Snow Circles

I have an affinity for circles … like a moth to a flame. Every now and them it comes out. Like when I am thinking about what things mean, or who I am … stuff like that.

I enjoy pop psychology and took one of those quickie tests. In the test, you chose a shape that appealed to you and from that it projected what kind of person tended to choose your shape. I chose a circle.

Done another way, Strength Deployment Inventory, I come out blue. It's like the color version of a circle. It's like an embracing thing … encircling arms … let me help you and take care of you. It could be me. Well, I might be a grumpy version.

Cart or horse? Egg or chicken? Tattoo or snow circle? I don’t know which came first. What I do know is that the first time that I snowshoed a series of circles in the snow, I was hooked.

And I know that when I was thinking about a tattoo design for my leg, I started drawing and the result was a concentric circle design. When I look at either, tattoo or snow circle, I am inexplicably drawn to the shapes.

I guess you could say that I had found myself.

I do believe that shapes affect people in different ways. I consider myself to a big picture person. I need to see the links to the whole and how things work together. I feel a sense of polarity I feel when I look at other shapes. But, I always come back to the circle ... like a lemming ... like a bad penny ...

But, isn't that, in essense, what a circle does?

(I always maintain a version of a circle in my yard for the winter. I look forward to the first snow when I can construct it.)

(I managed to get to Kilborn Pond in NH before many people had had a chance to showshoe in. I left this for them to find.)

(I did this one in the large field beside my property. I loved how it looked in the early morning hours in a full sun. If you circled in to the middle and then back out, it was one mile.)

(I got up at 4:00AM one morning before school to sneak in to the tennis courts and leave this for the students to discover when they looked out of the second story window.)

(Sometimes, I like to add inverted icicles to make it look like the entry to a castle.)

(I left this one along the Williamsville town trail. Wonder what someone thinks when they find it?)

(I left this one in George and Joan's field. They snowshoe here and would stumble upon it.)

I have an affinity for circles … like a moth to a flame. Every now and them it comes out. Like when I am thinking about what things mean, or who I am … stuff like that.

I enjoy pop psychology and took one of those quickie tests. In the test, you chose a shape that appealed to you and from that it projected what kind of person tended to choose your shape. I chose a circle.

Done another way, Strength Deployment Inventory, I come out blue. It's like the color version of a circle. It's like an embracing thing … encircling arms … let me help you and take care of you. It could be me. Well, I might be a grumpy version.

Cart or horse? Egg or chicken? Tattoo or snow circle? I don’t know which came first. What I do know is that the first time that I snowshoed a series of circles in the snow, I was hooked.

And I know that when I was thinking about a tattoo design for my leg, I started drawing and the result was a concentric circle design. When I look at either, tattoo or snow circle, I am inexplicably drawn to the shapes.

I guess you could say that I had found myself.

I do believe that shapes affect people in different ways. I consider myself to a big picture person. I need to see the links to the whole and how things work together. I feel a sense of polarity I feel when I look at other shapes. But, I always come back to the circle ... like a lemming ... like a bad penny ...

But, isn't that, in essense, what a circle does?

(I always maintain a version of a circle in my yard for the winter. I look forward to the first snow when I can construct it.)

(I managed to get to Kilborn Pond in NH before many people had had a chance to showshoe in. I left this for them to find.)

(I did this one in the large field beside my property. I loved how it looked in the early morning hours in a full sun. If you circled in to the middle and then back out, it was one mile.)

(I got up at 4:00AM one morning before school to sneak in to the tennis courts and leave this for the students to discover when they looked out of the second story window.)

(Sometimes, I like to add inverted icicles to make it look like the entry to a castle.)

(I left this one along the Williamsville town trail. Wonder what someone thinks when they find it?)

(I left this one in George and Joan's field. They snowshoe here and would stumble upon it.)

(Sometimes the pressure of making circles is just too great ... and then ... I rest!)I have an affinity for circles … like a moth to a flame. Every now and them it comes out. Like when I am thinking about what things mean, or who I am … stuff like that.

I enjoy pop psychology and took one of those quickie tests. In the test, you chose a shape that appealed to you and from that it projected what kind of person tended to choose your shape. I chose a circle.

Done another way, Strength Deployment Inventory, I come out blue. It's like the color version of a circle. It's like an embracing thing … encircling arms … let me help you and take care of you. It could be me. Well, I might be a grumpy version.

Cart or horse? Egg or chicken? Tattoo or snow circle? I don’t know which came first. What I do know is that the first time that I snowshoed a series of circles in the snow, I was hooked.

And I know that when I was thinking about a tattoo design for my leg, I started drawing and the result was a concentric circle design. When I look at either, tattoo or snow circle, I am inexplicably drawn to the shapes.

I guess you could say that I had found myself.

I do believe that shapes affect people in different ways. I consider myself to a big picture person. I need to see the links to the whole and how things work together. I feel a sense of polarity I feel when I look at other shapes. But, I always come back to the circle ... like a lemming ... like a bad penny ...

But, isn't that, in essense, what a circle does?

(I always maintain a version of a circle in my yard for the winter. I look forward to the first snow when I can construct it.)

(I managed to get to Kilborn Pond in NH before many people had had a chance to showshoe in. I left this for them to find.)

(I did this one in the large field beside my property. I loved how it looked in the early morning hours in a full sun. If you circled in to the middle and then back out, it was one mile.)

(I got up at 4:00AM one morning before school to sneak in to the tennis courts and leave this for the students to discover when they looked out of the second story window.)

(Sometimes, I like to add inverted icicles to make it look like the entry to a castle.)

(I left this one along the Williamsville town trail. Wonder what someone thinks when they find it?)

(I left this one in George and Joan's field. They snowshoe here and would stumble upon it.)

(Sometimes the pressure of making circles is just too great ... and then ... I rest!)(Sometimes the pressure of making circles is just too great ... and then ... I rest!)

Easter Basket from Hell

Though we are now in our sixty's, Anne and I have continued to give one another Easter baskets for over 40 years. Maybe it is because we didn't have kids. Maybe it is because we were senile at an early age. Most probably, it is because we needed an excuse to buy lots of sweets and candy.

Nevertheless, I shall not waste your time trying to justify we I do certain things. I will say, however,  that over the years, I have tried to provide Easter baskets for Anne that are a bit more unique. Some years it was odd items in the basket ... anything from dried navy beans to chocolate covered ants. One year, I made a barbed wire basket. I rather "pointed" statement I would say.

More recently, the basket theme was "demented". I thought about demons emerging from our past to inset themselves into our holiday festivities. All it took was a few props to set the scene.






I used on of Anne's mom's old 40's feathered hats (red of course) as a symbol of emergence from the past.


The basket was filled with a variety of candies and small gifts. However, astride it all was the demon doll.


















My friend Nancy gave me this doll  a few years ago. It is the most disturbing doll I have ever seen. The hair is frazzled and the eyes are piercing and sinister. I can't imagine what kind of mother would give this doll to her child. It looks like something Baby Jane's sister might have given her. Whatever happened to her anyway?





It was  a simply task to fashion some bunny ears, a cotton tail and a cigarette for the doll for effect. I posed the naked doll astride a box of Reese's pieces. I liked the play on words that it brought to mind. I threw a couple of doll faces and stray arms and legs into the basket and it was done.

Happy Easter Anne!

Artists' Expressions - Windsor VT Show

 August 2012

                         

We were on a retirement adventure in Windsor, VT and decided to check out the Nuance Gallery there.    We met the gallery owner, Nancy Silliman, and found out that she knew our neighbor Paul. Nancy told me that a new show was opening soon and invited me to submit an application to have pieces juried into the show. I sent in an application and emailed pictures of my work the next day. Unfortunately, there was a mixup in the mail and email and my application was misplaced. About two weeks after the show opened , Nancy called to tell me that she had just found the application and to apologize. She offered to let me bring in my pieces late and to participate in a 2nd opening later in the month. I jumped at the chance. I got to be in the show and to be the feature artist at the 2nd opening. It was a great deal for me.  At the conclusion of the show, I moved my pieces over to another section of the gallery so they could remain up for the duration of the next show as well.



Nancy Silliman at the 2nd opening. The rain was steady ... the crowd was small ... but I met some other artists and got a good lead for a potential show in Cornish. Not to mention getting to do my dog & pony show at  a new gallery.
















                          Rock River Bounty

Precipice














                                 Ancient Voyager















Untitled















                                                             Untitled

"UnBound" - Woodstock, VT Show

July 29, 2011

In conjunction with the annual Bookfest in Woodstock, the Artistree Gallery held a juried art show called,  "UnBound".  Artists submitted entries in a variety of mediums using the book as a focal point of their work.

                               

My application included three entries. I had done a series of birdhouses based on different books. The roof of the birdhouse was created from the book itself. The birdhouse was decorated with excerpts and pictures from the book that summarized the theme of the book. One entry was accepted for the show ... the Toulouse Lautrec Birdhouse.  On each birdhouse I used a special perch based on birdhouse theme. In the case of the Lautrec, I used a Barbie leg in a fishnet stocking and bright pick stiletto high heel as a metaphor for the dancers at the Moulon Rouge.

I particularly enjoyed the diversity of the entries. Very original ideas. Very pleased to have my work included in the company of the other artists juried in the show.  Was able to attend the opening for the show ... much larger crowd that I expected.

                                        

Fish Sculpture Installation

November 8, 2005

My neighbor, Paul, gave me a preserved tuna tail and I decided to use it in a whimsical piece. I used a large iron hoop for a fish body and suspended floating bones inside formed from flattened copper tubing. I made a pair of cartoon-like eyes from some smaller tubing and attached them slightly ahead of the body form. Inside the fish body I added a tiny fish figure representing food that had been eaten. The sculpture was supported on a large spring. That allowed the piece to slightly bounce and turn in the breeze to simulate swimming. Lee Ann and David liked the piece and bought it.




David and I loaded up the piece in my truck, secured it and headed to Brookline.






I unpacked and headed for the site they had selected. They had chosen an overhanging tree limb on the hillside above the pond.








Some things you don't realize until you see them for yourself. The tree was tall ... plus in was on the hillside ... and the ladder leaned out over the abyss!








Nothing to do but hang on to the ladder and pull it up ... and hope the wires hold it!


















One final adjustment and let it swing!










                         

Voila! Overlooking the pond and the Brookline hillsides ... 

I couldn't have asked for a better spot for my sculpture to be!