Gestures of Futility

 I went down to the Peninsula on Sunday. It was in the sixties, which in December in Erie is not a common occurrence, so I felt the need to take advantage of it, especially in light of our proximity to doomsday. It was a pleasant ride around on the bike, with a stop at Gull Point Trail for a hike out to the end and a return trip along the lakefront. The lake always has a surprise or two for the observant and this day was no exception. Saw a couple of Snow Buntings for starters and quite a few other unusual denizens of the littoral including this strange creature looking all forlorn and gesturing in despair towards Canada.

 In this close-up view one can almost feel Job-like resignation in the way the appendages supplicate towards the unforgiving expanse of water. I am brought to a near tearful state just looking at it now.

 

This carcass also gives one the same desolate feel of emptiness. It is as if Franz Kline designed a piece of driftwood to commemorate some tragedy to which we are not privy. All that great negative space trying to hold its own against the wooden leviathan.

 

And then you have this rather stark sentinel, head periscoping out of the sand like a reverse ostrich. Nothing seems to be passing here except time. 

 

This fellow seems to have a great deal more energy, he will stride and strut the beach whereas his counterpart merely stands. He directs the forces of surf and sand and wind to no avail, with a pent-up energy that contorts his frame like a spastic in a loose-fitting straight-jacket.

 

Now this has less to do with anything than nothing, but I thought it looked interesting. These two pictures show a fallen tree that had been covered with sand. At some point the sand was sucked out from under parts of it, leaving a layer of sand on top of the tree like layers of icing on a cake. So you gotta admit, that isn't something you see everyday.

 

In another unrelated observation, here is a birch tree lying on the surf-line with its bark stripped off of a section, revealing a burnt sienna-orange flesh. It was such a bright scar when the sun hit it, I thought it beautiful against the blues of water and sky.

 

Two last images of futility, one nature-made and one mine. Along a stretch of beach there were a number of these little pebble carpets trailing off towards the water. They perforated the sandy strip of beach in three foot intervals and tapered off into the water, like an arrow pointing out a preferred destination. Lasting only as long as the wind is down and then they will disappear like the hope of getting there. The second image is a stack of cobbles on my beach. I add twenty of thirty each time I go down, but in the end the lake will take it as well.

An Arbolisk in the Making



So I have been working on this painting pretty much all of November and now into December. The idea is to mount the painting on a sculptural form, in this case a truncated obelisk without a point. So I cut the paintings to be narrower at the top and then arranged them so that they would fit together side to side.  Each edge would connect up with the edge of the painting on either side. The end result would be a kind of a tree trunk, but squared off.

 

These are the four sides seen separately. I have not attached them to the form yet and I have to finish the platform, but possibly by the weekend, this piece will be complete for all intents and purposes. I am currently liking my first venture into this type of work, but I want to try a couple of other forms I have in mind. I think it will complement the altarpieces and I have had a couple of nibbles on the proposal, so there should be at least a couple of pieces done before they get a public airing.

 

December has already given us a couple of 50 degree days, so we are easing into winter or the end of the world whichever comes first. I have done some beachwork and have some new stone laid up for this weekend as the weather is supposed to be conducive. Until then...

 

 

 

 

Surviving Superstorms

 So this big storm sweeps in off of the Atlantic wreaking havoc at the points of ingress and we in the interior are warned that its devastation could reach us here on the shores of Lake Erie. The coast took the brunt of it, but the fabled destruction it was to level on us failed to materialize. Fifteen foot waves and gusting winds turned out to be a slight exaggeration, with a mild fall storm being the actual reality. The picture below is hurricane day and you can see that the surf is not much to fear. My original thought was that I would walk down to the beach and see my summer work completely undone. Instead I found the beach to be in a state of repose.

 

These are some post-hurricane pictures of sections of the sculpture wearing some leaves stripped from the trees by the recent winds. Things continue to progress with a couple of courses of stone being added as it washes in.

This is one of the "staircases" that has become a waterfall every time it rains really hard. If you look closely you can see the water coming out near the bottom center between the lower courses of stone.

 This is the west end with some of the niches and windows visible. It is currently about nine feet high from beach level to top.

 This is another view with the little cobble mound in front. Every time I go down I add some cobbles to the pile trying to grow it up without the base getting any larger. We'll see how long it lasts. It is my canary in the coal mine.

 This is what the whole complex looks like from the east end. If you look closely you can see the checkdam in the background.

I couldn't figure out how to delete these images I accidentally added so just ignore them. This weekend it reached 70 degrees and two days later it was in the 30's. Such is November.

That Rare October Day

 

So, I went down to the beach on Sunday, which was as beautiful a day as Saturday was wretched, (unless you are a jellyfish, or a slime mold or a native of Venus, in which case our opinions would likely be reversed). The sky was mostly clear. There was a fresh northwest breeze steadily pushing the rollers in, so that there was a constant sussuration that was only occasionally pierced by some sea gulls objecting to something that wasn't evident to me from my vantage point. And in this little acre of space-time, I was able to gather about 100 stones cast up on shore by the lake's fluid labors.

I didn't have time to set any of them, as there is a time for every purpose under heaven and this was gathering time, not stacking time.

After I was finished lugging these stones to the storage area, I paused to take a few pictures. Unfortunately, the wall remains entirely in the shade of the bluff at this time of the year in the afternoon, so the pictures lack a bit, where the drama of high contrast, raking light is concerned. The first picture shows an opening in the western end of the wall through which you can see the checkdam wall behind it and the bluff rising up beyond that. Very pretty in the afternoon light, with some Lothlorienesque yellows and greens. Hopefully the picture captures a little of that.

 

 The second picture is of a triangular niche to the right of the opening in the previous picture. This niche I have been filling with white cobbles whenever I get the chance. Because of the rain, some of the cobbles are a bit off color, but when they are dry it is a pretty uniform white.

 

This is a pile of cobbles that sits in front of the wall, just where it starts to rise up and connect with the checkdam. Every time I go down I try to stack some cobbles on the pile to make it taller, without letting it get any wider. I'm wondering how high I can get it before the waves come to reclaim the stone.

 

 

Here is the opening from the first photo taken from the inside looking out to the lake. I had hoped to get a bit of surf in the picture, but I think the sun shining on the beach overexposed the background. it looked pretty nice in real life.

 

This is the checkdam. Now it is near full of sediment washing off of the hillside. From an aesthetic point of view there is not much happening in this image, but one of these days when the foliage is down and the light is just right I'll get a shot that is nod-worthy.

 

I'll post another five images next week if I get a little cooperation from the elements. It is starting to approach my idea of what it should be. Until then...

A Busted Equinox, but Still Here

 So, the equinox passed and although the observation of the event took place, it was by a reduced body of celebrants because of the weather. I really thought that it couldn't possibly rain all day as the cloud cover was pretty thin and how much water could actually be up there? I was wrong on that count, so we got down to the lake for about 45 minutes when the sky blue up. Then a new wall of cloud rolled in and that was that for the remainder of the day. So it goes.

I have been plugging along on the beachwork and it is getting monstrous. Shi Huang Di would be jealous. I am waiting for a sunny day to photograph its current manifestation, but that is an endangered species in Erie in the month of October. In the mean-time I finished another big altarpiece. The photo below is what it looks like when it is closed. When it is open it looks like the second image. It is 24" x 48" and it is currently in a show in Warren, Ohio. Turned out OK I guess. So, although I have neglected the blog for a while, I have been working like an electrified squirrel.
I'm still here.

More Bits and Pieces

These are just some images from the wall in its current state. I liked this one because of the way one section of stones was angling into the other. It is much more striking when its being raked by light, but I couldn't get the sun to cooperate.

 This picture shows the top of one of the sections of the wall that is filled with white stones in a big rectangle. I was experimenting with ways of keeping people from walking on certain sections. I think the result is actually pretty interesting looking.

 This is one of the "staircases" leading from the back of the wall down to the beach. I've filled a rectangle with the discs of stone. This section is right next to the the section in the previous picture.

 This is a little beachwork with white and black stone that grew out of the little circle on the last post. There has been a nice batch of white and black stones washing up as of late. I was down working for a couple of hours today. Couldn't get in the water, but I was able to dig out about 30 stones and get a course or two on one section. I will not "finish" this version this year unless I get a windfall of stone, but at least the idea for it has taken shape.

Three Shots

A quick post. I'll be back soon. The first picture is looking down on one section of the wall. The second is a small circle of black and white stones which has now morphed into a new manifestation which I'll post next time. The third picture is one of those great endings to a good day of beachwork.

Everything Takes Longer in this Heat and a Message for the Senator

I have not been on since June, so here is the sum of my July efforts. I have been working, but numerous algae slicks have kept the beach unswimmable most of July. Finally, this week I was able to access some of my washed out raw materials and retrieve them for this year's model...so without further ado...

Picture number one shows one of the victims of the algae slicks. As it wasn't one of the fifty dead catfish, I chose him as the representative, as he was slightly more photogenic. Notice the watch above him. It does not belong to him. He may have had a watch, I don't know. It's not likely, but that particular watch is mine and is two inches across, giving you an idea of the size of this fellow. If I said he was two feet long, it might not be believed, perhaps taken as a fish story. So I leave a picture instead, in lieu of the thousand words.

Because I couldn't get into the water, I did quite a bit of work on smaller projects. I have two examples here. One is a "flower" about five feet across, or thirty watches, or two and a half fish, depending on the units of measure.

Here is a spiral of colored stones that I have been adding to every time I go down. It is currently a bit larger, although it has been "vandalized" twice in the last ten days by iconoclasts, it has a little more room to grow.

Here is the central portion of a 48"x48" painting in triptych format. It will be exhibited in the faculty show at Mercyhurst U. in August and September along with a small beach sculpture of white and black stones configured like the painting but with the colors reversed.

Here is what the sculpture currently looks like. It is not as impressive as past ones, as height is being sacrificed for length. It is well over 60 feet in length and protects quite a bit of the ledge. The left section has a small bench and a curved wall around the exposed trunk of the willow tree. The right side connects to the check dam wall and then extends another thirty feet into a bench that I will hopefully be able to grow as I get more stone. You have to imagine these next two pictures attached...and as for you Senator Fitzgerald, the info you seek is jborowicz@mpslakers.com. Even if it is too late for a meeting, drop me a line if you get a chance.

A Brief Trip Off-Planet

Had the opportunity the other day to meet up with some former acquaintances from out of our space-time continuum. Went for a beer at a lovely little place overlooking this scenic landscape in the eastern hemisphere of the planet Qelnm. Happy to report that although things on our planet are currently looking a bit grim, galactically speaking things are pretty good. The other explanation for this rather odd image is that a giant raft of algae washed up on our beach and with several windless days keeping it from breaking up it just continued to pile up deeper and deeper and go through every lovely stage of decay algae likes to go through, until our beach looked and smelled like something left over from the Valdez.

Finished a piece for a small exhibition, so other than off-planet excursions and time at the beach, I have been making some art.

I have been making some slow progress on the beachwork, but the algae kept me out of the water all week so this is where we stand currently.

More Humble Beginnings

I just want to say that all these new "improvements" to this blog are annoying as shit. If an improvement is supposed to make the process more unwieldy, illogical and cumbersome then I suppose they've nailed it, but otherwise, I wish they would stop "improving" things. Its like the guys who "improved" this site used to work for the government or something.

With that said, I'm going to try and access my site and get it to work after several aborted attempts. Below is a painting that I finished in February. It is 48 x 96 and formatted like a triptych altarpiece. I finally was able to photograph it, so here is its maiden voyage in the public realm, as it failed to get into the Spring Show at the Erie Art Museum. Its a rather large and heavy piece, so it is a bit of an operation to move it. Nonetheless, I like the piece and I hope at some point to get it out to be seen.

In unrelated business, here is a turtle that I came across while walking out at the peninsula. I flipped him over to take this picture, righted him and set him on his way. Such beautiful creatures. It's getting close to snapper mating season where you regularly see those armored behemoths cruising the Sand-ridge Trail to make their nests and drop their ping-pong offspring. It's quite a sight to see.

In more unrelated business...I've begun the actual building process for this summer's project on the beach. The photos below show the laying of the foundation. Where it goes from here, I can't say for sure. it will be dependent on a lot of variables, most importantly, the amount of stone I can retrieve from the lake after this winter's storms confiscated it.