Back from Australia

It was so wonderful to be in Australia for five weeks! My sister and I traveled many miles (her Isuzu pulling a pop-up trailer), from Perth up the Northwest Coastal Highway to Karratha, then to Karijini National Park, and back down the Great Northern Highway. In between we had tire blowouts, a bush fire, and 100+ degree heat. We both saw the amazing similarity of the landscape to that of New Mexico, where we grew up, except that, in many cases, the Indian Ocean was just over a hill -- and the plants were spinifex and acacia rather than sagebrush and piñon.

One of the things I love about Australia is that people save stuff in case they need to use it later, so there are "tips" and storage areas everywhere. At Yardie Homestead Caravan Park at the top of the Ningaloo reef near Exmouth, they had three dump areas. I would love to get a grant to go back and make much more out of the goodies there.

We were only there two days (and we had to spend some time kayaking up Yardie Creek and watching green turtles mate), but I made several things. I loved all the old bedframes, and think it would be cool to do a whole series of figures reclining on them. This was a quick sketch of the idea from bits that I found nearby. 

And another sketch of a standing figure:

Both of the above pieces were left where they were constructed, but I made one more substantial piece that I left with the owners. Here it is with my sister, Gail Simms (for scale):

When we got back to my sister's place after our 19-day trip, I made an angel for her out of materials we had collected on our trip:

I also did a large installation that I will write about in a subsequent post.

Another View

Wow, look at this! The owners of this piece sent this fabulous photograph showing how the shadows are integral to these artworks. They wrote, "Your piece is always changing."  This is the piece I wrote about here.

Boxes

Probably everybody who has been making art for awhile begins to see certain themes, materials, or forms coming around again. Recently, as several times over the years, I've been making things in boxes. There's something wonderful about the world one can create inside a box. In that enclosed space -- a little theatrical stage -- characters enact their narratives with a kind of intimacy or privacy created by the walls of the box.

I've been re-purposing some of the Disarmed pieces, like the one above, now called Disarmed in a Box. It can swing back and forth inside the box. 

 

 Another Disarmed piece sits in the piece below, now called Connections.

 

And finally, Stepping Out, whose box is an old beat-up 78 rpm record box.

 

Pria Cambio just gave me more boxes, so when I come back from Australia I might make some more!

Recycled Again!

So after its appearance at the Re-Use Fair, this piece has now found a home in my good friend Georgia Landau's garden. Georgia recently sold her house (and gorgeous flower garden) and has moved to an apartment where she has started gardening again from scratch. She always loved my Music of the Spheres piece that used to live on a large wall in my studio and then was bought by NRG in Hinesburg. So when she admired this piece (and requested disks flying off on both sides, like Music of the Spheres), I carted it right over to her garden and set it up. People keep saying, "Just think how cool it will look in the snow," so I'll try to get over and take another shot after the snow flies.

Studio Sublet

 I'll be out of the studio from October 10 - November 20. If someone wants to sublet, I'll clean off the walls and surfaces in the front room and also have a table available for your use. $250. Contact me at 802-272-5956.

Chicken SH#! Bingo

On Saturday, Sept 28, from 3-6 PM Studio Place Arts will participate in Chicken SH#! Bingo to benefit SPA programs.  They asked a group of artists to make "Bingo Cards" (49 squares, each 6" on a side) Here's the one I made. People place bets on where the chicken will poop... all for art... Call SPA at 479-7069 for details.

Re-Use Fair in Montpelier

Front of Coming Around Again

 I have several pieces at the outdoor sculpture park for the Re-Use Fair in Montpelier: a piece with disks called Coming Around Again (see above and below) and a mobile made from piano parts that will only be on exhibit on the day of the fair.

Back of Coming Around Again

The ReUse Fair, "A celebration of sustainable communities," organized by Planting Hope, is to be held at Christ Episcopal Church at 64 State Street in Montpelier on Sept. 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For the week before the fair (from now through Saturday)  there is an outdoor sculpture park that features the work of UVM art professor Beth Haggart as well as 10 other local artists.

The ReUse Fair will highlight how reusing items for new and interesting purposes not only keeps them out of the waste stream, but can even help people in other communities. At the event, outside there will be more than 40 artists and crafters that utilize found objects, repurposed and up-cycled items. There will also be games, activities and craft for kids by our partners ReSOURCE and speakers on several subjects relating to steps we can take to making a sustainable community.

During the event Planting Hope plans to collect two tons of used educational materials and household items that will be sent to Nicaragua to help support their programs there.