100,000 miles with a Penguin

An odd title indeed but appropriate for this past week as the odometer in my Durango passed this mark, a few days shy of being 12 years old. And for all of those miles, I’ve had my trusty copilot. In fact, he has been with me since the last year or so of my previous truck. Lots of things have changed for me during those miles. A few carer changes, some goal changes, and a developing attitude change. All for the better. 

 New friends have appeared, while some others have passed on. I appreciate life more now and have tried to slow down and enjoy all the wonderful things life has to offer. 

 I’ve traveled many miles and been to places I never expected to go with only a penguin (and a GPS) to guide me. We’ve had our share of close calls, more than a few times I’ve turned to him and said “can you believe that we made it through that unscathed?”. His response was always the same, eyes wide open and speechless from shock. 

 At other times he’s been a sounding board for my troubles of the day. He does not criticize but only offer his wisdom through silence, a true demonstration of the belief that all answers are already inside you. 

 Who knows what else life has in store for us? I’m sure new adventures await no matter what. There are plenty of miles left in this truck and I intend on going as far as I can. 

Many times I’ve been asked why I have a penguin in my truck. The answer is always the same. Why wouldn’t I have a penguin in my truck?

Tis the season

 As the holidays are coming and going in rapid pace these days, I've found it hard to make time to create. It has been a month of squeezing in a few hours or even less every now and then. At least I am able to picture some concepts in my mind when I have spare moments. The hard part is remembering what they were afterwards!

  Temperatures have been up and down, not at all what I expected. I was able to take advantage of the warmer days to do some decorating outdoors. It definitely is starting to feel like Christmas wherever I go. Decorating indoors is progressing as well, thankfully that can be done in any weather conditions. This photo is of an unusual Pointsettia plant. I was particularly drawn to this leaf due to it's contrast. I have not seen one like it before. It is the unexpected things in nature that make life special.

Fall is here!

  The leaves here are falling, though the temperatures are still on the warm side. We should all take advantage of the mild climate now to just go out and enjoy the sights for a bit. Slow down life, take a deep breath, and look around at all the beauty of your surroundings. So much gets overlooked with our hectic lifestyles and I am no different. But I do enjoy time spend behind the lens. It lets me see things in a new light and develop a better appreciation for the wonder of nature.

Risk

  A long time ago, I learned that risk taking was an important part of creating art. That is how art keeps progressing, nothing new comes from playing it safe. That concept naturally made sense to me as I’ve always wanted to produce works in my own style. 

  Risk is not limited to going in your own direction, but can also be present in the actual creation of a piece. It has been said that often you must risk losing the work itself in it’s creation, and I have taken paintings too far at times. At times this is not initially visible, but later on when I have distanced myself from the work emotionally, it can be plain to see. Sometimes I have not only salvaged the piece but improved it more than I could have imagined. 

  The same concept applies to my works in wood. I have let pieces in progress sit for a long time until I have come to an decision about them. Some have gone in another direction, others remain in that state never to be taken an further. They have served the purpose of giving me knowledge and understanding of where I can go with a future piece. 

  This is a current piece which is in progress. It has been hollowed and then covered with over 1200 small holes. It was not until I had spent many hours making the holes and giving the piece some depth, that I realized my vision was something different than what I had created. Yesterday was a day for risk, and I decided I need to remove massive quantities of wood. With a large drill bit, I began the process. It still will require many hours of time to open up even larger voids in the piece. I do not know if it will have the structure necessary to survive, but I have surprised myself before. If it breaks, then so be it but I have to remain clear in my vision and continue to chase it. 

  Risk has always made art exciting and fun for me, it keeps me interested and becomes an exploration of unchartered territory. While success builds confidence, I do not consider anything less than this to be failure, only a way to knowledge on how to get where I want to go. 

  What are your feelings on taking risk with your works? Do you look forward to it or fear it?  

Beyond wood

 During the past few years, I have been striving to go beyond a work done from a single piece of wood, and this can be a challenge as one of the main attractions of the lathe is that you can do an entire project right from one piece of wood. That was what helped lure me away from furniture making. I no longer stressed over getting the perfect fit for the many joints to be fit together, and could complete projects in much less time.  Of course once I became used to this one piece mode, it became hard to break out of it.

 When I was invited to participate in the Tea Pot Exhibition for the American Association of Woodturners Symposium in Hartford in 2010, I put a great deal of thought into what my teapot would be. I did research and discovered just how artistic they can be. As weeks passed and I created sketches, I realized that they just did not represent me as an artist. Understanding that I was chosen for a reason made it obvious that I had to do what I do best. Something with an organic feel, and somewhat primitive.

  My vision of a solitary woodsman living as one with nature began to form. He needs only a single cup to drink from, carved perhaps from a burl. The lid turns upside down to serve as a funnel to gather the rain or dew. 

  To become a complete work, it felt like it needed more. The woodsman could not have his tea without a stove. A salvaged slate supported by rocks over a small campfire was the fitting solution. It is something that could be easily created wherever he traveled. There was no need to replicate those surfaces in wood. Not everything in a work of art needs to be man made. The twigs were torched, while the rocks, slate and cup were dirtied up with charcoal. For the final bit of reality, tea leaves were sprinkled in the cup. 

  At the end of the exhibition, all pieces were auctioned off and Tea for the Woodsman became part of the Kamm collection. The largest teapot collection in the world. 

Creation of this piece has led me to explore alternative materials into my creations and has opened up  unlimited possibilities. There are no real boundaries, only those which we place upon ourselves. Never be afraid to explore new concepts, and have fun on the journey!

Faith

Faith is both the title of this piece and also what it is about. It was my first piece back at the lathe after a long while away from turning. The turning itself was a challenge as it was on off-center winged bowl from maple that was 3” square by 6” long. I had previously done this form on a smaller scale, so I knew the method of work, but of course with larger scale comes larger challenges. In this case it was the one wing sticking out farther than than before.  While I loved the way the bowl sat up on the arc of the wings, I was not sure that the structure would survive my coralizing process. There is only one way to proceed with such a challenge, by having faith in myself and my abilities. 

   With pieces that take many hours, one way to keep encouraged is to work the entire piece at once, jumping from area to area rather then completing a little bit at a time. This shows slow but steady progress and is also much safer structurally as it is progressively thinned over its entirety. I am not holding onto a thin part while trying to work my way through a much thicker area. The holes are all expanded at the same rate and have a coherence that would not be there if areas were completed one at a time. I treat it as I did my paintings, working from blocking in of forms, to adding more shade and depth, to final detailing. 

   Of course with such involved projects that last many days, weeks or months, it becomes quite like a meditative process. My eyes and hands working together while my mind is able to relax and escape from any issues that might be troubling me. It is often said that art is a form of therapy. Working through this piece resolved some issues and directed me back on the correct path. As faith helps hold us together in difficult times, the maple in this piece holds the form together and demonstrates that with faith, you can be strong and support much more than might be possible. 

   Art is always an adventure. Having faith in myself has enabled me to produce works that challenge me and go beyond any imaginary limits. How has faith enriched your life?

Sunset on the hill

Last week the mushrooms came out in full bloom on a few stumps, creating the perfect opportunity for some photos as the sun was setting. I worked my way around the groupings, finding new and interesting compositions everywhere. This shot is my favorite of all, it just stood out and reminded me of a nice landscape. I’ve been striving to make photos recently, as opposed to just taking photos. This was a topic of discussion in a recent photo workshop I watched online. It takes effort to stray from the simple snap, click and done method. Reminds me of my younger days in the darkroom for all hours of the night. In this case I darkened certain areas and also only sharpened the main subjects. For the past 2 years I have returned to working in the black and white process, it has always called out to me with it’s contrast as well as its elegance.

Return of the Great Pumpkin

This piece was commissioned by a friend in 2008. As I am not one who tries to replicate nature, I did my own interpretation. Yes,  that goes back what I learned during my painting years. The body is maple with a sassafras stem and both have been colored with acrylics. Lots of time spend carving and texturing this piece but it was worth it.

Happy Halloween to all!

Snow already?

I don't think I've ever seen snow on Long Island before Halloween, but here we have it. Not too much, only an inch but it's not even November yet. From what I've been seeing of the squirrels running around like mad this whole month, it looks like it might be another harsh winter. Though I hope not. I did take advantage of the view this morning to take some macro shots of the flowers covered in snow. They made a cold morning just a little bit warmer.

A good first start

   What better way to start than with one of my favorite pieces- the Coral Bowl. I began woodturning in 2004 and as with all turners, had my ups and downs with learning mostly on my own. Well not exactly on my own, I did have the company of a few videos. But there is a world of difference between seeing and doing, the pro’s make it all look easy. Anyhow, I was putting finish on a bowl one time and of course noticed too late that there was a ding on the rim. They never show up until the piece is removed from the lathe. After some thought, I decided to texture the entire rim, using my trusty Dremel. From there, one part of my style was born. Just like Bob Ross used to say, there are no mistakes, only happy accidents. 

   As time passed, the texture spread to the entire surface as well as go deeper. I also started to miss using using the colors I had used in my days of painting. This piece was the first combination of my woodturning, with my painting. It is a bowl of spalted maple with washes of oil paint on the texture. The buffed and oiled interior contrasts nicely with the rougher and colorful exterior, I always strive to include contrast in my works. It has been featured in a number of magazines and was one of my first true introductions into the woodturning community. I am very happy it is part of the collection of Mr. Chris Kuehn.