Sculpture and ANLD Garden Tour

How do you show working fountains in a temporary display?

I made this plywood stand to show two fountains in a very small space. Placed back to back they don't compete with each other. Two black plastic tubs served as the water reservoir. I used wire mesh to cover the tubs, leaving a central open space for the falling water. The wire grid was filled with pachysandra cuttings.( Any greenery would work, but I plan on rooting the pachysandra cuttings and using them in my garden.)

The greenery did three things: It hid the ugly tubs and visible pumps. It focused attention on the fountain, not the pool, and it contained the water splash and kept the display dry

My sculpture was in a new garden in Eastmoreland as part of the Association of Northwest Landscape Designers "Behind the Scenes Garden Tour"

Sculpture and ANLD Garden Tour

Here's a preview of this year's ANLD's 'Behind the Scenes Garden Tour." My sculptured is installed in a formal green and white formal garden designed by Donna Giguere. Well, it will be formal when it grows up. It's only been in a year, but it shows promise of being a quiet, calm retreat.

It's funny, I painted the easels and fountain backdrop an intense chartreuse. Only when all was installed did I realize that it's exactly the same color as the new leaves on the laurel hedge and the pachysandra. Exactly. So good when color is spot on, and so rare.

Thomas Merton - Inspiration for Sculpture

"A sweet summer afternoon. Cool breezes and a clear sky. 

This day will not come again.

The young bulls lie under a tree in the corner of their field.

Quiet afternoon. Blue hills. Day lilies nod in the wind.

This day will not come again."

I found these little daily meditations, specific observations and contemplations on the meaning of a day by Tomas Merton the most touching and meaningful aspects of his book Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. 

To Merton the essence of Christianity is humanity: '"To live well is my first and essential contribution to the well being of all mankind and to the fulfilment of man's collective destiny.  

If I do not live happily myself - how can I help anyone else to be happy, or free or wise?' 

There's deep theology to wade through, if you're so inclined, but his connection with the living world is what makes it a good read.

Sculpture and Mental Health

STRESS.

Two Dance Performances and Two Sculpture Shows in a week and a half. The sculpture show is actually the same work just put up and taken down twice, once for the media pretour and the actual GARDEN TOUR. It's still a lot of work.

After scraping myself off the ceiling and floor, I realized several things. It's hard to move after hours at the computer. It's hard to open up to improvisation in movement or art when seeing the world and the work as an endless check list.

So when I was an hour early for a meeting, I spent it just walking in the nearby park.

I noticed barn swallows zooming closer and closer to me, flying a foot off the ground. It dawned on me that they were after any insects that my feet had disturbed. "I'm not alone" was the thought. Surrounded by the mundane beauty and life of a small suburban park, it became a game to see if I could "catch" the swift birds with my slow delay camera. Keep walking and try to click on where the bird will be, not where they are.

My awareness had to expand considerably to encompass the birds, the camera, the sloping terrain, my steady walking, to be aware of every thing around and within me. Then I played on the swing set- built so grown ups can swing. That got me looking at the clouds. I've been feeling better ever since.

Dance at Performance Works NW

Taylor Young and Gregg Bielemeir 's duet in Alembic #2 .
Carolyn Stuart and I are also performing this Friday and Saturday nights, June19 & 20th as part of the Alembic Series. Produced by Anne Furfey, Alembic #2 is part of Linda Austin's commitment to bringing improvisional dance to Portland Audiences. Go here for more info.

Sculpture and ANLD Garden Tour

Today is the media preview tour for the Association of NW Landscape Designers Behind the Scenes Garden Tour. My sculptures will be in a garden designed by Donna Giguerre

The"Behind the Scenes Tour" is open to the public and takes place on Saturday June 27. This years tour features gardens in the Eastmoreland and NE Portland areas. All of the gardens were designed by ANLD members. It's $20 per ticket with proceeds from the tour supporting scholarships for landscape design students at Portland Community Colleges & Clackamas Community Colleges.

Sculpture at Auction

There is good news and the bad news of the fate of the little green dance angel.

The figure cost me $10 to buy, several hours of my time, and $7 to ship it to Seattle. It sold for $12.00. As SFoDI fundraiser? A big loss.

Lila Hurowitz of Dance Art Group wrote to say,"Thanks mucho mucho for your sculpture, it turned out to be a highlight of the night! the MC (not really a dancer, more a burlesque-type announcer) did a very sweet and funny dance with it on stage. Unfortunately it did not sell in the silent auction... so the MC did a special live auction with and a few other items and it then sold for $12 a guest who donated it to DAG, and we displayed it at Sunday's workshop and jam."

After crawling out of my cave, I realized I was confusing cost and value, money and art - to the detriment of the art.
Sound familiar?

The sculpture was a flop, a negative number as a fundraiser. But as art, the little green angel was both inspiration and dance partner for an onstage performance. It literally embodied the evening for the audience of dancers and dance supporters. It was bought and given back to DAG to function as icon and mascot. This is success, not a problem. It did exactly what it was made for, to move (in every sense of the word) and delight people.

Part of creating for fundraisers is letting go of any expectations. Though next year I might just write them a $12.00 check....