Welcome

Ahoy Matey, and Welcome to REPTIRE, an intermittent ‘ship’s blog’, chronicling the slow rise in the South Easterly skies of Reptire Designs; a studio that designs and crafts always artful, and sometimes useful THINGAMABOBS from old Indian Cucachou, aka ReTired Rubber.

Down Below, Ye shall find a permanent 'flagship post' marking the Maiden Voyage of Reptire Designs.

And below that, in the ‘hull’, can be found more recent posts chronicling the daring new adventures of Reptire Designs, dashed with small bits of whimsy, spotted pickerel, local color, and lizard lore..

In fact, on the right, in pale purple, ye shall find the Captain's Log’s Table of Previous Posts, which ye can peruse by year, month, and title to ye hearts content.

If ye haven't gotchyer sea legs yet, My Pretty, Ye can take a gander at our website at www.reptiredesigns.com, to get a proper Landlubber's Introduction.

Thanks for stopping in, I do hope you enjoy your visit aboard this ship! HARHARHARHAR.......

Sincerely, Travius Von Cohnifus

Captain, Founder, Indentured Servant, Rubber Alligator Wrestlor Extraordinaire a' this here ship.

enter the treadknot

Welcome
On September 26th, 2006, I launched my tire art/design business, Reptire Designs, with a solo exhibition of my artwork in The Green Gallery at The Scrap Exchange Center for Creative Reuse, in Durham, NC. For many reasons, it was a night that I will always remember, and I am grateful to Laxmi (my girlfriend at the time) and Edie (my mother, still) for dutifully documenting while I shmoozed, so that I may now shmare a taste of the evening with anyone who was not able to attend...



On a cool but lively autumn night-before-Center Fest, a stream of friends and curious strangers trickled (like pebbles through a rain stick) through the forest of odds and ends (that roost at night in The Scrap Exchange), out into the warm light of the back savanna, a scene utterly glopped with bizarre rubbery hybrids. Tentative and curious, the visitors craned their necks, nibbled, pecked, stood back, moved in closer. From the walls, glassy mirror eyes gazed back through black unblinking eyelids, while beneath the visitor's feet, in a steamy drainage cistern, a mortal drama unfolded. Primordial forms, with no eyes at all, sat puckered on stoops. A cascade of glittering steal droplets formed a curtain, to which clung a colony of tiny tire knotlettes.

Vito D., a long-time collabator down from the Asheville area, caressed the warming air with his Strange Little Folk music. I bobbed and I flit, and at an increasing clip-someone must have opened the faucet a bit....for soon I was swooning, I just about lost it! As the evening progressed, to my delight and amazement, 'family' from Durham, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Hillsboro, Siler City, Asheville, and Fresno all made it! From the Cohn Clan to the Steudel Clan to the CFS Clan; from the WWC Clan to the Duke Ac Pub Clan to the SAF Clan; from the Bike Shop Clan to the Ninth St. Clan to the Scrap Clan... and every one in between, guys, they were all appearing before my stunned, blinking eyes. While I spun and I splayed, Vito now played-CHURNED- up a torrent of gritty ditties; while a staff volunteer (Brandon's a photographer, I swear) whipped up pitchers of Mango Lassies. And The 'Scrap Exchange girls' worked the door, the counter, and the floor, going "cha-CHING!", cha-CHING!","cha-CHING!".!.



By the end of the night, hundreds of friends, acquaintances and had-been-strangers had poured in, poured over the work, and partaken in, what was for me and my art, a monumental communal feast. And on top of it all, I got to place many of my preemies in hands that I love and trust, and in several instances, hands that fit them like gloves. What a privilage to be able to connect with people this way. Heading into the turbid seas of small business, I can confidently say that if I drown tomorrow, I am at least blessed today with the memory of (as Vito later put it) one authentically good Durham night.



Thanks to all of you who were there; in body and/or spirit.





Reclaimed-wood Builder and Reptire Collector Howard Staab enjoying magwi knot at the Scrap Exchange

Reclaimed-wood Builder and Reptire Collector Howard Staab enjoying magwi knot at the Scrap Exchange
I can't think of anything more rewarding for an artist than to see someone interacting with their artwork. Photo by Laxmi Haynes

Sammy and Dannette contemplate

Sammy and Dannette contemplate
Photograph by Laxmi Haynes

Cascade Colony of Knotlets

Cascade Colony of Knotlets
They would go with your jacket, would they not Claire?

Laxmi Resplendent

Laxmi Resplendent

Mavis In The Mist

Mavis In The Mist
Photograph by Laxmi Haynes

Tire Amazement

Tire Amazement
Photograph by Edie Cohn

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Silk Hope's Knot



Sorry, have to play some catchup here.
About a month ago, local sculptor Eddie White called and invited me to contribute a work for the commemoration of the new Community Center that they have just built up the road in Silk Hope NC.

I was happy to accomodate Eddie's invitation on many levels. He is a great guy, and has been a good friend over the few years I have known him, so I didn't really need any other reason than that.

However, it was also kind of an additional thrill to make a piece for Silk Hope's new community center.
Why?
Well for one thing, Silk Hope is kind of a special and unusual place.
Its character is decidedly rural and agrarian. There is just no denying that. Lets just say, you would be walking for a long time..

However, there are some surprising and interesting twists to Silk Hope's plot...

In his book about Chatham County, Small          Lyle Estil talks about Silk Hope. I'll have to reread it...

One interesting thing about the surrounding area is the Quaker tradition.

There is also a Massage school up here, the Body Therapy Institute (though I believe this now has a new owner.

And of course, there is Eddie White, with his luminous pole tent of amazing, organic forms of popped out steel..!

So anyways, this seemed like a great oppurtunity for me to make some Silk Hope specific sculpture, as alot of my materials happen to reflect the rural surroundings of this area.

I decided to tie a knot for Silk Hope, but not just any knot, but a special tractor tire knot, in honor of Silk Hope's said agrarian character. For this beast, I had a beast of a tire.
And boy, was it a beast.
This was actually one of the most challenging tires I have Ever tied.
In fact, it was suitable STUBBORN. A winning and defining and NECESSARY trait, bred into farmers...

So I wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled with that thing, and then wrestled some more, and then some more, and then some more!

Oh god.

But finally I got it there, or close enough.

And was it fantastic! Talk about Knotus Robustus. This was the King of Kings! It has the bearing, and muscularity of the Incridible Hulk!

And to top it off, its treads all magically aligned in a beatutiful rosette at its center. Truly magical.

To top finnish this beast off, I added its Silk Hopey wu wu, a white feather boa...

I dropped it off on the way to work in Saxapahaw and got to meet some great Legends of Chatham County, Bill Moore, and Kathleen Jardine.

Here is my good friend Gwen Overturf, one of  the most caring generous women I know, who recieved Silk Hope Knot in Silk Hope at their new community center, and who was nice enough to usher it home afterwards.

Thanks Gwen and Eddie, Love ya guys!

Chatham Hero Gwen Overturf, gaurding Silk Hope Knot.
(It looks like I asked her to pose with a skunk!)



  
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