Trash is the failure of imagination.

While in Los Angeles last week, I checked out Aaron Kramer's "Salvaged" exhibit at the Craft and Folk Art Museum . His creations of impeccably assembled found objects and whimsical sculpture was definitely a kick in the butt--time to resume welding! The whole museum is worth exploring.

*Art reception next Thursday, September 2*

My opening reception for Folk is next Thursday, Sept 2 at the JP Art Market (36 South Street) from 6--9. The show will be up until September 19. 

Come to next week's First Thursday 5--8, as there will be many other talented artists exhibiting all over town for the evening.

Full Pine Moons

Sitting in the Arnold Arboretum last month, I watched the full moon rise above the pines. Several unseen critters were doing the same nearby.

Representing the 13 full moons every year, these luminous shells each vary in detail like the lunar stages. They're suspended from delicate Maine driftwood and ultimately secured by a pine cone which I found while hiking through a small area in the Blue Hills that had been subjected to forest fire. Most of the trees were charred and ashen, giving things a silvery hue. Resting on the top of the cone and each piece of wood sits a tiny shell.

sold

Urchins From Many Walks

These are the railroad tracks in Medfield where I found the tie for the Urchins sculpture. One boy noticed me taking his picture and started dancing. Watching, I was reminded of "Stand By Me".






Here is a compilation of relics from various walks. At the top is a porous, man-made rock from Webb Memorial State Park, one of the loveliest of the Boston Harbor Islands. Balanced below is a railroad tie I found while hiking across the tracks out by my hometown. The curved driftwood is from Cape Cod, and either end is lightly covered with bark that holds the same purplish hue of the rock. Suspended from the wood are coconut shells sitting atop sea urchin spines which make the most delicate sound when they clink together.

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Creeping Black On Silver

Sitting on the hood of the car clicking photo after photo, I finally captured this bolt touching down on the outskirts of Portsmouth, NH....right before my batteries ran out.

After watching that heat lightening streaking across the sky, I created this. The charred wood was found among the remains of a bonfire on the coast of Nova Scotia, and at the top it's gripped by an antique caliper. On the silvered end lies black seaweed which I soaked until soft and then coiled around a slender piece of driftwood, mimicking a bolt and playing on the contrast of the base.

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Three Ties

Made with wood from Plum Island, the three ties hanging from the twisted wire mimic the three crumbling nails protruding from the panel. While the nails have deteriorated faster than the pressure treated wood, the stains they leave behind will remain. I found the ties buried in the construction site of what is now the new Media Lab at MIT. There were countless remnants from the building that were ultimately just covered with turf and sprayed with seed. Makes you wonder what lies beneath all those pretty lawns.

$300

Red Balance

Calm settling over Plum Island after one of the biggest storms of the summer.














Made with driftwood from Plum Island and erosion fencing from Cape Cod that's been mangled by waves, this sculpture illustrates balance in the natural world. Red represents the fire of the sun; driftwood, the power of oceans; metal, the strength of resources; goldstone, all the precious gifts.

Finding such boldly colored wood is rare, but on this particular trip I gathered a bunch of it. Perhaps some poor hippies' love shack was toppled in a particularly fierce storm....


$200

Plum Island

Nahant--June, 2010

Speaking of storms, here's a front I watched racing across the sky in Nahant. It created the most eerie and beautiful white glow....until its fury was unleashed. I'd never seen anything like it, but I now understand the terrifying yet seductive allure of storm chasing.

Eye of the Storm

      Representing the suspension used in a dry dock to lift ships out of the water, the ironic element lies in the fact that the wood surrounding this metal "eye" is the only remaining piece of the structure. I discovered it off the coast of Portsmouth, NH and felt as though I'd just stumbled across buried treasure. It has incredibly rich color variations from green, to deep gold, to red. While there were many other large beams protruding from the water, I was unable to dislodge any of them.


$300







This sculpture was featured on  Etsy "storm-is-a-coming"  today. Check out the beautiful collection of work it's mixed in with.