SPIRITUAL VISIONS EXHIBITION THIS DECEMBER IN NORFOLK, VA

Holy Mamoli!

I just received confirmation that my submission to the Spiritual Visions Exhibition at the Hermitage Museum and Gardens, in Norfolk, VA has been accepted!

In fact, 3 of my 4 artworks submitted were accepted into the show!!!..

Wow.

Have to go work on that giant knot some more, but I'll try to get back to describe this special opportunity, and what it means to me and my art, in more detail, tonight.

OK I'm back.
Well before I get all voodoo on you, I got to brag a sec.
This here show is Inter-nation-al yo!!!

They were taking submissions from all over the World peeps! All over the world. Now what does that mean for me? I don't even know.

Workin on that Worm

Well, today was a big day for Tyrius The Only Tire Worm in the World, that he knows of.

Today, Tyrius became not only a brother, but also grew about 3 times in length.

It was also a big day for me, a kind of turn around.

Yesterday was utterly depressing, actually the last 6 days have been.
Not only did someone break into my car Saturday night, and steal, of ALL FRICKIN THINGS!!!!-
the section of 10 tires sewn together that I had brought to show the organizers....
On Wednesday night (two nights ago), someone else broke into my van and ransacked it, stealing a couple semi valuable items (to me). I stayed up into the early morning working with the police officer to find usable prints, and then the next day, I went in, and realized that wow,
maybe this is just not going to work. Do I really have enough tires to do this? I was about ready to through in the towel to tell you the truth.

I had started off trying to give an honest effort. I 'Reclaimed' the cone from Atomic IceCream,(which had in fact been borrowed from Tyrius, when he was trying to shed a few pounds for the puppet show. And to this I added a few more sections that I'd made, canibalizing my stash of good mountain used bike tires (that's ok, the mountain bikers of the world will make more). Here goes a cool shot of 'tha toob'.

Tyrius expressing his
'Inner Tuba'

Finally I had 'fashioned' a Nu Toob, boob, that was almost as long as old Tyrius himself, a new playmate. So I drug it out on the floor, and layed end to end. Then it was surgery time. First I bebutted Tyrius, yes, cut off his butt, which wasn't fun, but it also wasn't a great butt anyways, had been maligned by those puppeteers, don't know what they were doing to the poor guy..
I'll spare you the gruesome pictures.
And then It really was surgery time.

The site of Surgery

t

Tyrius, under the knife.

Healed! A succuessful grafting

Thus Tyrius had grown two fold. He will tell you it was eating his Wheaties, up and down, but you know the truth.

Now came the depressing part. I had figure that I needed to make 2 more Tyriuses, and probably 'a Little' more,  to pull this thing off. But when I tried to tie him into a knot, well, I didn't get very far...


Hey, thats pretty sexy big guy, but that's not gonna get us into ReuseConex!




Oh god, I'm sunk.

That is what I thought. I suppose the dispair of the last week was finally catching up to me.
I've gotten all of these people excited about this thing, invested their time and energy, read about it in the paper, and I've got half a knot to show!
The way it looks I will need another 2 Tyriuses, ontop of these two!

It was time to restrategize, and my options didn't look too hot.
I went home and took a nap.




But today, I went in, and just decided to sew what ever tires I had, and see where I landed. I could guesstimate all I wanted, but as I have never built a sculpture quite like this one, I wouldn't really know where I stood until I had exhausted my supply.
So I just went at it, all day, and added every tire to it that I could. I sewed up the segments that my good friends had assembled for me. I had hoped to save this pleasure for them, I really did want to, but  I had to remind myself that they came and did this to help me, and this is what I needed to do at that moment.

So, I just sewed and sewed.
And I finally hit my stride,

reaching for the bulls eye, to sew every tire I have for the project.

Finally, I had a whole Nother Tyrius, his 2nd cousin. So I attached him too.
And what I came up with is not there yet, but it did seem 'with in reach' which is really what this is going to become.

I'd love to have to big pairs of lips on each one, reaching towards one another, yearning for self love.

As he stands though, pretty cute!  Check Tyrius out, peeking out of his womb of self actualization!

WE CAN DO IT MAN!

Now I just have to find 50 more mountain bike tires...no problem!

Visit to Exhibition space for Reuse Conex, at N. Raleigh Hilton

Last Wednesday, I finally got a chance to check out the space we 10 SouthEastern Reclaimed Materials Artists will be showing at, for ReuseConex, our nation's first conference and expo of Reuse!

 I had tried to go out and meet with the organizer and check out the space about 2 months ago, but had mysteriously woken up with a porkchop face, and so had had to go to the ER instead.

I'm glad the organizer MaryEllen, was willing to give us a look. So I drove on out to Raleigh (I hate driving to Raleigh), and brought along some samples. This was to be my chance to 'sell' this sculpture to the organizer, so I brought along a maquette (model), and also a sample section of tireworm, just in case she'd never seen any.

So I stumbled in through the back door, to what turned out to be a very swanky hotel lobby, shouldering a giant jiggling tube of tire, and drainage pipe tied in a knot. I felt like Indiana Jones stumbling in on a jewel laden cavern, and there found MaryEllen Ettiene, the very classy Director of the Reuse Alliance.

There was another Artist there, who turned out to be a real hoot, and who makes awesome belt buckles, and much more, I hear, from found objects. I am very excited to be working with both 
of these people.

So then a few other Artists came, including Ruth Warren, a friend and Hero of the Scrap Exchange, and we embarked to the convention area, to check our digs...

Here's a veiw from the entrance to this convention wing of the hotel, with the registration desk on the right (MaryEllen, the organizer, was very excited about this desk, which looks a lot more excitement-worthy than this photo shows).

Pretty Shwanky, what do you say?

I have to say, while it is not the cool, polished granite kind of environment that I had pictured for some reason, as far as Hilton Hotel Lobbies go, this one is warm and a little funky!  Dig this rug- Knotty Tread!

This is the spot where I am Hoping I can show Tiny Tyrius, Tied:

This would be a sweet spot no doubt, and the organizer seemed to think it would make a good entry way piece, so here's hoping. However, there is an electric socket in the floor down the hall, so if I decide to light him up, I might opt to go down there, as it will be darker also (away from the light of the door).

Lighting the knot up is such a tempting, but forboding option. This piece really is Meant to be lit.

It is meant to Glow. However, lighting it from the inside presents one potent risk.

And that, my friends, is fire...Can you imagine what a disaster it would be if this thing caught on fire?

Mitigating this risk is going to be a major project in itself...If I decide to light it. LED's is a possible solution, but getting my hands enough of these seems unlikely. I could also just unplug the lamps while people are in the conference, allowing them to cool between the 3 viewings per day.

After we all said our goodbyes and left, I decided to double back, and do a more technical survey.

Specifically, I was looking for things to suspend another sculpture from (Atomic Ice Cream). As MaryEllen pointed out though, there is really not much if anything in this environment to use. Just immaculate cielings, with an occasional vent grill....

On the way out, I managed to get a number for the Hotel's engineer, no small task. Would it be nice if I could hang from those vent grills. I am begining to realize that I am maybe a more stubborn person than I knew.

Afterwards, I went to the Scrap Exchange in Durham, for the 1st ever meeting of the brand new NC Chapter of the Reuse Alliance. It was a lively, and intimate group of people, and it was neat to hear what had brought all of us together around this issue, or Reuse. For many of those in my parents' 'Baby Boomer' generation, it was growing up with Their parents, who had lived through the Great Depression. One woman described how her parents' basement had been full of jars, of say nails that her father had pulled from old boards. Many people nodded in recognition. I thought of my own grandparents house, and this did not seem out of line from my own grandpa, from whom I probably enherited some of this thriftiness, through my mother (as my own parents' garage is something like this too). Curious. For them and for her, it was just a way of life, as it probably is for much of the world. Its so easy to forget that in our disposible society, we are the exceptions, not the rule.

Somewhat suprisingly, this was kind of a special meeting. It gave me some fresh perspective on what we are doing here at this conference.

I also had the chance to 'sell' my idea to the Scrap Exchange. They very graciously agreed to let me host a work party there next Tuesday, and to donate the materials to 'encrust' the big guy.
This seemed like a major victory to, and it was nice to get their vote and commitment of support for the project!

However, several people, including the organizer, voted that they liked the sculpture as is, 'without the crust'.   hmmm. Just a matter of taste, or do they have a point? I am still deciding...as Tuesday approaches rapidly.

You know, sometimes less is more. And something that also comes to mind is something Bob Druhan, a very wise CFS science teacher once told me:

"Its takes two people to paint a picture. One to paint it, and another to shoot the painter before he ruins it." Perhaps I should count myself lucky to have merely gotten an shared opinion... (and I do, this was actually valuable feedback).

Also at stake, is that it will be a giant pain in the ass to encrust this thing, and it will be a giant pain in the ass to handle, and reasemble this thing once it is encrusted, and it will be a giant pain in the ass to care for this thing once it is encrusted. Artistic integrity aside, the sleek simplicity of this naked beast becomes more and more appealing....

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Oh wow,
I am sitting downtown in the Courtyard in the cooling air of midnight, a waxy moon above me. All is silent here, save for the churning of a monsterous AC unit, and a tabernacal choir of crickets in the field beyond.

I am totally wooped. My fingers tips are so torn, I can hardly type, and my body in running on gas fumes...
But what a day, what a week, what an evening. What an evening.



Well my peeps done come through for me, in Flying Colors.

Kat brought the beans, home fried tortillas, and big silver bowl of flower juice!
She also brought some major motivation, and industry.

Perrin shown, like a pheonix.

He rose to the challenge. He established himself, as a force of support. He fell into place. Where there was a need, he found it, and he filled it. He put in alot of effort, and as a result, the workshop felt effortless to me. I owe this man considerably.

Stacye, brought Perrin!
(And she sewed some too)

Dorothy lassoed and wrestled down this tire steer...
Ride'm cowgirl!

Jill brought her beautiful beaming self, and our Beaudacious Bud Allen.

Sandra brought her ussual biting Brittish whit, always a welcome addition.

Ben, brought diesel power.A knack for it, a need for speed.


Eddie and Gwen brought calm. They lent themselves to the task, and seemed to truly be enjoying it, and for this I was thankful.

Actual Worm Farmer Maria brought her Expertise de Gusano!


Matt brought Kat, and his chill vibe, and jesus-like-disposition

(at least, that is what I would like to imagine that Jesus was like...!)

The Triplets of Greensboro brought Sweetness and Charm, and cute new stripy number, for our inspiration.


Roger is just the coolest motherfucker I know, and has been so great to work with, so generous, easygoing and layed back about Everything. I am blessed to have his friendship.

And Alexander, who helped me build Tyrius in the first place, back 2008, REally came through for me in this process this evening. He was helpful, gracious and on top of it all, he was Proactive. He really proved himself to me today.

Alex chillin with Stacye after a long evening of preperations

Thank you Alexander.

Steve and Roberta, brought themselves.

Cindy, Leslie, Julia, brought their enthusiasm.

A nice burly bear of a man brought his family up from Bear Creek, said he saw my article in the paper, had never been to the 3rd Friday event before. That felt good.

Katy brought retribution, for helping her load lumber for her house this summer. That was nice of her.
She was a great help at the Haw River Festival this Summer too.

Had a new idea today, while I was madly scrubbing tires.
The sculpture I am building, it is building itself now, as they are wont to do..
Have you ever seen them worms at the beach, that build up a crust around them selves, of odd bits of shell, and debris, from the ocean floor. These guys are scrappin kinfolk, no doubt about it.
 See the more I think about it, the more I think that this tire worm is cool and all. But if the piece is to be a tribute to the concept of Reuse, well I think its fallin alittle short of its mark. Its got the form down pat, no doubt in my little mind. But now, it still NEEDS to BRING THE MUSIC! You know what I'm sayin? All them tires, would be about as bald as can be. This monkey needs some hair! It needs some encrustation! It needs a shaggy rind!
So I am gonna FUNK IT UP!.
And to do this, I'll have to take it to Funk Central, where else but The Scrap Exchange?
FUNK MY SCULPTURE, PEOPLE.

ALSO
These friends of mine, they approached it with real industry. They counted how many, and estimated how many hours it would have taken me, they saved me :) And indeed, according to their calculations, it was about 8 hours of work. Having sewed the last 75 tires, I know that this would have wore my fingers the *&*^&^ out.

I should not be greedy, but I have to wonder if these guys are hungry any for more. Several people commented on how relaxing the sewing task was.
I agree, it is very therapuetic actually. It is begining to wonder, perhaps my artisans coopertaive, is not in Tanzania, or even a local team of Central American imagres. Maybe it is a team of folks that speak my own language, (culturaly, which maybe counts for alot...), and perhaps has a hunger, like I once did, for creatively stimulating work with their hands.

How a bout the Siler City/Durham Worm Works?

The Installation at 233, Roger Person's installation space,

 in the back of which we sewed more worm sections,

(to create the knot pictured above).

Preps for Reconex

So I am Jammin (in 9th gear) to get a website in place for this event. Dane, the Great, is helping with this. What would I do with out this guy. For a very reasonable yearly fee, he will host my site on his very own URL. You can check out the blogs of this truly amazing super hero, next door at http://artanart.blogspot.com/.

What I will show at event:

Well, the primary Foundation will be my booth, using a system which I recently developed to show my work at the festival for the Eno (to learn about its design and construction, please see recent postings in May thru August 2010). But for this show, I am planning to show a slightly different body of work than what I showed at the Eno. For that outdoor festival, I focused on outdoor art, such as planters. and other ornaments for the garden. As my pardner and 3rd eye, Vito DB keenly observed, the look and feel of the bamboo butresses of my booth integrated well with the natural surroundings at the Eno Fest. But what Vito also keenly recognized was that this booth, with its alter ego of the more machine-natured gridwall system, could also be adapted to more urban environments, (which I was pleased that he noticed, as I've had to run a sort of thin line to achieve this adaptability). This line is actually one which runs through much of my tire sculpture.

And indeed, for this show, taking place in a big hotel in urban Raleigh, I would like to try showing more indoor furnishings. So I will be working to assemble some lamps, and lanterns, as well as creating a wired suspension system in my booth to hang these from. (actually, just adding wiring to the existing butresses). This is a major project in itself, and is probably crazy to attempt, with every thing I have to prepare. BUT, "don't you know I'm loco, Ese?"

What else do I need to prepare? Well aside from revamping my booth, launching a website, designing and printing a new hang tag, and maybe new business cards, and hopefully creating some World Fair style, totally oppurtunistic memorobelia, I was also foolish enough to brashly offer the good organizers of this event some Conferrence Hall Bling, to help dress up a rather drab Hilton, and add a little 'ambiance' to the space.

One of the pieces that I am offering to make for the event is a piece that I have actually always dreamed of creating- a Giant Glowing Tire Knot. To me, the event and this piece seem like a perfect pair. I think it would be eye catching and memorable, and hopefully carry the idea of reuse nicely to viewers, evoking the symbol for recycling. At the risk of sounding over the top, to me, this form is almost iconographic of the idea of reuse and recycling, and what better setting for it, than at a prayer tent, 'pitched' to honor Reuse.

I would construct the knot in a similar fashion to that of 'Tyrius the Tire Worm' (in fact, he may be ReUsed, probably temporarily, in the piece). That is to say that I will sew tires together, side by side, creating a long tube, which I will then tie into a knot, and somehow sew together at the end. Then I will light this knot up from the inside, probably using tons of chistmas tree lights which will glow through the yellowy orangey pink, latex rubber side walls, creating stripes of glowering light, and opaque black (from the treads). It would look a little bit like the bottom half of this sculpture:

You can see some of the striping effects
 in the cone of  Atomic Ice Cream, when lit up
 copyright 2009

I am not yet sure if I will let it lie flat on the floor, or will try to prop it up against a wall or something. To get the full sense of the shape, its best seen from the front. (though experiencing it from the side, could also be inspiring).This front view could perhaps be achieved by placing a mirror above it on the ceiling, a strategy I have used to good effect in other pieces.

Another issue is that, as the piece is partly a light sculpture, this aspect is somewhat lost in daylight or a lit conference hall. Hopefully, I can find a place where this thing will shine. Hopefully the organizers and hotel wont suggest the broom closet!...;)

Constructing this knot will involve ALOT of hand sewing together of tires. Were talking probably upwards of  100 tires. And to complete this manmoth task, I am going to have to ask for the help of my community...

So far, so good.
My good buddy Roger Person has been kind enough to let me use his awesome installation space here in Downtown Siler City to work on the project. Jah Bless Roger. He recently opened The Outsider Artist's Gallery here in town, to his some of his more outlandish sculptures, as well as the artwork of the handicapped people he has been working with recently, in what I believe is being called the Inclusive Art Project, with Chatham Trades.

A little help from my friends:
Most days in Siler City, the town shuts down at about 5 oclock. This is traditional working class town, and we have no bars either. BUT every 3rd Friday, we artists,  the Arts Incubator, and many other business in the downtown, open our doors, throw burgers on the grill and light up the town, with openings, live bands on the outdoor stage at the center of town, and vendors, from flowers, to farmers to flat bread. And during this one evening of the month, people come out of the woodwork in Siler City.

Hopefully, this 3rd friday, in about a week, I am going to have something for the more adventurous souls in Siler City to do while they are downtown....

Reuse Conex- got accepted to show Tire Art in ReArt Exhibition!

OK,
  HERE is one for the blog.
I have recently been accepted, as 1 of 10 Reclaimed Materials Artists from the Southeast, to show my tire art work at the ReArt Exhibition, at Reuse Conex.

What is Reuse Conex? Well it its being billed by its host, the Reuse Alliance, as the first national Reuse conference and expo of reuse!

The event is being put on by the Reuse Alliance, a non profit devoted to promoting the concept and practice of  Reuse, by supporting the Reuse sector, an important but often overlooked facet of the sprouting Green Economy.

You can check it out at: http://reuseconex.org/

So just what is Reuse? Well,
 Renovating an old house or building instead of tearing it down and building a new one, restoring an old car or bicycle, or making a collage out of old magazines, even buying a tshirt at the thrift store, are all examples of Reuse.
This is distinguished from recycling which would, say, melt the car down to make another car. According to Reuse proponets such as the Reuse Alliance, recycling is a more energy intensive (though they have perhaps never tried to flip a tire inside out!... but still, I do see their point). Reuse presents it own host of challenges, which today's artsist / designer quickly warms too.

So basically, the conference will be a chance for businesses like The Scrap Exchange, the Habitat ReStore, and a rainbow of other businesses from across the US, to share our work, learn from each other and possibly forge partnerships for collaborations. Wow, to be honest, I really don't know just what I'll find!...

I do know that I will get  to set up my booth there at the event, to tell people about the work I do with tires in my business, Reptire Designs. Obviously, this is an awesome oppurtunity for an emerging artist like myself. Perhaps I can also sell some of my art there, but to be honest, this is not as high of a priority for this event, as just getting my name out there. I have also offered the organizers of the event the use of some of my larger sculptures for around the event grounds, to help create a memorable atmosphere there at the Raleigh Hilton. Hopefully, they will take me up on them!

Not that the event is lacking in this department. There will also be movies, and a ReFashion show, which I am particularly looking forward to checking out- An artist/designer idol of mine, Atom Cianfarani, who created her own fabric from innertube rubber, and works with another designer to create fashion that is out of this world, seems connected with the Reuse Alliance. I am wondering if I will get to meet her at the event....

I currently have alittle more than month to get ready. Aside from building a giant tire sculpture, refining my booth, and creating smaller sculptures to sell, I am working like mad to pull together a website, (among other promotional materials) which will be a big step for me. This event will be getting national exposure, and thanks to the internet, quite probably international exposure as well. So, to be frank, I have got to be ready to announce my presence to the world.
Here we go!

to learn more about the event, you can check out the web page at www.reuseconex.org

You can learn about the Reuse Alliance at www.reusealliance.org

And also, you can learn about the keynote speaker, Garth Johnson, at his fascinating blog site: Extreme Craft. He is the Author of a newly published book called "1,000 Ideas for Creative Reuse", and a very sharp tack at that.
Should be interesting...

Trip up into to the Mountains

This August, I got to join my relatives from my moms side of the family, in spending a week in the Appalachian Mountains, near Spruce Pines, not too far off the Blue Ridge Parkway. They all live or grew up in Wisconsin, and many of them are either artists or nurses, (which was great for me, because I happened to be an aspiring artist, with some odd symptoms at the moment. Woke up with Bell's Palsy the day before, they all thought maybe Lymes). So inspite of this we had a really wonderful time together up in the mountains. This was also a really nice time for me to sort of catch my breath, spend time with family, and think about where I want to go with all of this. It was definately one of those reminders of the need to step back now and then, reconnect with family, and recharge your batteries. My family is also very supportive of my endeavors, and they listened to me babble endlessly about tires, the portrait of midwestern patience and fortitude if there ever was one (would be grist for Garrison Kiehlor, I'm sure).

  While we were up there, I got to dig on some of that Appalachian Mountain energy, its maybe a little wilder up there in the hills, then here in the sloggy piedment- bigger, more apprehensive fauna, less tiny biting ones, (with out a lick of shyness about them)? One things for sure, it felt about 10 degrees cooler. There is also just a different vibe up there. I got to take a cool relaxing float down a shady mountain river, and found myself thinking about Dolly Parton's Coal Miner's daughter for some reason. I'm no coal miner's daughter, but I did meet a 9th generation Mica Miner!, very interesting 'fella'...didn't meet his daughter though. Also befriended a couple of horses.

I can talk about my experience in the mountains alittle more later,
but I guess I just wanted to make a note, that this place sort of left a mark on me, and since returning, its sort of been lingering with me. I hope to return some day soon, and, actually, to create a body of work up there, in those 'hills.'... I feel like there is some work for me to do up there, hopefully in the next year or two.