Hearts Galore

Many of you have seen a number of different hearts over the past years.  Twisted steel, glass, bike gears, and other recycled steel parts were welded into wonderful sculptures.  I was fortunate to discover a haul of various colors of recycled metal shelving.  Green, red, blue, and orange all in about 10 foot lengths.  What a find!

There's going to be a number of significant changes with my work that you'll see at some of this year's shows.  Many shows will feature the same work that I love to do that many of you have been enjoying for what is now decades, and the fine art shows will feature work similar to the hearts below and other new work that I'll be featuring here over the next few months getting ready for 2012.

This first heart features a three inch side with alternating horizontal green and red slats.  It's approximately 16 inches tall by about 12 inches wide.

The second heart is similar to the one featured above with the metal running vertical.  I like this one a lot.

Number three is my version of what's hanging around inside our hearts.  It's also about three inches thick, and I've created a variety of plumbing interconnected with bicycle gears.  Now that is some pacemaker!  Note the stitching across the front, and it's also all around the outside where the heart front meets the heart's sidewalls.

This is the fourth and last one for tonight! It has some serious plumbing work, and I've added the metal at different levels throughout the heart. Imagine as if the heart's skin is pealed back to reveal its inner workings. 

A lot of things are changing this year with my work.  You can keep up to date by subscribing to my blog for the latest additions.  See you soon!

Changes - Think of the David Bowie song while reading this

The last day of summer 2011 was a few days back and it only took one day for the weather to change to the "normal" northwest fall.  Blustery winds, grey skies, and rain.  Oh the normalcy of it all!  It's good to be back in our Vancouver house and see how our yard has changed over the past few years.  It's amazing how quickly things grow.

This red maple in our front yard started out around three feet tall nine years ago and here it is today.

It's also good to be around some old friends.  Last Saturday, our neighbors Dave and Floreen Clark, had a mystery welcome home dinner at their house.  This is a role playing who-done-it murder mystery that includes dinner, mayhem, and wine...of course.  Bill and Jackie Woods, and Shane and Duane Yokum rounded out the group.

Of course there are more changes occurring in our family.  Our oldest son, Nathan, graduated from nursing school last December and accepted a position at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tacoma, Washington (about two hours north of our Vancouver house).  Here Nathan is driving a UHAUL truck with his family's belongings to their new home in Tacoma.

I'm reminded that Changes are always around us and is an important constant in our lives.  Just like the weather, growing things, and the good people around us.

One, Two, Three, and More Art Shows To Go

 It's been roughly a month since we've returned from Florida, and last Thursday night we headed south to California on one of our many art fair excursions.  We stopped just south of Medford, Oregon to spend the night before heading into the Lafayette area for our next show.  I woke up about five AM and rousted Mackie and the schnauzers from bed and off we headed down Interstate 5 in search of our next adventure.

We topped Siskiyou Summit and headed into California.  Yep, that's the thermometer inside our Dodge Pickup reading 39 degrees - I love the fall in the northwest.  Crisp mornings and warm afternoons.  It's tough to beat!  On we go to the California Inspection station.

"Do you have any fresh fruit or plants" asked the state attendant?

"No" I replied.

"What's in the trailer?" she asked.

"Artwork" I replied.

She looked back down to her book and said, "move along".

The California inspection station has always been a mystery to me for over 25 years.  They pay state employees to sit in booths at every entry point that I've ever been on to ask those same questions.  I've never seen them stop someone.

Mackie, my lovely wife next to the truck, our good friend Judy, along with Sophie and Sherman by our truck.  It's all about the parking at any art show, and us professionals are always trying to jockey our rigs around to the closest possible spot to our booth.  The shorter the distance the easier to set up and tear down.  A few days later we were able to move our truck up the street and turn it around during the evening. This probably saved us about 30 minutes during our tear down Sunday evening.

One of my new creations bogarted Mackie's coffee and wouldn't give it back.  The brand shall remain nameless, but the white cup with the green mermaid should give it away!

One more show down and a million more to go.