The Key to a Good Morning

I'm working on a few small metal wall sculptures for the Affordable Art Fair. A piece of an enamel wood stove came to me, and I'm using it as a background on a few of the works. It gives a lot more contrast between it and the mixed metal. The two keys were given to me by Lin Maxwell, what great additions. My wife already wants to keep it. But with only two weeks until delivery day, it's going in the exhibition.

Art and Tomatoes

Artist-wife and I have been having discussions about sculpture as fine art and sculpture as functional art. I seem to fall in between somewhere - being inspired occasionally to make something functional, being commissioned to make something functional, and being free to create something entirely artistic. It would be tough to make a decision to do just one all the time. Then I noticed that about a month ago when the tomatoes were leaning dangerously to the right after a wind storm, I used three garden sculptures to prop them up. They seem to work well, and I like how the tomatoes have warmed up to them. The decision was made for me in this case.

Too many greens?

How can it be? Can green smoothies be bad for you? Recently had to stop using swiss chard for the morning smoothie because T. can't tolerate the high levels of oxalic acid. Lambs quarters also high in that little irritant. It's good to rotate the crops, and I'm back to using dandelion and boring old lettuce.

It's Easy Being Green

Before

After. See? Easy!

Ran into a friend in the produce aisle of Askews today. She asked what I've been putting in my green smoothies these days. The usual; spinach, lamb's quarters, a few younger dandelion leaves. What else? she asks. Good question. I like to use pineapple coconut juice, about a half cup. Place the huge handful of greens into the blender with that, then a whole banana, then fill up to the 3-cup mark with water. Makes two full glasses for me and my green wife. We don't add yogurt, because whizzing up yogurt breaks its fragile bonds.

Peddling and Paddling

Enjoyed a morning bike ride to town today with Tracey, via the urban network of roads. I was inspired to ride back on the nature trail, believing there to be a few inches of water to get through. Well, nature photographers near Christmas Island must have thought I was nuts when I peddled past them into the water on the flooded trail. It got deeper and deeper until the water was over my front wheel. Large fish were scared out of my way, ducks were fleeing, and my face was taking out spider webs between the tree branches. Debris jammed into my gears and cause the chain to come off. Had to stop, pick my bike up out of the water and put the chain back on. I was thankful for granny gear right then. Otherwise, the water was warm, the sun was shining and I was the first bike through the trail in a week. I arrived home with a real sense of accomplishment, and gratitude for aluminum frame bikes that drain well.

Happy to see a healthy weed

People think it's a bad thing when weeds are taking over your garden. The big advantage is all those free greens. There is another benefit - observing the weeds that are there and the condition that they are in is a good indication of the health of your soil. If you have lamb's quarters and stinging nettles, you should be happy - your soil is high in nutrients. If you have lush weeds of any kind, your soil must be pretty good. If your weeds are yellowy, stunted, twisted - you need soil amendment of some sort.

Treat your soil like a forest floor, add coarse organic material, woody debris and duff. Don't rototill, it breaks the beautiful network of mycorrhizae that protect roots. Turn by hand if you have a small area. If you must rototill, try not to pulverize the soil. Run over it quickly, retain the lumps.

Weeds are our Friends

What a great year for adding weeds to the morning green smoothie! The lambs quarters are thick and buttery, the sow thistle is tender and not too bitter, and the dandelions are - um - everywhere. I am growing some spinach, but our smoothies contain mostly wild greens. The neighbours have kindly and unknowingly donated the odd mint leaf, which adds to the flavour. Photos are of lambs quarters (at top - happy among the peas), plantain (another edible high in nutrients) and the tall sow thistle. Smoothie away - just remember to remove the stems and centre veins before you blend.

Metal box

Been working on the studio (not in the studio - on the studio) making a metal walls to replace tarps and sad canvas screens. Now feeling more industrial. Like making a big square sculpture. Two new windows cut the darkness, but hopefully no kids will wander by and get flashed.

Greens

It's hard to get into the studio when green things are sprouting.  This morning I picked plantain, dandelion, lamb's quarters and sow thistle for our green smoothies.  Soon I'll be putting nettles in there.  The slight bitterness is good for bile production, I think.  It must be good for us in some way!

Rusting, resting

It takes a while to determine if the rusting was successful. Patterns are important, it can't be too uniform.  I have waited for the spring rains and humidity to help, but it's been a strange season so far.  Perhaps a few thunderstorms are what is required.

Workspace

Does anyone else's workspace look like this?

The back of a fish

How much effort should one put into the back side of a sculpture?  One that will hang on a wall so that the back won't be seen.  Shaping the metal plate is so difficult.  I can heat and heat and heat the metal, but the shape of the fish seems to dissipate the heat away.  Some kind of magic geometry?  Today I made two cuts in the metal to create a concave shape to the back of the fish.  Many hours... and I'm still wishing for an acetylene torch.

Big Fish

I worked on Mary's second fish today, it is a gift for her son - an avid fisherman on Vancouver Island.  After pounding out the second half of the body of this 3 foot salmon, I discovered that I had pounded out the wrong side.  Nearly two hours of pounding gone to waste.  My wrist isn't happy today.  The second attempt did not turn out as smooth, but there are some nice marks in it anyway.  Today I welded the two halves together.  It's a big fish!

Flock of Cedar Waxwings

As I work on new bedposts to renovate the girls' bunk beds, I hear the light squeaking of cedar waxwings.  Immediately I wonder how my little flock is enjoying the view at the Henderson's house.  This sculpture was installed shortly before Christmas, just outside their front door.  I'm pleased to know J & J enjoy it each time they enter their house.  I just realized that the waxwings really influenced my most recent piece, "Forgotten Fruit," currently in the gallery.

Deep Freeze

I am so glad I finished this piece before this weather started, it was -20 this morning, and with wind chill -32.  I would have frozen my fruits off in my almost-outdoor studio.  I am pleased to see this hanging in the gallery.  It's in a safe place (comes away from the wall about 20 inches) and won't take any eyes out.  Friday is the opening, and my girls are all looking forward to seeing the show.

Forgotten Fruit

The sculpture for "75" was finished barely in time for delivery this morning.  At 5pm I knew that it was accepted by the jury, thanks to the spying abilities of my curator-wife. The idea of five forgotten apples on a winter branch has been floating around in my mind for a while.  I've thought a lot about Salmon Arm's apple orchard history... the forgotten orchards.  Still producing old varieties of apples that no one wants.  Have we forgotten our heritage? This area was famous for the non-irrigated apple, but I see little evidence of this important industry, except a few old trees on the edges of hay fields.

Rain Dance

I put the hard push on to get this piece done, worked all day on it.  Needed muriatic acid for the rusting, so ran down to Samson Soaps for their "Big Red" toilet bowl cleaner.  Works like stink.  Would love to have some rain now to get some nice patterns, but I don't think that's in the forecast.

Tangent

The wind is blowing, so instead of working on the piece I plan to submit to the "75" exhibition at the gallery, I started making a wind chime.  Procrastination at its finest.  I thought I could quickly whip some pieces together, but next thing you know, two or three hours have passed.  One more little piece, one more rusty part...  I'm so far down this road I may as well finish it.  So many people have given me these bits and pieces, the energy must have called to me.  A swag lamp chain is particularly inspiring and useful.  Swag lamp?

Triple Whammy

Finished my commission today, just two hours before the purchaser was scheduled to arrive to pick it up.  It combined three of my signature small works - nests, birds and windchimes - into one splendid piece.  I was really happy with it.  So was the purchaser.  Now hopefully the wind blows hard enough to move metal.

Lost

My good friend Peter called me up to go xc skiing with him today, which was a convenient excuse to not work on commissions.  Tomorrow I can finish up the nest/chime/bird item.  As in art-making, the ski day was an exercise in chasing darkness.  We went to North Hub, Cec's Cabin but then got lost when we bypassed Sky Trail, went the wrong way on Ermine Frolic, landed in the parking lot late in the day.  I looked at the map when I got home, have no idea what happened.  But we got home.  Such as it is with art, too.

Out of the Gate

After years of watching my wife post on blogs, facebook and twitter, I am ready to jump in.  This is to document my artmaking process, farming discoveries and parenting experiences.  All three of those art forms consume my life.