Sculpture and Poetry/Music

photo by David Bales

Call it a professional-life crisis.

"Is sculpture at all relevant in this age of virtual busyness?" 

 I'm not doubting my skills or the work itself. Is the work of making contemplative sculpture worth doing if there is no audience for it? 

Other than beauty, I've been thinking about what does sculpture offer to the world?

Stillness and silence.

Sculpture embodies these two qualities and holds them with anyone willing to take the time to slow down.

I'm looking for answers in Poetry and Music, and finding encouragement. Not answers, encouragement.

Two lines from WH Auden.

"To pray is to pay attention or, shall we say, to 'listen' to someone or something other than oneself."

and

"He has never seen God,
but, once or twice, he believes
he has heard Him."

What encourages you to make your art? 

Sculpture and author Sarah Thornton

"A successful artist isn't bitter." Sarah Thornton.

2011 SCAD deFINE ART guest Sarah Thornton from SCAD on Vimeo.

Sarah Thornton is the author of Seven Days in the Art World. In this video she explores the many definitions and uses of art. Her reason for why she’s glad she is not an art critic is funny.

Sculpture and Dance: Pina

People + movement + objects + space + relationships = life and art = PINA


PINA - Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost - International Trailer from neueroadmovies on Vimeo.

I was moved to tears several times. It's that beautiful. See it.

Sculpture and Clothing

How do you write discretely about dementia? 

In clearing up the last of my mother in law's things, I found the Buck and Buck catalog. Buck and Buck's  motto is We make Dressing  Easier. They offer adaptive clothing for home health care and nursing home residents.  Many of the garments are a sculptural rethinking of clothes to look normal but make it easier or harder to dress/undress.

"Perfect for the person who undresses as a pastime, but not for the aggressive undresser."

I wish I'd written that line.  
You have to take every opportunity to laugh in this life, because you know you're gonna cry.

Sculpture and a Desk-top Memorial

This little memento mori sits on the window sill in front of my desk.

Photograph by David Bales ©2012

This vignette began after visiting graveyards in Provincetown that date back to the early 1700's. I found a small piece of shale, split it and carved  Life & Death on the two interior faces. When closed the two words are like a powerful secret contained. Open, it  reminds me of friends who've died and not to waste precious time on the computer.

The tiny Balinese carved mammoth ivory skull is remarkably detailed. The lense is a rifle scope that magnifies the message: What are you doing with your life?

Sculpture and Paper Cuts

"The future is here. It's just not evenly distributed.  William Gibson

I love this photo as it shows exactly how life and art actually work, a mixup of daily and future plans.
Like any show, there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes.

In order to get the paper cut made into a metal screen, it first must be photographed and then transformed into a dxf file for the laser cutting machine to read. I asked for help from David Bales.

Here we are in the high tech photo studio of David Bales. his kitchen. The artwork is taped to a sheet of acrylic that is back lit by bounced light from the skylight. Large sheets of acrylic and paper are always useful studio tools. You use what works.

Sculpture and Paper Cuts

I'm creating two panels for a display garden by Linda Meyer for this year's Yard Garden Patio Show. The garden theme is Parisian cafes, with, of course, a little Van Gogh. The panels will be laser cut steel, but I begin designing with an easier material. Paper.

Each square is made by 4 tiny precise cuts. Wildly tedious, but fun to watch grow.

Sunflowers papercut by Patrick Gracewood ©2012

St Francis papercut © Patrick Gracewood

  I wanted to explore the idea of circles within circles that began with the St Francis paper cut.

At the end of a day's work? Little bits of black paper everywhere.