live in the most remote places in the world’s woods and consider themselves the first people.  It’s not advisable to try to find them because they don’t want to be found and it may in fact be dangerous to do so.  They only appear when they want to be seen.  The land they call home is full of poisonous serpents, insects, and diseases plus the rainy season is relentless.  There are no overland roads and very few trails.  Getting around means braving an unpredictable river.  Oh, and then there is the reputation the Pang have for being headhunters.  The little guy in front of me was reminding me of that by showing me the trophy he carries on a belt everywhere he goes.  I think my camera’s flash startled him!  By holding the captured head aloft, this tribesman was telling me he was experienced in this field!  His nose ring meant that he feared no pain.

The stainless steel fork he brandishes likely means he has had contact with our culture before.  The Pang, otherwise do not work metals.  What is known is that they are a hunting and gathering culture and nature supplies everything they need. The posturing and elaborate facial gestures on display before me continued until he seemed satisfied that I was harmless and perhaps even a bit slow on the uptake?  The Pang have developed a language where one can gauge how a person feels by looking and reading their facial expressions.  Most of the time, an open mouth with prominent tongue exposed is a sign for disgust or disapproval although there are exceptions for most rules.  Using the time-honored hand signal for follow me my new friend beckoned and I walked behind him anticipating adventure and mystery.

Along our walk the tribesman would point out where my culture had  dumped garbage into the Pang’s territory.  From the look on his face,  I could again register disapproval.  I tried to learn his name and give him mine, but we had trouble communicating by words. Aside from the occasional bit of plastic and paper, the forest walk was also full of beautiful birds and butterflies and late season wildflowers.  Eventually, we entered a small clearing and there set up for our relaxation and respite was an intimate canopy tended by another member of the first people.

A sheet of recycled plastic foam packaging and a couple of wooden posts made up this shelter.  I saw that the Pang were trying to reuse some of the trash they found. Sitting down, food and water is shared and I’m amazed at my new friends ability to live off the land.  A kicked over decaying log full of large, succulent beetle larvae provides the main course.  I, however, developed a taste for bracket fungi and my new hostess showed me what to look for.  I can’t help noticing that she is wearing a small skull object around her neck.  Later I learned that the Pang don’t remove heads from just anybody or without cause.  Head collection is the highest form of respect accorded to friend and foe alike.  I, however, was never in any danger simply because I hadn’t earned any respectability yet in the estimation of the Pang.  Or so another friend told me later.

After a short rest, my hosts were in a mood for a walk and I tagged along.  I could tell that there were things they wanted me to see.  Of course, they showed me just about every piece of litter we came across on the trail.  It seemed important to them that I not miss this.

Fortunately, I was shown a lot more that was good than not.  I could see why the Pang were so attached to their land.  It provides them everything including much of what makes up their identity.  We visited an immense hollow log that the river dropped off during some old flood and I took this portrait of the odd couple.

We walked back out into the bright sunlight and hiked near the river.  After having been in a mostly leafy environment, it felt nice to have fresh air against my face.  You could tell by the expressions on the Pang people’s faces how much they enjoyed being free and in a natural state.

Before long we came to a place where driftwood had collected on the beach.  It was nearer to the forest and another trail.  After a protracted goodbye, my friends went their separate ways.  I could tell that our adventure together was coming to an end.

I got the sense that something else needed to happen to make the day complete.  I turned with the man with a fork back down to the riverbank.  As we walked he slowly started chanting and stopped every once in a while by some landmark for added emphasis.  He did this when we came to a bright, marshy area.  My friend’s arms rose into the air along with his song.

After the marsh, my companion climbed a long log that had washed up on the shore during a flood many years before.  He climbed as far up the root mass as he could and lifted his voice and fork to the heavens.  I wish I knew what he was saying…but whatever comprised his song I could tell it was reverential.

Since this culture doesn’t show itself without some purpose in mind.  I hoped that  I hadn’t missed it.  Looking back upon the day, I enjoyed the camaraderie of my new friends, we relaxed together and shared a meal.  Later we went for a walk where I was showed both what the Pang liked and disliked in the landscape.  Now the day was ending in a prayerful song.  Seemingly to underscore another point, my headhunting friend drew a line in the mud.  In essence, he communicated that my side of the line was mine and if I couldn’t respect his side of the line…we would be unwelcome.  He quickly grimaced with his tongue sticking out on that last point.  Staying on my side of the line, I wished him well in my tongue and with a short wave  watched him melt into the forest where he belonged.

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Through the Drizzle

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 8, 2012| 5 Comments »

This was my Labor Day adventure which spanned two days of hanging out by the Ohio River.  The remnants of Hurricane Isaac came through and gave us some much-needed rain.  I was excited to return to my old studio spot and didn’t mind exploring and working through the drizzle.  My clothes got soaked and muddy, but as long as I was able to keep my camera dry…I felt okay and had fun.  It has been two months since I last laid eyes on my Styro-cache.  Most of these polystyrene chucks were collected in the spring.  I had heard that there were a few scheduled river clean-ups, but they obviously didn’t find my spot.  It wouldn’t have hurt my feelings in the least if all this white trash had disappeared.  The more public areas did look better, but I have a feeling that as long as people are around…there will be litter at the Falls of the Ohio.

Because I was dodging little rain showers, I quickly created a figure and moved him out into the river landscape.  A nice family who said they were familiar with some of my other Falls projects happened upon me.  Their daughters India and Esmay were interested in “Mr. Rednose”, so named because his nose is a burnt out light bulb from a string of Christmas lights.  I asked permission from the parents to take the girls’ picture before posting something.  Esmay seemed the most interested and kept sticking her finger into “Mr. Rednose’s” mouth.  It’s cool when people I meet out here get what I do and appreciate my small call for creativity.  I have a real concern for what kind of world our children will inherit.  My own sons are now 11 and 16 years old and I remember when they were much smaller and followed me to the river to make a few memories of our own.

“To exist or not to exist…that is a choice.”  Perhaps meeting little kids inspired me to play dress up with this figure.  But I also kept finding props I could do this with.  This blue blanket was just draped over a log and I wondered why someone would leave this here?  Over the years, I have come across small camps that homeless people would just leave their stuff behind as though they planned to return.  It was eerie when they didn’t.  By the river, I came across yet another potential prop.

A fisherman had left behind as trash this polystyrene minnow bucket and “Mr. Rednose”picked it up.  Since it was beginning to rain more regularly it seemed appropriate to try to use this bucket for a hat and here is what that looked like.

It was about this time that I decided to call it a day.  The rain was coming down more heavily and consistently.  I hid the figure in high, wet  grass where it was waiting for me the following morning.

My second day out here was more about discovering nature.  No sooner had I rescued my figure than I had one of my most thrilling bird sightings.  This time it was an actual bird and not something I created myself!  Walking through the wet grasses I unintentionally flushed a bird into flight that I recognized immediately.  It was a Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis).  It’s a small blackish bird with a short bill.  It has white speckles on its flanks and a very diagnostic rusty-colored nape.  Rails are the smallest member of a group of wading birds that include herons and egrets.  The literature says that they are very secretive and seldom encountered.  You are more likely to hear one at night along the eastern salt marshes, but there are a few that live in the Midwest.  There are over 260 bird species listed in the official Falls of the Ohio checklist, but the Black Rail is not one of them.  This is a second time I have spotted a bird not officially recorded in the park.  I tried to let the park and our local bird club know about my sighting and I hope somebody else was able to see it?   The flushed rail flew to a nearby willow tree and with camera in hand I tried to get a picture.  Unfortunately, I was not successful.  I will, however, look for it again in the same place the next time I come out here.  The Black Rail was not the only interesting creature out in the park today.  Newly minted butterflies were flitting about and I counted several species including the Viceroy which mimics the Monarch butterfly.

This Viceroy was taking advantage of the minerals present in a fairly large bird dropping!  Out of the fossil beds, Great Blue Herons were outnumbered by the slightly smaller and all-white Great Egrets.  Soon the egrets will be moving off to warmer climes, but the Great Blue Herons are year round residents.

 

Moving away from the river and back towards the willows, I stopped to admire several flowers including members of the Evening Primrose family.  “Mr. Rednose” enjoyed the slight fragrance emanating from this tall flower.

 

I finished this adventure where it began.  I moved my figure to the place he first took form and where he now stands guard over my Styro-larder.  He might still be there welcoming visitors…or not.  I look forward to returning the following weekend to experience all the surprises both great and small that this environment presents to me.

 

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Isaac’s Hummingbird

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 26, 2012| 17 Comments »

At long last I’ve made it back out to the river!  It’s been about eight weeks now since my last visit.  Today I have a double purpose…the first is to drop off one of my Styrofoam and recycled material sculptures for an annual fund-raiser that the Falls of the Ohio State Park Foundation hosts every year.  I’m glad to do this and hope my donation does well in their auction.  Despite the years I’ve been making stuff out here it still strikes me that most of my materials are literally trash.  I suppose I will never get over that. It seems to me that it takes a certain kind of person who would want to own one of these creations!  The other more fun purpose is to check out what’s different along the river and maybe make something new.  Immediately, I can see that the hot summer continues to take its toll.  At first, it was the relentless heat, but now that is coupled with a serious lack of rain.  The river is low and everything looks dry.

Over the course of this summer we have had just enough rain not to be considered a disaster area.  This is hardly a ringing endorsement and I find a small laminated notice tacked on to a bulletin board that reinforces how dry it is.  I think to myself that some of the people I’ve encountered out here over the years who do shoot off fireworks or build fire pits are not likely to read or heed this warning.  When I’m in the park, my preference is to move away from the most public areas and so with my walking stick in hand I head down the Woodland Loop Trail.  I’m still not confident enough to want to test my repaired knee too vigorously, but this trail is fairly easy.

The trail is shaded which I welcome since it’s still over 90 degrees out here.  I pass many what I would consider late summer blooming plants that have flowered earlier than usual.  I did see several stands of tall Pokeweed plants with their black berries, but even these weeds have wilted leaves.  I guess what moisture these plants could muster up went into the production of their fruit?  These berries are a favorite food of several bird species.  In the past, I have used the intensely dark purple juice from Pokeweed berries as a pigment in some drawings I have made.  This color, however, is fugitive and ultimately fades in the light.  As I walk, one distinctive sound I keep hearing is the tell-tale sound of gray squirrels gnawing on the rock-hard walnuts that are  clustered around the few walnut trees along the trail.  There’s not much meat inside one of these nuts and it seems like a lot of work for little reward.

Out on the exposed fossil beds the sun is baking, but under the shade of the trees it is still fairly green.  Since my last visit,  however, I noticed a lot of dropped tree limbs and a few whole trees that have keeled over and appear to be the result of wind damage.  I have seen a few birds including two Hairy Woodpeckers and as I walk along the trail I keep getting scolded by Carolina Wrens who resent my intrusion.  In the distance I recognize the calls from the Killdeer plovers that are looking for food along the water’s edge.  The rarest and most unusual bird, however, is  just up ahead.

I’ve only seen a couple of the more common and native Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds this year…and so I was taken aback and delighted to come across what I later identified as Isaac’s Hummingbird (Archilochus isaaci ).  To my knowledge, this is the only recorded instance of this Cuban species reaching this park.  I’m guessing that Tropical Storm Isaac (purely coincidental, but also appropriate) which is threatening the GOP conference in Tampa Bay at this moment may have blown this rarity our way?  Hummingbirds of which there are over 300 hundred recorded species have been known to wander thousands of miles away from their more familiar haunts.

I came across this hummingbird dozing on a fallen branch.  It would open its eyes every once in a while and regard me.  I kept my movements to a minimum and completely forgot about my aching knee in the process of creating a few images of it.  I was able to snap off six pictures before it took off.  As you can see, this bird (also known as the Yellow Saberbill) has a bright yellow bill it uses to extract nectar from flowers.  Its light blue body, brown wings, silver tail, and whitish-head are diagnostic of this species.  I don’t know what it is about the Falls of the Ohio, but I have seen other unique hummers out here before.  Digging through the archives…I present two of them again.

This is the ultra rare Arctic Hummingbird appearing at the Falls of the Ohio to sip nectar from the equally scarce Ice Blossoms.

I encountered this Cumberland Greencrest back in 2010 not far from the place that I saw the Isaac’s Hummingbird.  Both of these rare hummingbirds stayed in our area for a couple of days before moving on.  This is what keeps me coming out here…I just never know what I’ll find or discover! This was a short, but eventful trip and I thank you for tagging along.  Here’s another view of the river with the exposed Devonian fossil beds.

POSTSCRIPT:  The inspiration for this particular post comes from another WordPress blog I enjoy entitled “Ekostories”.  Isaac Yuen is its creator and he’s an aspiring environmental writer.  Issac has a talent for weaving stories and making connections about responsible stewardship of our planet.  At the time of this writing, Isaac has a wonderful post about a book entitled the “Flight of the Hummingbird” that I think you may enjoy…so please check it out.  Here is his link:  http://ekostories.com/ Finally, one last peek at this elusive hummingbird checking out a flower blossom.

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Digital Driftwood: Part II, Wood Mix

Posted in Art, art and environment, collections, creativity, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, nature photography, Ohio River, unusual collection, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 12, 2012| 2 Comments »

Welcome to my second look at wood as expressed at the Falls of the Ohio.  The first post concentrated more on the river and water as an agent of change moving material through the landscape.  This post looks more closely at the driftwood that gets stranded in this southern Indiana park.  I once curated an exhibition at the Louisville Visual Art Association entitled “River Sticks” where all the artworks were made from locally procured driftwood.  The majority of these works of art utilized raw, natural sources, but there is also wood in the mix of a slightly different character.

There is a wooden staircase placed here by the Department of Natural Resources (which maintains this state park) that is a popular access way onto the riverbank and fossil rocks.  It is not unusual during bouts of flooding to see part of this staircase submerged by the Ohio River.  During those moments, all you can do is look from a distance or visit the Interpretive Center.

Over time this staircase has needed frequent repairs as it gets battered by floating logs and tree trunks.  Only after the water has drained away can you walk among the driftwood and see what else made from wood has been left high and dry.

Here’s a dramatic shot of a different staircase that has floated down the river and has been snagged by a willow tree.  Objects stranded in trees bear witness to how high the river rose.

I frequently find wooden pallets and they get snagged in the trees too.  This one is a little different in that it appears the tree is growing through and around this artificial form. Over time, the pallet will fall apart. Perhaps wood is wood, but one can’t help noticing how much milled and processed wood is a part of the mix.  Here are a few other images showing this contrast between natural and man-shaped wood.

Sometimes it seems like there are enough planed boards at the Falls to build a small house. Fishermen and visitors use these planks to span muddy areas and puddles to keep their shoes clean and dry.  All this wood is a disposable resource?  I’ve seen visitors taking lumber out and I’ve done the same.  I like using river-worn cut boards as bases for the Styrofoam sculptures I choose to keep.  To me, even the smallest board tells a story of our relationship to trees and nature.  I tell myself that someday I’ll make some rustic piece of furniture from this wood.  The same processes that break a tree down in the river…do a similar “service” to disposed of wooden furniture.

Here’s a piece of a child’s crib or bed that I found at the river’s edge.

This is one of many table legs and turned pieces I’ve come across.  Sometimes I pick them up and take them home.  I’ve used them on rare occasions in my art, but I have also given many pieces to artist friends to see what they could make of them.  I suppose I could make an homage to  Louise Nevelson’s sculptures, but would prefer to create something more personal.  Nevertheless, I have picked up a few wooden artifacts from the river and here’s how they look collectively.

I left the toes of my shoes sneaking a peak for scale!  Here’s some of the hand-turned and machine-made table legs, chair staves, and spindles I’ve saved.  These artifacts do break down over time and eventually revert back to nature.  Now for a detail.

Here’s a slightly different collection of wooden artifacts I’ve saved over the years.  Some things I recognize and others require pondering to figure them out.

The objects on the right are mostly finials from fence posts.  The circular objects with the holes in them…I’m not sure how those were originally used?  Could they be part of a float system for barge ropes or are they wooden wheels for toys…could they be lids for some kinds of containers?  In this grouping I have also included a small rustic picture frame I found as well as a whittled stick I could tell someone cut and scored and is perhaps the most minimal artifact in my altered wood collection.  I find many board fragments, but I kept one small piece because someone named “Bill” tried routing his name in the wood and drilled a few holes that became bigger as the wood softened and aged from exposure to water.  This piece of wood exhibits several ways we leave our mark on nature.

I also have a sign collection that can be seen in my Pages section.  Most all of them are also made from wood and were once part of this unusual driftwood mix that came from the Ohio River.  I’m thinking of putting my found “Bill” board in that collection because it too is a sign of the times as we lose our ability and desire to write in cursive.  Very few schools in my area even bother to teach this skill anymore.

Not all the driftwood in the river consists of logs, branches, and roots.  Much of my riverblog bears witness to the extent our handiwork pervades the larger environment.  What I see happening in my part of the world I assume is transitioning  simultaneously across the surface of the planet.  We have added our own distinctiveness to the overall material aggregate which challenges our now quaint notions of what is “purely natural”.  I was right when I mentioned in an earlier post that the month of July would find a way to be memorable.  It’s official now, July was our hottest month ever in what is shaping up to be our hottest year ever.  Much of our country is experiencing an intense drought and so I end with a picture of what it looks like when there is too much water.

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Digital Driftwood: Expressions in Wood from the Falls of the Ohio, Part I

Posted in Art, art and environment, ecosytem, Falls of the Ohio, fresh water, nature photography, Ohio River, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 5, 2012| 7 Comments »

I have been doing some armchair beach combing while my knee recovers and I have selected images to help tell the story of wood at the Falls of the Ohio.  Since this wood was also once alive, it is also the story of trees along the Ohio Valley. When I went through my last three year’s worth of images…I found enough material for a few “wooden posts”.  Hence, this is Part I of what may prove to be a couple of stories.  The Falls of the Ohio is well-known for its driftwood deposits and many people (and some animals when I come to think about it) like to take advantage of this resource.  I have met many a person in pursuit of a select piece of wood.  What folks do with this wood is as variable as the person.  Some people like to use driftwood to enhance garden displays, some are inspired to make art from the found wood, and others may choose to burn this wood during cold winter nights.  I’ve seen Pileated Woodpeckers make short work of decayed tree trunks in their pursuit of carpenter ants and beetle larvae.   And once I found a Mallard duck’s nest inside a hollow log.  I’ve seen many beautiful fungi helping to convert this wood to humus. Driftwood is plentiful in the park and what usually happens is the Ohio River during its high water moods moves the old wood out and lays down a fresh layer that originates up-stream from us.  Sometimes I wonder if the wood I’m seeing is also part of the riverbank eroding in the northeast? These days, riverine ecosystems are under so many pressures. Since the Falls environment is continually being rearranged by nature, no two years are exactly the same and the riverbank is ever-changing.  It is interesting to me to think about these very images as digital driftwood that flows from the rivulet of data coming from my computer and tumbled into the ocean of info that is the internet.

A prolonged rainy system upriver from us or a sudden flash flood caused by short, but intense rain storms causes the Ohio River to rise quickly.  “New” wood flows over the top of the dam and soon mixes with wood already in the park.

Prevailing winds and river currents push the driftwood which can form large rafts and mats against the Indiana side of the Ohio River.  If you notice, there aren’t many trees here with intact branches.  The river breaks each tree down and keeps subdividing it into ever smaller and straighter pieces.  The wood chips in the water are the remains of tree bark that have been ground off by continually rolling against the other tree trunks in the waves.  Of course, there is other detritus much of it man-made also in the water. Eventually the water recedes and strands the wood in interesting formations that are a part of a new and rearranged environment.  Here are a few images made while the river retreats.

Not all the driftwood gets corralled by long logs that organize the smaller ones into neat parallel rows that fill in beach space like pieces to a puzzle.  It’s fascinating to get a sense of the water by how the wood was laid down.  Sometimes there is just so much material that immense mounds are formed by the interlocking wood.  Exploring these mounds can be tricky because the wood is still settling and caution is recommended.  At the moment, there is a sizable amount of driftwood under the railroad bridge which is also closest to the dam.  Here are a few images of all these logs after the water has drained away.

The small creek that flows into the Ohio River gets backed up with logs during high water.  When the water recedes and deposits the wood, it covers the contours of the creek’s banks.  Here are a few more recent images.

In the above image you can see how the trees that line this bank are beginning to be exposed by the river.  I believe there is just so much additional water and energy in play now because of climate change that the days of gentle rains will be fewer and farther between one another.  In our area, many residents have noticed that our storms seem to be fiercer and becoming more event worthy.  The main beneficiary of this are the television weather forecasters who love to hype the weather anyway.  I believe I will end here for now, but will continue later because there is more to say about this driftwood.  To close, I will end with another large and sculptural mound of driftwood.  Have a great week and month everybody!!

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Extreme Heat at the Falls of the Ohio

Posted in Absurd, animals, Art, art and environment, birds and birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature photography, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 8, 2012| 14 Comments »

The record warm spring we experienced in the Kentuckiana area is being followed by the extreme record heat of this summer.  Twice I have ventured out to the Falls when the thermometer had passed 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 40 on the Celsius scale.  My youngest son told me (without prompting) that he  thought this heat was evidence of global warming.  The idea that we could alter the climate in some way has reached our children’s consciousness and changed their awareness of what kind of world they will inherit.  Kids get it…why don’t politicians and business leaders do the same?  This should be a global priority because the quality of our environment makes everything else possible.  I’m at the river today to continue this role I’ve created for myself as witness/participant in this historic place.  Here’s a brief record of what I found and made on a particularly brutal day.  I’ll start with more coal flakes that I made at the water’s edge.

Walking around the park at its eastern edge, I collected the river-polished coal I came across and with these black rocks created two designs.  Because of the heat, it doesn’t take long for my clothes to start sticking to my skin.  For relief, I splash water over my face and arms. At first, I left the interior of one of the flakes open, but later decided to change it.  I did scout around for the other coal projects I had left here previously, but they were either missing or deliberately destroyed.

Here is the second design with the interior filled on the first coal flake. Why some people find my “art” to be more offensive than the trash that is ordinarily found here is puzzling to me?  Why more people don’t find all the random trash to be an eyesore and do something about that is another mystery.  My best answer is that “art” has a way of focusing and concentrating energy that stands above the ordinary.  To be noticed is not always a good survival strategy.  My work gets hammered because it sticks out and there is something in the human condition that would rather break things than fix them.

It’s still morning and I see the resident Black vulture colony is also at the river’s edge looking for dead fish or fishing bait.  There’s nothing like coming across a partially opened pack of chicken livers that some fisherman brought for catfish bait.  The flies and the vultures say thank you.  I’ve come to think of these vultures as familiars and part of me likes to believe that they even recognize me and allow me to approach a little closer than usual.

A couple of hours later and the vultures have done what I’m about to do…namely seeking shade and relief under the willow trees.  I find a few vultures standing on the ground with their wings outspread trying to catch the slimmest of breezes, but there is none today.  Reaching my stash of Styrofoam I look around and everything appears as I left it.  It’s just been too hot for most folks to want to be out here.  Rummaging around the polystyrene, I chose a few pieces and construct a new figure.  This piece has remained nameless, but if you out there in the wide world want to name it…that’s fine with me.  It’s also been too hot to think of titles and names.  He is another in a long line of absurd figures I’ve created with the collaboration of nature.  Here’s the head made from Styrofoam, coal eyes, fishing float nose, some kind of plastic piece for the mouth, and wooden ears.

As you can see from the last image…I have lots more Styrofoam to use up before our next big flood.  I began my latest figure with the body.  I came across a piece that suggested a sitting pose and so that is what I made.  Upon completion, I moved my new “friend” to various locations and tried him out in various contexts.

In the end, I decided to pose my figure in the remains of a private  outdoor party that was held out here since my last visit.  This must have been no ordinary “celebration” based on all the spray painted graffiti now on the logs and stumps surrounding their camp fire.  Take a look.

I’m more accustomed to seeing graffiti in an urban setting where tagging trash dumpsters and buildings is common place.  I’m still sorting out how I feel about coming across a scene like this?  Has anything actually been harmed…it doesn’t appear so.  When lovers cut their initials into the bark of a living tree, those cuts are there for the life of the tree.  All this spray painted wood is dead.  Still, this hardly seems like a nature loving act especially since the “artists” left their large beer bottles behind.  I think they did it because they could.  Their handiwork to my eye also lacks an aesthetic dimension, but now I’m sounding like an old-fashioned art critic.  I guess here is as good a place to say that I’m taking a hiatus from visiting the park to recover from my impending knee surgery.  I’ve been stomping about out here with a bad left knee for over a year and it hasn’t gotten better on its own.  An MRI showed two tears in my lateral and medial meniscus.  With hope, I won’t be down long and I will continue the riverblog with other stuff probably from my various collections. I’ll end this post with a small piece of plastic I found on this hot, hot day.  Since I started this post with some perceptions from a child about the environment…perhaps it is even appropriate?  It may take something akin to divine intervention to improve the condition of the world.

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River Cat and Coal Garden

Posted in Absurd, animal art works, animals, Art, art and environment, birding, creativity, ecosytem, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, nature, nature photography, Ohio River, public art, recycled art, sculpture, Styrofoam, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 30, 2012| 8 Comments »

The heat is on at the Falls of the Ohio.  It is looking like this will be a summer to remember.  In the Louisville area, we have already set all time record highs for the month of June.  Yesterday, it was 105 degrees here or around 40 degrees Celsius in the rest of the world.  Coupled with the heat is a lack of rain.  So, when it’s this miserable outside…who in their right mind would be walking around under this crazy sun?  That would be me!  I’m here at the river’s edge and imagining that I’m one of the dozens of herons I can see fishing from their spots by the fossil rocks.  I take my shoes off and cool my feet in the river.  This provides some respite.  It occurs to me that perhaps these herons aren’t fishing after all, but have discovered that they can beat the heat by wading in the water?

All the coal flake designs from the last post are gone.  In places, I can see how someone has dragged their foot deliberately across the patterns to erase them.  Why a person would feel compelled to do this is beyond me?  I’m nearly numb to the idea by now.  I am actually more surprised when any of my projects manages to survive for any time at all.  I have the images and that will have to do.  I do have this other coal project going out here.  It really isn’t any thing special.  Just coal defining the perimeter around a patch of grass I noticed growing next to a piece of driftwood.  I imagine that the wood provides some measure of protection from the wind or catches more dew and that is why this very small area of grass is growing.  The coal ring is meant to call attention to this.  So far, it has managed to survive being stepped upon, but if it doesn’t rain soon…I’m afraid my small patch of grass is a goner.

After cooking in the sun for a bit, I returned to my Styro-studio under the shade of the willow trees.  There is a trade-off.  Although I’m not under the direct scrutiny of the sun, I do however, become a tempting meal for mosquitoes and biting flies.  Looking around, I can see that I have had visitors because the Styro-figure I had stashed here has been destroyed and someone has attempted to create another figure from its remains.  An old pair of sun glasses I had previously found was just barely hanging on to the new figure’s eye-less head.  I do like it when people play along and imagine other possibilities.  I was looking through  my  larder of polystyrene chunks and wondering what to make next when I spotted some movement in the near distance.  Grabbing my camera I carefully stalked behind the trees and caught another member of the Falls’ distinctive fauna unawares.  Here is my informal portfolio of the River Cat.

Hiding behind a log I saw the River Cat hunting.  Among its habits…it is an ambush predator that conceals itself along the trails used by its prey which includes other small mammals and birds.

Once it was a common small predator found throughout the Midwest of the continent, but was persecuted and destroyed because it unfortunately developed a taste for chickens and other small livestock.  It was poisoned and trapped and extirpated from the majority of its former range.  Small remnant populations have clung on enjoying the protection they have found in state and national parks.

I watched this River Cat for several minutes before it discovered me!  It wasn’t  sure what I was and it jumped up onto a large log for a better look.  At this point, I wasn’t sure what it was going to do…but I kept on taking pictures.  Here is a close up of its head which illustrates one peculiarity about this beast.

River Cats have mismatched eyes.  There is an old pioneer wives’ tale that the secret to this cat’s hunting success lies in locking its gaze with that of its prey’s.  In effect, it momentarily hypnotizes its quarry before coming in to make the kill.  Whether or not there is any paralyzing effect at all has never been formally proven.

Once this unusual cat discovered that I was neither food nor threat it moved on.  I tagged behind at a respectful distance.  I followed it near the river before it gave me the slip.  Knowing that it was probably hungry, the thought crossed my mind that it might try to ambush one of the wading birds I saw earlier.  Picking up my collecting bag and walking stick I headed back down to the river.  Unfortunately, my luck didn’t hold out and I wasn’t treated to a real life moment where hunter meets prey.  I never saw the River Cat again, but I do have a few photos to prove it was here.

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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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Abstract Rope Fun

Posted in Art, art and environment, creativity, environmental art, Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, nature, public art, recycled art, Styrofoam, watershed, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 17, 2012| 5 Comments »

Greetings from a very hot and humid Falls of the Ohio State Park.  The Ohio River is receding into its summer pool and more of the riverbank has been exposed.  Of late, I’ve been running into more rope fragments from commercial barge traffic (or it seems this way).  I don’t  rule out the possibility that my desire to work with these objects in this setting has brought them into my universe and attention.  See the recent post I did about “Play on Earth Day” which also features a rope project.  I’m enjoying what can be done with them to create images.  Here’s two rope investigations I did the other day.

As ropes go…this isn’t the thickest or heaviest rope I’ve found out here.  What is interesting is that most of this rope is still buried under the sand.  There is a point where it enters the ground and remains hidden and fixed to this position.  I started out just coiling the rope…I love working with spirals.  The exposed end of this cable is covered with duct tape.  Next, I pulled the rope straight to see how long it was and to see how it activated the area it was found in.

The terminal end of this rope is buried under the sand.  I used that point to move and pivot the rope to create these other images.  Here are two side views of the straight rope and the scene it underscores.

Next I tried creating a circle by joining the ends together.  The rope was stiff and not easy to shape.

This image makes it appear to be more of an ellipse, but I did my best to try to form as neat a circle as I could.  The area I’m working in is in the eastern section of the park right under the railroad bridge.  The last photo I made using this rope is more of a figure eight and loosely reminds me of a chromosome.

Now for the same rope shape involving the roots of a nearby willow tree.

I came across a second rope on this sweltering day.  My clothes were literally sticking to me.  It occurred to me that I left my water bottle in my car which on this day was not a good move.  I needed to take frequent breaks under the shade of the willow trees to keep from overheating.

This second rope fragment is much thicker than the previous example.  It also appears to be made of a natural material.  Someone else found this rope in some other part of the park and carried it to this location under the bridge where it was abandoned.  I returned a couple of days later and this rope was gone.  I wonder what other project it was destined for? Anyway, here are a few of the images I made with this interesting object.

Next I placed the unraveling end into the river to link it with the riverbank.

Last view with the unraveling end draped over a log.  This is the position I left the rope in before departing for home.  I very nearly took this rope home with me, but it was too big and heavy and the heat of the day took its toll on me.  At the time, I told myself that if this rope was still here the next time I returned that I would collect this object for later use.  Nebulously, I had this idea in my head for another installation project.  Just what I need…more junk!

After playing with this rope, my curiosity was satisfied for the day.  I’m sure I will find other ropes and cables out here as time goes by. I found myself being very envious of this trio of male Mallard ducks!  They seem to have the right idea and so I will end this post with them.  Stay cool 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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