Magic Mushrooms

The latter half of October has been grey and wet and cold, more like a November, but one of the things that kept it from being a total wash was this amazing crop of fungi. It was almost supernatural, the way these things kept popping up. The first one was right outside the west door of the school, under a pine tree. It was about 10 inches in diameter. It had collapsed under its own weight.

 

This monster was attached to a side of a tree on the bluff overlooking the lake. It was a good 18 inches across and a beautiful orange that didn't reproduce so well in the light of the overcast sky. Like a fungal corsage for the tree , it was beautiful against the bluish bark.

The gills on this one, also found outside the school, are just amazing in their delicacy and precision. Mr.Bass from The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet would be experiencing paroxysms of delight. If you didn't read that book growing up, you missed a wonderful flight.

 Another spectacular umbrella, this one had a spectacular orange and yellow cap with sesame seeds on it. What will nature think of next?

 This thing is the behemoth of mushroomdom. It was at least a foot across and about as round as a basketball. I've seen some big ones like this before, but this was by far the king. It had split open which kept it from looking too egg-like, but the first time I had seen it, it looked fit for a dinosaur embryo.

In Preparation for the Fall

 

The Fall has been kind to Erie. The rains have been few and gentle and the lake is keeping us warm. This day is not the first 70 degree day of the month, nonetheless the leaves are starting to change. Here are a couple of paintings from the summer, the top one early, the bottom one most recent. I'm still making excuses to use the Alizarin Orange. The bottom painting has doors that open up and inside there is a strange little bone and wood construct that I didn't photograph, so you will have to come and see it yourself. It is a most unusual relic.

 

A Long Time Gone

I am not entirely ready to return to this place. Much has happened since the last post that has changed  my life in ways that I am only beginning to understand. So this is my first try. The painting immediately below I finished on May 20th, the painting at the bottom is the first painting I finished after May 21. They are for Jesse, whatever that means.

 

Fishkill Art

 

The last time I went down to the beach to make, the ice dunes had just disappeared allowing the winter fishkill to come ashore. It had already occured at the peninsula weeks earlier with great pungency, but ours was not nearly so intense. Not to say that we didn't have a good deal of carnage, but not like the carpet that the bay received.

 So when the beach gives you fish, make fishonade...metaphorically speaking. So here is a nice fish circle about 4 to 5 feet in diameter. Made from the lake's largesse of fishkill.

 Frankly, I like the results, but they didn't last long. The following day when I went down to work, school had been let out.

Silence Broken

So it has been a while since I have had time to update things, but I have a space right now to turn around in. I have been busy finishing up some paintings for a show that I had opening in early April and some other responsibilities. I did a lot of work on the beach as well so I have been busy making. But prior to March, I wasn't spending much time on the beach as the weather has been so bad, but I'd rather not dwell on that depressing stretch of winter.

 In preparation for the show at Campbell's Pottery, I did some practice pieces like the above piece. There was an abundance of sticks on the beach as of late so I worked up a couple of variations. I also continued to add to my cobble pile below.

This weekend I went down to check on it and either it was damaged by surf or by idiots. I'm not entirely sure which. I will restore it when I get the chance. It was getting pretty big. The stick project above was also damaged, but it could have been a dog and not an idiot.

I have been able to addto the west end of the wall as a large seam of stone was revealed when the ice dunes receded, so here is a shot of where we are as the season begins. Right now we are in the dangerous time. Ice dunes are gone and Spring storms can be pretty destructive. One has already approached the front of the wall. If it makes it through April, I'll have high hopes for survival, but there is no telling what freakish storms the lake has in store for us.

Here is a couple of shots of the ice dunes calving off and disappearing into the April lake. This was one of the few sunny days we had since February.

Even when the weather is unpleasant, this place can still pack a beautiful punch.

A Sea of Frozen Basketballs

If April showers bring May flowers what does a January freight-train from the Arctic bring? Winter showed up for a second round last week and brought with it a lot of nights in the single digits. Some of those nights had some wind to go along with the package and the end result was our first real crop of ice dunes down on the beach. The lake is frozen for the first time out as far as you can see, though it may not last for long as tomorrow it is supposed to be 50 degrees.

 I can't explain why, but in this particular instance the ice has formed in spherical lumps. This happened a few years back as well, but it is still an impressive sight. The beach appears to be lined with frozen balls stacked up on each other in impressive mounds up to 8 feet high. Many of the balls are basketball size. Then after they were cast ashore they were then covered in a layer of snow about 8 inches thick. That layer will likely be melted away by the weekend and the basketballs will be revealed in their naked glory.

 But until then you will just have to admire them in their more modest dress. Because of conditions, I couldn't really do any work down there this weekend, I could only admire nature's handiwork, but hopefully this weekend will create some opportunities.

 So this is where I left off with the "Wave". It is likely to be a while before any new work can be done on it. I have, however, been painting up a storm. I probably put in about 20 hours over the last four days.

 This is the last painting I finished. It is about 4' x 2' with a projecting form off the front. My second experiment with painting with a three dimensional component. It is not entirely finished yet, but you get the point. Cheers.

The New Year is Dressed in Winter

 It finally came. The snow. It dusted Christmas and carpeted the next day. We've been wearing white since then. When it is like this there is limited work to be done on the beach. Both today and yesterday I went down to see if anything wanted to be made and the cobbles spoke up, asking to be stacked. I walked down a ways and the only thing of interest along the wateredge were the carcasses of at least five big fish. Troutish looking fellows about 2 feet long. I don't know what possessed them to give up the ghost, but there they lay as repast for some Greater Black Backed Gulls. Today when I went down the wateredge had become an ice-edge. The foundation is layed for this year's ice dunes. Below are some pictures of the Wall with some snow and ice.

 The following three pictures are some shots of the "Arbolisk". This is pretty much the finished version, but for some black trim along the base of the pillar. It works better with the leaves than just letting them go right up to the base. It is two feet tall and two feet wide. The first of some experiments with three dimensional images.