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.

July 31, 2010 Hollyhock

Situated on a stalk, overlapping, and looking out in different directions, this plant reminds me of city. It is crowded and each individual bloom is competing for attention. It is a reminder that ingathering can create tension.

July 30, 2010 Public Art

Janet Marcavage's new installation in Tacoma's Tollefson Plaza is an example of how artists use natural forms to create public art. It reminds me of the work Andy Warhol proposed for the Tacoma Dome, see this link.

July 28, 2010 Familiar

Although I didn't use this pod as a model, last year I created a large armature out of paper mache that looks eerily similar to this form.  The volcanoes and craters on my armature allowed me to construct horse chestnut sculptures complete with prongs.

July 27, 2010 Totem

I could live in UBC's Museum of Anthropology--so many sculptures. The striking imagery, treatment of volume, fine carving, and size of this totem is inspiring. With the ability to browse 10,000 objects in clear glass storage, there is so much to learn from.

July 26, 2010 Orca

On the Vancouver, BC waterfront, Douglas Copeland's Digital Orca appears to be leaping into the sky.  Although the sculpture looks like it was made out of Legos, it is extraordinarily gestural.

July 25, 2010 Night

By night (with fireworks) the Vancouver B.C cityscape loses the definition of its rectangular buildings and blue horizon, and instead becomes a series of lit dots.  The lack of a macro illumination highlights the micro lighting and redefines the landscape.

July 24, 2010 Day

By day, the Vancouver, B.C. cityscape gives way to ships on the horizon and the sun's reflection on English Bay. It is a reminder of how illumination defines a landscape.

July 21, 2010 Sky

The cloud formations last night looked like a perfectly lit installation of pillow forms. Not as brooding as Victoria Adams' paintings (currently at TAM), but just as intriguing.

July 20, 2010 Orange Lily

These lilies have petals that look like they were dipped in orange paint. Sometimes in art showing a bit of the process adds interest to the overall piece.

July 19, 2010 Monkey Puzzle

From afar Monkey Puzzle Trees look spindle-y, but up close you can see the spirally arranged leaves form a tangled network. So much more complexity is revealed once you get up under the form.

July 18, 2010 Composition

While these pink hydrangeas are an unusual color, it is their spherical blooms, variant sizes, and positioning that reminded me of the elements of a good composition.

July 17, 2010 Exuberance

The exuberant pistil sprays add volume to these flower forms. The dried out version of the flowers, right next to them, are a reminder of the maturation process that these forms will follow.

July 16, 2010 Assumptions

The deep maroon, bordering on black, color of this succulent almost doesn't make sense--I think of succulents as being shades of green.  Yet, an unexpected color makes you stop and question your assumptions about how things "should" look.

July 15, 2010 Grape-ish

These grape-ish forms have an certain appeal.  As a structure, grapes speak to abundance, clustering, languid hanging, similarity as well as difference, inflated balloons, and mini fruit.

July 14, 2010 Burning Bush

On a hot summer day I found this bush which appeared to be mimicking a flame. The leaves on the branches range from pink to burgundy. The spewing form combined with the saturated colors gave me an instant association.

July 13, 2010 Blooming Hydrangea

The ultra blue blooms on this hydrangea are combined with the blue tinged tiny buds. The dispersal of blue throughout unifies the composition, leading the eye around the form and back again.

July 12, 2010 Beached Book

(Naomi provided this image.) Some art is compelling because it is mysterious, and there are so many things I'd like to know about this book--did it fall off a boat and wash ashore? did a sun bather leave it behind accidentally? did the book get lost in the sand and then uncovered by waves? There are so many narratives for this piece.