Vernal Equinoctial Efforts and an Answer

The equinox has come and gone in fine fashion. The weather was agreeable and I was able to get about five hours of work in on the beach. With the ice dunes receding and the snow cover melting off, the first crop of spring stones was revealed...and it was a big crop. I would say that three of the five hours were spent just gathering stone.

There is also a massive amount of wood on the shore and it was tempting me to leave my stone

for better things. Driftwood is such a jealous lover. But I am too close to the end to be
distracted. I only have about three feet of height to the summit. Maybe fifteen courses of stone and I will be through. So I have been most attentive to that last little wave crest

When I get tired of climbing up and down the stonewave I take a break and work on the retaining wall at the base of the bluff or I've also begun to lay some of the monster slabs (seen leaning against the stone wave in the picture above) along a section of the beach that got sucked out in a late fall storm. I'm hoping they will protect the remaining area of soil from being wiped out by an early spring storm.

So it was a fruitful week and very peaceful. The familiar sound of waves has returned to the beach and some Common Goldeneyes just offshore beep along in a little counter-chorus.

In regards to some of the comments on the previous post, I certainly do have an appreciation of the works of Kiefer. About twenty years ago while travelling in Italy, I came across one of his works in a contemporary art exhibit and I had never heard of him so I wrote his name down in my sketchbook with the intention of looking him up. When I returned home, I promptly forgot him until a couple of years later when I saw Lot's Frau in the Cleveland Art Museum it reminded me of the piece I'd seen in Italy and when I cross checked the name with my sketchbook it was like seeing an old friend. In general I find myself a sucker for paintings with a strong tactile element and he certainly does that well. Thanks for stopping by and for your comments.

The Great Thaw

When it came, it came quickly. One weekend the lake was a skating rink for the gods and the next weekend it was treadable by Jesus only. In a flash, a week of warm weather set things free. As a result there was some major stone harvesting going on on Sunday. I'm getting close to completion of the spring manifestation, which I will try to post next weekend in time for the equinox. Until then I offer a little painting that is part of a bigger "Pattern Recognition" piece. It contains no dead fish, but instead a nice view of a birch from Pine Tree Trail. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next...