On the river’s scrap heap, I have salvaged paintings and sign fragments that have drifted down the river. The Falls of the Ohio State Park seems to catch a bit of everything. This is one of my first found signs and remains a favorite. I like the irregular shape, upside down letters, and of course its surface. Many of these pieces feel very much like contemporary art to me.
I remember the joy I felt in finding this Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Sign. This is the type of art placed on farm buildings more as a way of bringing good luck instead of bad. I can’t imagine how this got in the river, but it occupies a nice spot on my wall. Here’s a detail….
I know there is an iconography that decodes the various symbols. Once upon a time, I came across a reference that the two doves were attributes of marriage. I wonder if this sign was once a different color?
It took me a moment to puzzle this out. I was initially struck by its “object-ness”. It’s on a thick piece of wood and has two rather large eyehooks for attaching it to a sign post. Figured it out yet…it’s a landscape painting…from a golf course! I don’t play, and so the map of this golf hole had to sink in first. Wonder where this came from?
I love hand painted signs! It’s definitely a disappearing craft. I couldn’t resist this stark sign fragment! Everytime I read the letters…it says “waste” to me. Considering where it came from that’s appropriate.
What this was from or how it should be oriented is a mystery. I just like the alternating bands of red and white paint. Feels like other contemporary painting I’ve seen before…except nature participated in its making.
One of my prized possessions…I have entitled this ” I Found Al by the River”…it’s sort of an affirmation of my Falls project. Sometimes when you ask for a “sign” you get one. It’s a fragment of something else, hand painted and routed. The little framed photograph was taken by my son Michael at the time I found this sign.
Another river prize is this plaque which must have fallen off the “No Questions”…. boat. I hope a sailboat. Funny what one reads into things! Is this a sign indicating some resolve to live in the moment…or….?
I remember these masked off and sand blasted signs that were all the rage once. I call this one “Dr. Geo’s Nuclear Family” based on the strange little painted image of a family. I guess Dr. Geo… was a po..diatrist?
These are small, plastic sign fragments found seperately and years apart. They both, however, seem to convey the same message of prohibition coming from some sort of authority….the river police!
Last two images for now are both shutters…perhaps from outhouses? First we have the hearts…and then the moon.
