Art/computer work that has interfered with my welding but I never miss an opportunity to collect native plants. I have converted an old kayak rack into a plant drying rack. Stacking up and drying out.
Drying native grasses
Recording natural history - ”Mute Testimony”
Mute Testimony.
3” X 6” X 4”
bronze
phot by Nash Baker
A fossil is our planet’s recorded history, the memoir of a life in a place, time, ecology, and evidence of global warming. It is Endangered Knowledge.
Many processes in art and the natural world lead to fossilization, including casting or mold making. I crafted a mold of a fossil that one of my children found at my son Griffin’s 8th birthday party in El Paso, Texas. It was a fossil hunting party at Cerro de Cristo Rey. (The intersection of two countries and three states, a special place.) A prehistoric relic, now a family treasure, I thought it would be meaningful to make a mold and cast it in bronze for each of my two children, a reminder of their childhood. A mold-of-a-mold a fossil-of-a-fossil. I found the redundancy poetic.
My son is now 31 years old. I have probably walked by the fossil once a day since Griffin was eight years old and did not think twice about it. Casting, it has forced me to think about the form and its value as an object of art. Evidence of aquatic life resurrected from the middle of the Chihuahuan desert— This poetic symbol of desertification will find meaningful ways to wander across disciplines into future environmental works.
Hearing, “this desert was once an ocean.” did not use to phase me. Thinking about the mineral remnant of a sea creature surfacing in one of the driest terrains in the US gives me pause; it makes me consider how we can live our urban lives and preserve natural systems.
I cast three additional fossils to share with others who are interested in natural history; two are finished in a natural patina and one in a contemporary finish — polished stainless steel.
Traces of ancient life tell story of early diversity in marine ecosystems
Stainless Steel finish changes everything 🤔 more to come
Endangered Knowledge: Soul of Humus #17
I started the lower jaw today. I spent the majority of the day researching the structure of the lower jaw and its movement as the bison chew.
Here is a collection of my reference material.
Bison grab a tuft of grass with their tongue, then they pinch it off by pressing it between their tongue and their front lower teeth. They do not have top front teeth. They then swallow it whole. That is the beginning of a 24-hour digestive process.
I love this image, I took it last January at Roam Ranch right before the roundup. I think this is the one they call Poppy. Poppy is very curious and friendly. She is checking me out as she catches rain drops on her tongue.
You can see the lower jaw through the upper jaw here. It is slightly off to the right of the bison. I want him chewing away and want to exaggerate the movement. I will probably bend it a little more askew this weekend.
Here the chewing lower jaw is more obvious.
View from the rear or top down.
Friday, I am committing to writing the Lawndale proposal- rewriting and rewriting and rewriting.
Watermelons cucumbers and bees
Without bees we would not have cucumbers or watermelons
Today harvest at the farmers market.
7 days left
7 days left to rip and wrangle rusted wire cloth, then delicately stitch the wire fragments into biospheres of frail and vulnerable abstract wild bees and organic shapes. Then coat hydro stone and cast shadows, to kinetically unveil the unintended consequences of forcing natural processes into an industrial model. Then pack, transport, unpack, install for 21 days, and open........ find more locations to install......... rinse and repeat.
Gust- patina
November 15, 2018
I am working in the spacious new Glassell Foundry. There is abundance of space to work in.
Hat 👍🏼 Patina👍🏼 Torch👍🏼 Welding gloves👍🏼 Paint brushes👍🏼 Respirator👍🏼 Eye protector👍🏼
The patina I am using is a layered hot patina. First I heat the piece with a torch. Then I start laying a heavy dark brown, then a heavy layer of titanium oxide. About 30 minutes in I spilled the titanium patina.
It is really a bummer because once I remix it I can not use it for 24 hours, the chemicals need to bind together. Grrrrrrrrr.😬
November 19,2018
Starting where I left off.
Three days before thanksgiving and I can’t help myself, I want to finish this patina today.
After a heavy layer of titanium ash I ran out of butane. Luckily a second tank was ready to go.
Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 1 “bringing home the bacon”
My first thought was to make a sculpture to be exhibited with the drawings of a man rescuing a woman and a baby. I loved how obvious it is in this drawing that they are strangers. He is carrying her but with his body language he could be carrying a sack of potatoes. His energy is focused inward, perhaps he is worried about his own family. She is the same, she is affectionate with the baby but she is not snuggling into her rescuer. There is not a history between the rescuer and the girl.
“The guy in the Astros cap”
After some consideration, I have decided to make the sculpture a livestock piece. I changed my mind because I feel the livestock pieces need to be very large to properly convey the extraordinary feats some people went to in order to save their livestock. I also like the fact that it is unexpected to make the sculpture of a pig rescue. I can always make a sculpture from the other drawing later.
“Bringing home the bacon”