tabula rasa

Hello Beautiful People! I am writing on the second to last day of 2009 with amazement...where did the time go? That said, I think back on all the installations I made, residencies, shows I saw and creative people I met and it makes me smile. I am also looking forward to a jam packed 2010, between my day job, my favorite hobby, and my next big installation in October.

Today I decided to clear the decks, so to speak. One wall in my studio, right above the area where a lot of the initial forming of my work takes place, is where I hang images that I want to be reminded of while working on the next big thing. Click here to see an image of what it looked like this morning--hasn't been cleared off for a good four years, since the Natural Selection show took so long to evolve. Along the very bottom are some of the long term keepers: a cover from Tintin book I loved as a kid; a picture I clipped of a man stacking stones that's been on my wall for about 20 years and a similar photo I paired of Jean Arp in his studio surrounded by sculptures; a National Geo cover that I love where diamonds are lain upon an oozy ripe strawberry, each diamond as big as the teeny seeds; Dave Brubeck's Time Out; a picture of moldy tomatoes from hidden gem Selby Botanical Garden calendar; a card for my favorite movie The Gleaners and I; a George Nelson marshmallow sofa; a postcard from my brother. (You can click on the above image if you want to see anything just a wee bit bigger.)

And the larger top region of this wall, for a brief moment, was blank.


Then I pinned up the first study for my installation next year: a yard of fabric. It's a print of William Morris' Strawberry Thieves, the pattern that will be most influential on my project. I was happy to find that Liberty Fabric still prints it, and ordered a yard for my inspiration wall.

Happy new year everyone!

something to think about.....

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule

4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?

The Washington Post won a Pulitzer in the feature writing category for Gene Weingarten's April 2007 story about this experiment. To read more conjecture about this story, click here.

a new installation in 2010

I was lucky enough to be chosen to do a piece for the RACC sponsored Portland Building Installation Space once again next October. This is the site of the original Vertical Garden that recently found a permanent home.
Here's the excerpt from my proposal to give you an idea of what's in store this time:

For the Portland Building, I will create an installation inspired by the wallpaper prints of Arts and Crafts designer William Morris. The plant elements will be made of the same materials as my previous work: painted recycled wood. An added element of painted wire will create a dominant vine form, linking my elements and establishing a repetitive, symmetrical pattern of flora and fauna on the largest wall. This wallpaper-like plant will “grow” from multiple sources near the ground.

Upon closer observation, the pieces at the very edges of this main wall will begin to break form, becoming more wild and emerge out of their flat plane. These elements will sometimes seek interaction with the viewer, and in other parts, crave the light coming from the open ceiling above. Elements that creep onto the west wall will become more wild as they go--a bird that may seemed tranquil on the other wall might turn its head toward the audience here, with a provocative object held in its beak.

A monochromatic carpet will fill much of the floor space, and it will be apparent that some of the vines coming from the main wall have been covered by this surface, similar to the black ground cloth we use to smother unruly growth on an urban plot of land. These vines have traveled beneath the surface, however, sprouting up in far corners again. Like the west wall, these plants are slightly changed when they re-emerge.

Expect to see a lot of images next year as I figure out how to make this crazy idea happen!

have an abstract xmas

I decided to use my improv method of sculpture making for a little holiday project this year. I've had this image of Alexander Girard's famous dolls on my studio wall for years, knowing I'd someday do a piece inspired by them. This was the year, and I made a set of 14 large freestanding angels for Velvet da Vinci.

I did a series of sketches to get myself warmed up.





Here are a few of the finished pieces. I might make a few more next year, it was so much fun playing with a "human" form for a change.
I was also asked to do a window show at Guardino Gallery in my neighborhood, so I made a flock of smaller ornaments based on these same designs.