Return of Reclamation Exhibition To Siler City

Recently, Melanie Mathews, Director of Hermitage Museum & Gardens, delivered the remaining artwork from the Reclamation exhibit to my studio in Siler City.

Many Thanks to the Mathews Family for extending their trip in NC to make their delivery possible!

Reptire Meets A Rubber Tree

This Holiday Season, I got to go visit my mom's family in Wisconsin. It was a great time, that included snowy field battles with a Lab, a creaky backwoods planetarium, roving tribes of wild turkeys, stool painting, and lots and lots of good food.

Towards the end of our stay, we paid a visit to the Madison Botanical Gardens. There, in their tropical hot-house / atrium, we found a really interesting show, that explores the human uses of plants. There I met my first ever rubber tree.

This one hailed from Panama, which to my knowledge, escaped the mass production of rubber plantations that have rocked other countries. Why this is, I am not sure.

Interestingly, it did appear to be in the same family as the 'rubber plants' that people have in their homes (and that I keep in my studio- as they filter the air very well). They also look to be in the legume family, which I hadn't realized.

There I also learned that Worcister Sauce comes from the tamarind fruit, and also met the tree that lipstick hails from.

Ah yes, and the Fat Pork Tree (it didn't explain what comes from this plant...)

And it turns out shoe polish is derived from the beautiful hibiscus flower. What a tragic fate for such a beauty.

Reptire Hiaitus!

So here is the word.

I am taking a little 'vacation' from the artist vocation.

I still love RepTire Art dearly, and I still love connecting with my customers, and want to see many of my dream designs come to fruition, and I plan to revist all of these this Spring and Summer at the Festival for the Eno.

But in the meantime, for Winter through Spring time, I am stepping back from it, and focusing on some different (and more direct!) ways to earn a living.

What does that look like?

Well, at this moment it looks like my own personal back-to-the-land movement!
That is, Back To The Land-Scaping!

And boy have I been enjoying it! (inspite of the big ol 'Back' in "Back to the Land"

It is like tattooing the earth’s sexy body, I love it.

You can learn about some of the projects I have been working on lately at my cousin blog

earth/surface/facet/interface.

I will also be teaching an after school Wire Sculpture class as a Artist In Residence at the Carrboro ArtsCenter, in February, and quite possibly some scrap art Summer Camps there, this summer.
You can read about some of the Arts Education work that I do at ENGAGERER.blogspot.com.

These are both lines of work that I have been cultivating, engaging in, and enjoying over that past 10-15 years. Its seems it is time to pay these 2 old friends a visit.

Iron Crafter 3! Hy!

To conclude my work shlepping the mountains of Scrap, 

I received one final mission- a very special Treat and Honor. 

That was to judge the Third... EVER! 

IRON CRAFTER COMPETITION

Why was this such an honor?

Well, not to mention the obvious prestige of such a post, it was also full circle, as I was a contender in the FIRST EVER Iron Crafter Competion- and I won first prize. OK not really, 

but I won the clearly most awesome trophy EVER!

I was also in some really good company, such as sculptor Bryant Holsenbeck, and two other individuals whom I greatly enjoyed working with.

There was quite a hum of creativity in that room!

Mix Master Dave on the SET!

The green glow and hum of industrious creativity, YES!!!

In the THICK of it!

Back Alley Habber-Dashery

PLUNGING into uncharted ground for art! 

And when all was said and done, and the dust cleared, there stood some really pretty impressive art work!

I wish that I had more pictures of it, as it deserves some recognition. Unfortunately, being judge and photographer was more difficult to balance than I expected.

Imperialist SQUID!

Junk-in-the-trunk hunk, and his Master.

The Prize, The Glory, Our Grand Prize Winner!

Fjording Mt. Scrap- Helping the Scrap Exchange make their final shlep

For the last three weeks I have been assisting my dear family, and beloved Durham Institution, The Scrap Exchange, to clear out what remains of their storage space upstairs in the old Liberty warehouse.

As you may know, the roof of this historic structure (at one time one of the largest tobacco trading stockyards in the southeast (world?) caved in this Spring, and TSE had to make an emergency move out, on the double.

 This was not really too much of a suprise. In the many years that we stored supplies for outreach events in the warehouse space, above the retail space, staff could hear the water pouring through the roof when it rained; in fact you could actually see the sky even then (according to my co-worker, Daniel Bagnal, who spent the most time up there of us all). In fact, it sounded like Niagra Falls when it rained. In rumor, people who couldn't afford to travel up to Niagra Falls to get their wedding pictures taken were going upstairs in the Liberty Warehouse instead.

Why didn't everspreading Greenfire, who bought the building, fix these leaks before it came to this?
Well now, that is a very good question.

The Gaping hole above the entrance ramp.
Ironically, the sign above the ramp reads (something like):
"SPEED KILLS, DO NOT DRIVE UP RAMP TOO FAST!
Oh well...

But the skinny of it is, we are out, have found a great new space with a great new landlord, and thus are transferring the last of our supplies out Liberty.

This has been an interesting operation....
A small handful of us were selected as Scrap Special Forces. Mission: rescue our remaining stockpile of  usable materials from the molding, collapsing Liberty warehouse.

What this looked like: Somewhere between a bomb site, a rummage sale, and an archeology dig.

The pictures you see here are quite decieving, as they were taken at an advanced stage of the clean up process.

I had some great coworkers.

2nd in Series of Slide Presentations about 'RECLAMATION' installation @ Hermitage Museum & Gardens

Last night, during our awesome 3rd Friday Artwalk here in Siler City, I guess another slide presentation at the Reptire Designs Studio and Showroom, here in Historic Downtown Siler City.
I did two showings, one at 8 pm, for the old folks;)
and another at 9 pm for the other old folks who like to stay up later ;)

I was thrilled to have several special guests in both Audiences.
For the 8 oclock showing, I was very pleased to get to share this experience with my good friends (and collectors!) Ron and Loretta Wachs, who I knew would appreciate hearing about both Hermitage Museum, and my work there. We had The Venerable Dr. Seed!, and We also had Cassie, another fantastic local Artist (thank you Cassie for your help). AND....none other than special guest Mina Beana's Diana Metraud! Who appeared Out Of The Great Blue Wild of Maine, to introduce me, and my lecture, just like old times, at the Mina Beana Cafe! We were also joined by the lovely Ruth, and some nice punk kids who I didn't know before, but who I enjoyed sharing with as well!

Then, for the 9pm set, we had The Seven Sista's in da house, in effect with their whole Man Posse.
The 'Ever Irreverant Reverend' Joey Howell also joined us for the fun!
Big Thanks to Big Amy, for being a Big Help in the Little Kitchen! (and also for her thoughtful note taking). Got to make some new friends, and share with many old ones.
Lots of great questions from this crew, who knew? Just kidding, they are all artists of one kind or another, and I especially enjoying sharing my triumphs and tribulations with this raucous band of like minded souls, who seemed to appreciate well the the sheer quantity of effort and risk that I poured into the show (and hopefully Quality too :).

I have discovered that I really like giving these presentations! Hopefully, I will find a way to continue to share with friends in person this way, and (with the valuable suggestions of improvment minded friends), they will continue to get better and better. It seemed to be a truly fun time for all involved!
Beer, wine, food, a few comfortable cushiony chairs and a futon to lounge on, dim lights, movie screen, good friends, pretty pictures, funny stories;...hard not to have a good time if you ask me!

JANICE-WORX SIGHTING
By the Way, the Seven Sistas had actually flown into town to support one of their cauldron...
None other than Reptire Friend and Sculptress Extraordinaire, Janice Rieves, who is sharing a stunning collection of her exquisite "MIRRORS and MANDALAS" right down the street at the Courtyard Cafe! By the time Janice and her crew arrived after the opening, several of this handful of meticulously layed out mirrored gems had been snapped up already, and I am not suprised. They are so...simulteneously illustrious and chic, and yet quietly humming and meditative, in a way that only Janice, The Woman, The Artist, knows how to pull off.
Look out LA, Here Comes the "jenesaisquois" of....The Janisphere! (like a flame-bubbling COMET, hurtling straight towards you!)

Tire Pile Seen From Outerspace!

I just came across this (yahoo!) news article from the Associated Press.
This is a brief story about a gargantuan informal tire dump in South Carolina, that had been piling up for years.

http://news.yahoo.com/giant-mound-tires-sc-visible-space-165742010.html

In someways, it is good that these tires were sorted out from the larger waste stream, because at least they all together in once consolidated (if not regulated) area. Now that authorities have discovered the pile, the owner of the land is hauling them off to be tapped for steel and oil, and fuel for papermills!

The article claims that tires burn cleaner than coal (which is not saying much), but still, pretty cool that the resources buried in this stock pile can now be tapped.

On the other hand, I have read that such massive piles of tires are capable of sponteneosly combusting, in which case they create a large, horribly smoky fire, that is very difficult to put out, once started.

This was the case with a tire pile in Waterton Wisconsin (actually AT a tire recycling plant!), which you can read about here, and here. (this second article sites fires taking up to 9 MONTHS to extinguish!).