Organization

So this week I have been spending some time reorganizing my space. This was long over due. I wasn't really working in the studio and I attribute that to the fact that I couldn't actually move in it. I built these two shelves out of scrap wood and that was pretty huge. Its nice to have some areas designated for the collection of dust and random junk that I acquire.

















I also hung up some more work in our house so I'm going to throw some images of that stuff in too since it took me the greater part of an afternoon. The wood piece (blue triangles) has never been hung before and I actually really like it up on the wall. Its also a fairly simple process if I can get access to some saws. So I am thinking about making some more work that is similar.

Bike & Build!

Well its been a while since I've posted but that fortunately does not mean
that I haven't been creating some stuff. I've been working on the studio itself a little (trying to organize it and make it seem a little bit bigger). And I've started doing some more graphic stuff (cutting up some books) as well as a little bit of painting and I built a couple of panels for me to work on. That stuff has a ways to go and so far I haven't taken any images of it yet. Last week Thursday Tabby and I went to our friend Don's neighborhood and did some biking and building on a bike trail between Cedar Grove and Oostburg. We had a blast. We hadn't seen Don in a long time and it was good to see him and meet his wife Eileen. Don has been building near the bike trail for a few years now. As it turns out we've been doing some pretty similar things sort of parallel to one another without fully realizing that we were doing them. To see some more images that were taken on our adventure and to get a better idea of what Don is up to you can also check his blog at: http://donurness.blogspot.com. I should have another post (or hopefully two) coming this week so stay tuned.

Elevation

I was sitting in my studio today trying to think about what I could do with what I had. Then I looked outside and realized that it was way too be indoors. So I Decided to go for a bike ride and see if I could find a good location to make a sculpture. This is what I came up with.






I ended up at Saulk Creek Nature preserver which is on the edge of Port Washington. Its a really neat little area with some pretty nice trails. I really enjoyed riding my bike on them. I felt like I was actually getting some use out of my mountain bike.



I thought I would throw this image in to as a way to reference the scale of the piece. I had to get the rocks up there and then climb up and build. It was a bit of a struggle but lots of fun.





I'm dubbing this last image an "Urness" shot. I've decided that the "Urness" is an image where you snag a couple of unsuspecting plants along with your sculpture. I'm a big fan of this technique. Cheers!

Backpack Stack

I made this stack on Tuesday evening. It was a really nice night out. I took my backpack down to the breakwater and decided to fill it with stones and take them out to the lighthouse. I thought it was a really fun exercise. There were a few people out there and they seemed to really what I was doing. I have a hard time working in front of people... its like an artists version of stage fright, but once I started talking to people about it I felt really good about it. I'm thinking I will probably go back today and make another. More later.

mf


P.S. this is a picture of a duckling that got separated from its family. *sad face*

So last week was sort of slow for art making. I started teaching a mosaics class at summer school. So far I am really enjoying working with the kids. Anyhow here are a couple of images of the small wood stacks. I also went up north (Crivitz area) for the weekend and I didn't make much in terms of art. Although I did find some interesting knickknacks and some tools at a rummage sale. I got a couple of pieces of copper sheet for one dollar. I am hoping to build some rings out of those in the future but I need to acquire a jewelers saw before I can attack that project. I also found, a bag full of keys and locks, a bag full of sticky cork, a killer pair of safety glasses, three files, half dozen drill bits, and some other random tools at the rummage sale. In other words... it was a major score for a grand total of 8 bucks.