Posts Tagged ‘creating art’
Mirrored Hearts
Progress on the set of mirrored hearts from the oak branch I cut with the bandsaw has come close to even between the two. I’ve never worked on two pieces at the same time like this, so it is a new challenge for me to switch back and forth as the shapes become more refined.
I’m not fully satisfied with either one enough to move from shaping to the highly polished finish sanding that I like to do, but I’m getting close.
On the second heart, I worked initially to shape it with my mini-grinder that has a flexible shaft with sandpaper sleeves that fit over an inflatable drum. It definitely speeds up progress, but doesn’t allow the level of control I prefer, so I soon switched back to hand sanding.
It’s always hard for me to decide I am done shaping, so in this situation, it is doubly hard. I can always find something about the shape I’d like to tweak a little more to get it just right. As a result, pieces never feel completed. Doing two at once is definitely compounding this dilemma for me.
I really like that they are mirrors of each other, and as such, would like them to end up very similar in size, as well. It will be a struggle for me to allow for more than a little variation, but I need to be realistic about it. Thinking about each one as a unique heart will help me to go with the flow of however the ultimate dimensions happen to work out.
The ideal shape is there within each piece. I just need to be patient while letting each one be slowly revealed to me.
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Impermanent Art
The many random balanced rock sculptures I create around our property are impermanent by design. I expect them to tumble back to earth, sometimes within mere minutes. Other times, they can last more than a year. I have an affection for placing balanced stones atop the stumps of trees.
Somewhere in the archive of past posts (Previous Somethings) there are photos of me using the loader to raise rocks too heavy for me to lift so I could balance them on a tall stump. The upper rocks fell rather quickly but the last one sat on that stump looking rather phallic for far longer than it should.
Eventually, the lopped tree trunks rot to the point of not adequately supporting large stones. I think that is my favorite end to these installations. Once the trunk is no longer standing, the piece cannot be recreated. Sometimes the rocks get repurposed into the labyrinth.
Earlier this fall, Cyndie and I dug up a rock along one of our trails that was too big to lift so I just leaned it up against a stump where two rocks balanced above.
The stump for this artistic masterpiece didn’t get a chance to rot to tumble the stones. I can’t be sure whether the rocks fell before some woodland critter in search of insects attacked the stump or not.
I admit to cruelly imagining the stones tumbled while the animal was within range of being superbly startled. It would be really sad if one got hurt by them, but I suspect wildlife is quick enough to dodge more than a bump from the collapse of one of my creations.
Hopefully, the scavenger got a good snack from the stump shredding. Think of the poor insect victims!
Nature can be harsh. But it’s beautiful to observe!
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Relative Something 