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.

In Denial

I'm going to make this brief. I have been trying to access my blog, but have not been able to for over a week because of some changes made in the system that my home computer doesn't agree with. I think it has been fixed but I don't want to write some epic, earth-shattering blog revealing the meaning of life, or the exact location of Atlantis, or the last number in Pi if you work it out to the space just short of infinity and then have all of it go for naught when it fails to post. So instead I'm just going to post the finished version of this month's painting including the outer wing panels. The center panel was on the last post. So, here it goes...