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.