Sept 24, 2010 Standout

Looking like a bunch of stacked, puffy orange umbrellas with ragged edges, this fungus stands out in the green landscape due to its color, shape, and texture. Like some art, this fungus is not afraid to be bold and different.

Sept 21, 2010 Double Take

I snapped a photo of these flowers because I thought they were interesting. When I looked at the digital image I was struck by how the composition reminded me of a group of people vying for the camera's attention. Capturing a form's image for one reason sometimes makes you see something entirely different.

Sept 19, 2010 Support

Zucchini blossoms are very delicate (and delicious) but their shape is supported by the spines emanating from the base. Working with paper, I find that figuring out the supporting structure is an important part of the art-making process.

Sept 18, 2010 Similarities

The diamond-shaped strands of the web (yesterday's post) reminded me of another image I've been looking at--a pine cone architectural detail from the Pantages. The similarities between the two forms has made me eager to create something that incorporates the pattern.

Sept 17, 2010 Temporary

It took the rain, just the right light, and a dark background to make this spider web visible. Change any one of those elements and it "disappears." This web makes me think about the ephemerality of all art.

Sept 16, 2010 Revisit

I went back to the Pantages to look at the building's ornamentation again. Along 9th Street I discovered additional architectural elements, some of which had more details. I found this piece which doesn't appear on the Broadway side. In art, it's always a good idea to revisit your inspiration.

Sept 15, 2010 Placement

On the cinder block wall of a local market, next to the BBQ gas tank recycle pen and a newspaper dispenser, I found this Northwest scene. The placement of art sometimes doubles as art itself.

Sept 14, 2010 Process

In creating my installation "Re-Present" for Spaceworks Tacoma (upcoming, Oct. 2), I'm working to re-present some of the architectural details found near the installation site on the exterior of the Pantages Theater.  I've been ripping, gluing, cutting, and attaching paper. Here I'm shaping leaves to be part of a garland.

Sept 13, 2010 Side View

Looking at this dahlia from the side, I realized that the form of the petals looked familiar. They look a lot like the paper cone that florists put around bouquets. Repetition of the familiar can create some interesting new forms.

Sept. 12, 2010 Interplay

The flower heads and stalks of these onions look a bit like plants in Dr. Seuess' books. The stalks appear to be straining under the weight of the puff balls; I like the interplay between the sphere forms and the slightly curved stems.

September 10, 2010 Statement

Golf ball meets Brillo pad are the first words to mind about the central part of this flower. The contrast between the regular bumps/depressions of the tip and the more random hair-like edges makes a striking textural statement.

Sept. 8, 2010 Immature

These maturing figs, looking a little like boxers' punching bags, lack the definition of form seen in the ripened fruit. They hold their own sort of tension, but the final shape will be more visually interesting.

Sept. 7, 2010 Reveal

This moss covered tree trunk with a gaping hole made me think about concealment. The moss is plush and green where it covers, but where it doesn't the form's unique features are highlighted.

Sept. 6, 2010 Reapproriate

The base of this light pole is a composite of an Ionic column and a Corinthian column. Columns are usually meant to be part of a building and provide support. Here, as it often happens in art, there has been reappropriation of utility.

Sept. 5, 2010 Grate

A grate in downtown Seattle that covers the dirt beneath a tree is decorated with very flat, stylized representations of leaves and buds or branches. What is above is below. Art is full of irony.

Sept. 4, 2010 References

Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater features cloud and botanical-inspired decoration on the ceiling covering its street entry.  It is interesting how many botanical references can be found in architecture, if you know where to look.

Sept 1, 2010 Star Burst

I have a set of outdoor pathway lights that send out illumination in exactly the same pattern as these very spike-y flowers. The star burst form of the reflected light and these flowers are economical in their statements.

August 31, 2010 Moonscape

Above the timberline, the landscape on Mt. Hood looks like a moonscape. And yet if you stand in that moonscape and turn around, you can see the deep lush cervices of the cascades. As in art, it is all about what perspective you choose to use.

August 27, 2010 Spin

The top of this artichoke looks like the head of a well used kitchen scrub brush.  The spiral arrangement of the thin "bristles," although static,  give the illusion of motion. In art, subtle rearrangements can make a huge difference.

August 26, 2010 Fake Out

As I was passing by a bush at the Kennedy School I saw a remarkable sight: starbursts of large (note hand for scale) white puff balls emanating from a pink bush.  Really quite remarkable, until I pulled on a puff and realized it had been cut from another plant and inserted into the bush. Art is full of illusions.

August 25, 2010 School

At the Kennedy School hotel (a former elementary school) in Portland, a combination of books and botanical forms is part of the architectural decoration. Besides the combination of forms, I liked the way the text on the pages was realized as simple raised lines. 

August 23, 2010 Cranberry

While on vacation on the Long Beach peninsula, I visited the Cranberry Museum at the Pacific Coast Cranberry Research Foundation. Cranberries have been made icons of winter holiday meals, packaged neatly for consumers, but growing in bogs they appear quite humble.

August 15, 2010 Haphazard

The ridges and valleys of this tree's bark appear in a irregular roof tile-like pattern; it almost looks like cracked mud. It's hard to convincingly replicate a haphazard form and make it look good.

August 14, 2010 Silhouette

The outline and featureless interior spaces of these trees remind me of silhouette art. Cutting down on visual clutter makes me appreciate the variety of shapes that make up these particular trees.

August 12, 2010 Bonfire

The beauty of a bonfire isn't possible without the demise of something else. The old and decrepit becomes active, warm, and mesmerizing. It's like making art from found objects.

August 11, 2010 Detail

The folds of the leaves are like slightly relaxed golden sails. They are soft, pliable, thin, flat, bright objects that contrast with the center's prickliness. This contrast should be something I try to employ in my own sculptures.

August 8, 2010 Further Away

Backing up a bit, I can appreciate the prickly donut form and crater. The color and texture contrast between these two elements also highlights the differing spiraling/overlapping arrangements. 

August 7, 2010 Close

I like to look at forms from different angles and distances; it gives me ideas for sculptures and it also helps me see similarities between objects. This is a really close up view of a  . . . (tomorrow I'll post another image of the same thing).

August 4, 2010 Wraps

Opening up a fava bean for the first time, I was struck by it's wetsuit-like elements. Slitting it open was like slicing through neoprene to discover large, flat, pea-like forms. The seeds had their own tight fitting, rubber-like suits. The unwrapping process made me think about treasures hidden within art.

August 1, 2010 Messy

Sometimes messy is good.  In the case of this plant, the sheer number of thread forms taking off in all sorts of directions makes the overall form very active and alive.