Junk from the Memory Card

Every now and then it’s good to purge stuff that has been building up over time.  With my river project, I do this by emptying out my collecting bag(s) to make way for new finds and by deleting images stored on my camera’s memory card.  I have gotten into the habit of using the memory card as another form of digital storage just in case something bad happens to all the other places I store data.  In this post, I will feature favorite images of plastic flotsam and jetsam I have gathered at the river’s edge the past two months.  I will start with the image with the flip-flops and Croc-like shoes.  These are tiny to small kids’ sizes.  A few weeks a go, I picked up eight of them along a favorite walk and realized once I reached my outdoor studio that they were all meant for the right foot!  I have since added a few extras, but the initial shock of realizing there were no left shoes remains.  I wonder if subconsciously I selected for right-footedness?  Anyway, here is a still life photo portfolio of other plastic river junk toys.

One last item and while it is not made of plastic…is nevertheless memorable.

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A Full Day’s Exploration

Stepping away from the place where it was constructed revealed a whole new world for the Polystyrene Person to explore.  The sun was shining and birds were singing and the Falls of the Ohio were once again turning green with emerging tree leaves.  Driftwood was everywhere along the river and there were plenty of micro-environments to experience.

Being made of trash caused the Polystyrene Person to be less judgmental of the discarded man-made items it came across.  An old inner tube became a tiny arena perfect for dancing.

A tough plastic cable captured by the willow branches during the last bit of flooding became another object of interest.  The Polystyrene Person admired the graceful  arcs and how the cable defined this bit of space.  The white figure played with the cable by walking around and stepping through the loops.  There was still more stuff snagged in other trees.

Discovering a fraying barge cable tangled in the willow branches and dragging on the ground gave the new figure an odd mental image.  What if this was how the sky was tethered to the earth?  What would happen if this cable broke?  Would the blue sky with its flimsy clouds just drift off into space?  Remembering that this was simply a rope caught in a tree brought the smile back to the figure’s face.

Standing among the roots of a fantastic willow tree, the Polystyrene Person marveled at how the tree maintained its grip on the earth.  Beneath the larger roots was a dense mat of very fine rootlets that held the soil together.

The figure moved to the river’s edge and couldn’t wait to experience water.  It was such an entirely different sensation than standing on solid ground.  Cold water splashed up onto the Polystyrene Person’s face and being wet wasn’t the most pleasant feeling.  The literal tug of the river caused the figure to scramble up on the roots of a nearby willow to keep from being drawn further into the liquid.  Instinctively, the figure realized that it would be lost if the river was allowed to have too tight a grip.  Pulling the Polystyrene Person  back upon the shore, I explained it was time for me to go home.  I offered two choices to my creation.  It could stay at the river and face an uncertain but potentially exciting future where it more than likely would be destroyed by either nature or the hand of man.  Or, it could go home with me and see a different part of the world.  Perhaps because the river was a little scary, the Polystyrene Person opted to go home with me.

Because my hands were full…the figure opened my car door for me.  It’s really a very polite and innocent being.  During the short ride from the river to my house…I asked the Polystyrene Person what it would like to do?  The figure replied that it would like to continue to be out in nature and so I found the perfect place in my yard for it.  Happily, my latest creation takes pride in watching over my spring plants as they reveal themselves during the new season.

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A New Figure for a New Day

After watching the goldfinches in the willows and collecting the latest the river had to offer…I headed to my outdoor studio.  I have the day off from my day job and it is also Kentucky Derby weekend.  The weatherman is telling me that today will be the day to be outdoors because a cold, wet front is coming through the Ohio Valley.  It has been a few weeks since I last visited as life has taken me in other directions.  When I was last at this spot,  I stashed the surviving and repaired “Flood Brother” next to a tree.  In the interim, other people have come across my spot and looked through the junk I’ve assembled here.  As for my Styro-figure…I found what was left of him nearby.  Here’s a look at the remains.

I found his body first resting upon the older driftwood.  He was missing his head and arms.  Scouting around, I was able to find bits and pieces including his head staring at the world through his remaining cyclops eye.

Rather than reconstruct him for a third time, I decided to recycle him.  I gathered the pieces and parts and hauled it back to my studio.  For now, I will let these chunks of polystyrene rest.

The first step in creating some sense of order is to straighten out the mess my previous visitors have left me.  I sort through my sticks that I will use for potential arms and legs.  I gather up the smaller pieces of Styrofoam and put them in the river-chewed milk crate.  I rummage through my collecting bag and select the elements that will make up the face of a new character.  I take a few moments to watch robins chasing a young Cooper’s Hawk through the willow trees.  Near me, I hear the first notes from a Northern or Baltimore Oriole.  It’s reassuring to know that they have returned.  Also, there is a noticeable increase in insect life and I’ve observed bumble bees, hornets, and small butterflies going about their business.  The sound of running water is always in the background.  Picking up a head-shaped piece of Styrofoam I begin to form a new figure.

So far, it’s a smiling figure with a segment of pliable found plastic for a mouth.  The ears and nose are also plastic toy pieces.  The eyes are river-tumbled pebbles of coal.  I use my pocket knife to do this work. The next step is to add a body.

I chose a hunk of Styrofoam from my larder that seemed torso-like.  Feeling that it required additional detail, I added two walnuts to reinforce the chest idea.  I further added a third piece of Styrofoam that simulates a pelvis and gives the figure added length.  Some internal sense for proportion told me I needed to do this even though the entire idea and the resulting figure strikes me as being absurd and who else would notice or even care about this?  Beaver-gnawed willow rods connect the head and hips to the torso. Over the years, my working methods have evolved and I definitely have material and form preferences where none existed at the start of this project in 2003.  Through trial and error I selected wooden driftwood arms and legs to give my static figure some life, energy, and a suggestion of movement.  Here is the first photograph of this spring figure made in the place it was created.  Later, the two of us would go out to explore the landscape around the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

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Into the Warmth of a New Spring

Spring has definitely arrived and the land is turning green.  I love watching this verdant transformation as the Falls of the Ohio becomes a garden again.  We had a weary winter and so seeing the sun more regularly warms the heart and imagination.  These are images from my last visit to the park.  I believe I downloaded about seventy or eighty pictures which is about normal for one of my excursions.  I can find personal interest in most everything I come across which makes editing and creating some sort of post a fun challenge.  I spend hours on site and then a good amount of time at home looking at the pictures and wondering how to put order to any of it?  Usually, I try to give some representative sense of what the day was like.  I believe I could create all sorts of permutations and stories from just a single trip…but, that would cut into my time to be outdoors and fill my lungs with fresh air.

I began the morning in the western section of the park.  Driftwood and junk have been driven against the Indiana bank of the Ohio River.  Prevailing currents and high water have formed this log raft against the shoreline.  Future high water will eventually send this material over the dam and under the railroad bridge and then throughout the park.  Moving to the river’s edge I surprised more than one sleeping duck and see my first Great Egret of the year.  I tried sneaking over the driftwood to take a picture of the egret which was feeding at the water’s edge.  I must be losing my touch because the wary egret spotted me and took off.  This duck standing on one leg, however,  was more obliging.

Here’s a view from the western section of the park.  Walking along the water’s edge I came across all manner of bric-a-brac some of which made it into the collecting bag.  Upon returning to my outdoor studio, I photographed a few of my newest “treasures” on the sand which included many toys.  I have a compulsion to pick this stuff up and order it into various collections…but other than that I’m not sure what I will eventually do with much of this plastic.  I am a believer, however, that someday I will have an idea or inspiration and I will follow that.  I still feel there is something here to explore between the poles of what these items are intended to represent and what they are in reality.

I keep finding toy wheels of all different sizes and slowly an idea for a wall installation is taking place in my mind.  I have an offer to show work in a show during the 2014 season and so I set a goal to realize this “wheel piece”.  Here are two views of one of my more interesting finds of this day.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find this blue crayfish while it was alive.  By far, most of the crayfish I have seen have been brown in color.  I wonder if it was crushed by the logs rolling in the high water?  I don’t know which species of crayfish this is, but apparently blue crayfish are a genetic color morph.  There is one species that is now bred to be blue for the aquarium pet trade.  The way the grains of sand fit around the exoskeleton gives a sense of how a fossil might be formed if given the right conditions and deep time.  I picked it up and held it in my hand and just appreciated such a small, but spectacular animal.  I was curious to see how the Flood Brothers from my previous post were holding up and soon I had my answer upon reaching my site.

The Flood Brothers were gone as were several other pieces of Styrofoam!  My small studio area had been rummaged through, but this is not unusual and I kind of expect this to happen.  The stuff I gravitate towards is not the junk other folks look for, however, anybody is welcomed to whatever I’ve cached here.  I have nothing of value here.  There is more.  Apparently, the discoverers of my studio were carrying bits of frayed barge cable when they stumbled over my spot.  In order to take the Flood Brothers with them, they had to drop the cables.  After straightening up my studio…I wrapped the three cables into loose coils and photographed them where the brothers once stood.

From experience, if folks are out to destroy something…they usually just get on with it.  I was hoping that whomever took the Flood Brothers had just moved them to a different location to create a vignette of their own.  I decided to scout around to see if I could find my wayward figures and I was partly successful.  Here’s how I found the larger of the Flood Brothers.

About a hundred meters or so from my spot, I came across Flood Brother #2 leaning against this tree.  He was missing many of his features including his eyes and arms.  After hunting around I was able to find a few of his parts.  As for his shorter brother…there was no trace of him.  I kept moving east in my search and discovered evidence that other creatives were in the area recently.  Perhaps the people who made the following statements also played with my figures?

I found this and other sand drawings in the area.  Most of the sand designs were statements of a libertarian frame of mind.  I also found this large spiral made from driftwood that was in the immediate vicinity.

Further west from the spiral was this installation where driftwood was stood on end teepee-style and incorporated with two larger logs that had recently floated into the area.  People seem to like arranging wood in this manner and I have also seen bonfires begun in this way.

I thoroughly checked the area for signs of my missing figure and imagined him riding home in the back seat of someone’s car.  I picked up my remaining Flood Brother and headed back to my studio.  I fixed him back up again.  He’s repaired, but also slightly different now.

This is how I left things on my way back home.  I’ll return in a week and we shall see what if anything happens?  Returning to my car, there was still one more surprise left for the day.  Emerging into the light of a new season, I came across this small Eastern Garter Snake warming itself (much as I had) among the driftwood at the Falls of the Ohio.  See you next time!

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The Flood Brothers

Fog is actually common on the Ohio River, but looking through my images, I’m surprised by how few fog pictures I have taken here.  On my last foray to the Falls, the day began extremely foggy like moving within a cloud.  Visibility was limited.  The railroad bridge was completely obscured, but as the sun rose and the temperature became warmer the fog dissipated quickly.  It was another magical moment of transformation as the receding water-cloud revealed the driftwood bones of the park.

Walking to my outdoor atelier, I passed by this unusual sight.  At first, I thought the large tree stump was a part of this sign, but upon inspection, saw that a single rusty nail attached this sign to the wood.  There is no way this sign could survive the river secured so loosely.  Someone before me found this sign and stuck it on the stump up for grabs in true river junk fashion.  Since I collect signs from the river…this was perfect and I welcomed the new addition to my collection!  After removing the sign from the stump I understood why its original discoverer left it behind.  The sign was on a heavy, thick board that had been routed and painted green with yellow letters.  I stashed the sign under some debris and picked it back up on my way home.  As you can imagine, my wife was thrilled to see it like she is with all the other junk I haul out of here.  I liked the sign’s message which is ecological in its own way.  I wonder where it came from and what kind of electric motors is it referring to…perhaps electric golf carts?  Navigating through the dense driftwood, I made my way to the river’s edge.  Waves were lapping the shoreline and there were other surprises to come.

This is the moment I met the first of the Flood Brothers.  I had heard of them before and I was pleased to finally get to meet one.  They are called the Flood Brothers because in their own “Chicken Little” way instead of the sky falling…they are rumored to believe the world is in imminent danger of being inundated.  For this reason they wear life jackets and flotation devices everywhere they venture particularly along the river.  They are living legends in this part of the world.

This is a close-up portrait of Flood Brother #1…henceforth identified as F.B.1.  He has blue lips like he has been out in the cold too long.  His eyes have this jaundiced quality to them and they are slightly asymmetrical as well.  The ears stick out some and he has spiked hair.  Aside from looking goofy…he is a friendly enough guy and hailed me upon sighting me.  I told him it was a pleasure to meet him and was his brother around too?  As it turns out…Flood Brother #2 was not far away and after walking a short distance along the shoreline, we ran into him as well.

Flood Brother #2 or F.B.2 is the larger and older of the two.  Like his smaller brother he wears a flotation device every where he travels along the river.  You can tell they are brothers because they share some physical characteristics such as large ears and mismatched eyes which are more pronounced in the older brother.  As it turns out, he is also the more nervous of the pair.

I asked them if it was true that they believe the world would be destroyed in a great cataclysmic flood?  For argument’s sake F.B.2 qualified things by saying that more unusual events had happened during the Earth’s long history.  As it turned out, they were more concerned about the quality and quantity of fresh water.  Climate change is rewriting things and there is just so much more “free” water in the system that formerly was locked up as ice.  That energy is changing the weather patterns and redistributing water across the globe.  Some places were now getting too much and other places not enough.  And yes the potential to redraw the world’s coastlines also existed.  Whether all this would happen overnight or over the course of many years seemed irrelevant to the pair.  The life jackets were just a necessary precaution to them because they were conducting their research along the river in all its many moods and it just seemed a logical safety thing to do.  The pair was visiting the Falls of the Ohio and inspecting the park for water-born plastic of which there was plenty to see. As the brothers told me…this plastic has a very good chance of making it into the oceans where it has effects of its own.  I didn’t have the heart to tell them that they were already preaching to the converted.  Instead, I invited them to my studio under the willow trees to rest and talk further and they accepted my invitation.  My site was just a short distance away.

Looking around the Flood Brothers could see that I was interested in many of the same concerns that they had and wasn’t it all so absurd after all?  I told them my story and that all the stuff they saw in my little area came from the immediate river.  I mentioned that I try to find creative ways to use this junk and to tell the story about a place I find to be very special.  They asked me if I happened to see along the way a nice sign they had attached to a stump?  I confessed that I had and wanted to repurpose it as part of my sign collection.  The Flood Brothers just smiled and said I could have it.  After visiting for a while, it was time for me to go home.  I told the brothers they were welcome to hang out in my site and perhaps I will see them here again?  I liked them as characters.  With one last look back I saw F.B. 1 waving good-bye to me.  I always have an interesting day at the Falls of the Ohio.

This story marks my four-year anniversary on WordPress .  Hard to believe the time has flown by so quickly.  Thanks for tagging along!!

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Top Secret Report: Proof of Extraterrestrials

Unknown hackers have recently posted images on the worldwide web reputedly obtained from government sources that state extraterrestrial aliens are among us.  The pictures go a long way in answering the question: “Are we truly alone in the universe?”.  The answer would be a resounding “no”! The information was lifted from top-secret computers from around the world, but seem to be centered on information purloined in the United States and New Zealand.  The group responsible for this posting call themselves members of “In Vino Veritas” and state their purpose is to let the truth be known.  In their communique “In Vino Veritas”  believes we are now  ”evolved enough to handle the truth”.  Regardless, the cat is out of the bag…whatever that means?  Following are excerpts from their sensational posting which has gone bacterial on the internet.

Much of this stolen information centers around a lone alien that is believed to have crashed landed at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in southern Indiana.  After several years of trying, U.S. government scientists were able to break the transmission code used to transmit images off world and were then traced to their source in this small park.  The images show a “classical” looking humanoid-alien with large dark eyes and no nose exploring the environs of the park.  The image above shows the alien contemplating a dead crayfish, but it is unknown at this time whether “it” is responsible for the death of this crustacean.

Many of the “Falls of the Ohio Alien” show this visitor exploring nature.  There are many more images that seem to suggest that the extraterrestrial is engaged by this context in an almost reverential way.  Intentions, however, are difficult to gauge and there are some at the highest level who believe this is a scout for an impending invasion. Thus far, scientists have not been able to physically locate said alien.  Another image is believed to be of the wrecked space ship.

This picture which cleverly resembles an upturned hot tub, could be either a space craft or some sort of time machine?  Remarkably, the New Zealand alien is also believed to have come to Earth in a bath-tub like ship.  These images from the Falls Alien are thought to have been taken with a “camera” mounted on a small drone based on their bird’s-eye point of view.  Thus far, this actual “hot tub” craft has eluded detection.  There is, however, other enigmatic circumstantial evidence that has been gathered that seems to imply an alien(s) “hand” at work.  Consider these strange formations found in the park.

This is a remarkable find and is obviously a map of our solar system.  The center golf ball is the sun surrounded by corresponding blackened buck-eye planets.

Could this found rope be a landing or navigational marker for a space craft or a piece of art?  The idea that aliens have an appreciation for art is further evidence of their more evolved status.

Here is one of many “Star Symbols” made from locally procured coal.  Their exact function is also unknown but recent speculation also suggests a fusion of art and science at work here.  Notice the energy field radiating away from the star.

This is one of the most impressive artifacts of all and recently excavated at a site near the Falls of the Ohio.  It is an alien effigy made from a composite materials including rubber and plastic.  The fact this alien has a nose also suggests the potential for much variation among different races or species of aliens to have secretly visited our planet.  Here are a few more images of aliens that were part of the recently posted hacker trove.  Let’s start with the image obtained from New Zealand which is identified as being ” a Dede”.

This “Dede” alien is unusual in sporting antennae.  Notice how the pose seems to suggest appreciation for light and life.  Very little is known of alien activities around the world and this image is of extreme importance for this reason.  It is believed that a similar form of transmission was used by the “Dede” alien to “beam” this image back to the visitor’s home world or waiting space craft.  Scientists speculate the dark spectacles are needed because the “Dede” alien comes from a world whose sun isn’t as intense as our own.

This image described as being an “alien ballet” also comes from the Falls of the Ohio.  Government sources date this image to 2009 which predates the current Falls alien.  The exuberant dance also suggest a love of fun and art.  After what must have been a long journey through dangerous outer space…it must have felt great to be safe and in a new environment.  The elaborate head-gear may suggest sexual dimorphism in this particular species of alien?  Can we safely assume that the male is on the right and female on the left…or does this picture represent two different aliens who are comfortable with one another?

So ends a quick overview of the “leaked” evidence of alien visitors to our planet.  It will be fascinating to see if this information will be taken to heart or denied outright in typical governmental fashion?  Are we indeed grown-up enough to handle the idea that we are no longer alone in a wide open universe?  Thus far, the evidence suggests that our visitors from other worlds have had nothing but peaceful intentions and actually have been caught in acts that suggest they appreciate the variety of life around them.  If we could only learn from them…again, time will tell.

This post (which was fun to do) is in honor of Dede Puppets one year anniversary.  Congratulations from the Falls of the Ohio!  The Dede Puppets link can be found on my blogroll in the right hand column.

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Spray Bottle Triggers

The range of plastic refuse one encounters at the Falls of the Ohio State Park is both numbing (it’s obviously trash and shouldn’t be here) and morbidly fascinating (the design sensibility and colors ) catches one’s eye and occupies the mind.  Consider the variations in something as mundane as “spray bottle triggers” if indeed this is what you call these things?  I’m not sure when I started noticing these objects and photographing them…but here they are.  Each adventure to the river is sure to garner multiple images and story lines that I sift through at my leisure.  Consider this a personal cleansing of the spray bottle trigger palette.  Ironically, much thought went into designing each of these beauties to facilitate dispersal of their contents from plastic bottles.  I like the rotating tips that give me options such as “spray” or “stream” and so forth.  These triggers are ingenious and they do their jobs well.  Without further adieu and fanfare…here are more images from an admittedly odd collection.

 

One final image in closing.  You know you have “arrived” when a cute miniature is produced.  Here’s a recent find from a sandy bank of the Ohio River at the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

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In Search of the March Hare

What a beautiful day and I stayed out for many hours by the river.  It’s been a bit of roller coaster with the weather the past few weeks.  We have fluctuated between below freezing temperatures you can feel in your bones and highs in the 50 to 60 degree range.  Folks around here have been blaming our worse than usual cold and flu season with the variability of the weather.  I don’t know if this is true, but for me…going outside to breathe fresh air is restorative to my physical and spiritual health.  Since I last set foot here the river has again risen and receded.  The large raft of driftwood under the railroad bridge has been dispersed by the high water and actually made it a little less of an obstacle course to maneuver around.  The air over the river is also once again alive with Ring-billed Gulls searching for food.  I’m also hearing both the Northern Cardinal and Song Sparrow practicing their songs in anticipation of Spring.  Their songs make me want to sing one of my own.

More evidence of a high river comes in the form of man-made junk that has floated into the park.  I have found tires in all their forms to be good indicators of the entropy in this system.  What once took great amounts of energy and heat to form and use is literally sinking into the sand.  The wheel is one of mankind’s great inventions and here it is just another piece of garbage we have discarded.  I’m out here today not because I’m looking for things to get me down, but rather the opposite!  I’m looking for signs and symbols of the renewal to come.

Today, I’m looking for a member of the genus Lepus which includes hares and rabbits.  For some reason…intuition I think, has brought me here on this particular quest.  I have heard that members of the rabbit family start behaving oddly during Spring in anticipation of the breeding season.  The expression “mad as a March hare” is an old English expression used to describe this moment.  Of course, rabbits and hares have older associations as well.  The ancient Greeks equated rabbits with the goddess Aphrodite and rabbits have long been symbols of fertility. Logic tells me that if I can locate a hare that Spring will be here in no time at all. I guess I’m putting more trust in the hare than I am the groundhog! The month of February is nearly over and I’m hoping to find signs that hares are in the area.  So far, I’m not having much luck…just the tracks of people who came before me.  I’m not giving up yet though and the day is young.

I’m operating with my “hare brain” switched in the “on” position as I walk around my familiar haunts.  I look in areas that seem likely to me to hide rabbits and hares like this willow tree with an old barge cable wrapped around it.  I’m not sure why this tree is “talking” to me, but I’m going with my intuition.  There are no hares here, and maybe this spot is too close to the river anyway?

I walk by a wooden spool for holding large cables.  This is also new and wasn’t here the last time I passed by.  I see there is an opening large enough for a small mammal to hide in and so I go to investigate.  Carefully I approach the spool, but there is nothing here either.  I’m beginning to feel that there aren’t many other places I can look, when I remember there is a section of the park I almost never visit and so letting intuition be my guide…I go there.

The area I trek to is just east of the railroad bridge and dam that catches most of the driftwood that has been pushed from upriver.  This barrier is no obstacle at all when the river is at flood stage.  It is all this driftwood and pent-up junk that flows into the park when the Ohio River gets high.  It’s a tricky, shifty area and frequently muddy too.  All these conditions were present on this day.  It’s not an area the public is encouraged to visit and most people have enough sense to stay away.

As you can see…this area also gets lots of trash too.  This is what I eventually can look forward to receiving, perhaps in the next flood?  This plastic separates so completely with the rest of the environment that I’m surprised it doesn’t compel people to pick it up like it does at the grocery and department stores?

Naturally, I find weird things here.  It’s not everyday that you come across an alien’s head, but here it is next to other junk.  I find three dolls in various poses tangled in mud and driftwood and other toy bits that floated down with the currents.  I find a little bit of this and that, but no March hares or rabbits.

The soles of my shoes are caked with mud and so I find a suitable stick to scrape away the sticky earth.  I sit on a broad log to do this and take a rest at the same time.  While I work away at my shoes, a train crosses the bridge and I watch it as it crosses.  My mind wanders freely and I remember the unusual art of Joseph Beuys which became a favorite of mine during graduate school.  His work is frequently perplexing and takes getting used to.  I like his art, but found I was more attracted by his ideas and writings.  The value he placed on art as a potential agent to further our own evolution away from the strictly materialistic way we treat ourselves and the planet we depend on inspired me.  His ideas about an expanded notion of art seemed to give art more of a sense of purpose which I also found to be smart and optimistic.

Bueys often referenced animals in his art and believed that they were more aware and in tune with the world than we are.  The hare in particular was an important symbol to Bueys because it mediates between the earthly and spiritual realms.  Hares are burrowing animals and line their nests with their wool.  The insulating properties of felt became another material that Bueys incorporated in his art.  While I was sitting still and reflecting on the work of a favorite artist…the hare appeared!

It must have just emerged from its burrow under the logs and debris and was still covered with mud.  It looked in my direction with ears pricked up and our gaze locked upon one another.  Holding still for just a split second, I was able to capture this image before it disappeared back into the earth.  I exhaled in the knowledge that Spring was one day closer to arriving.  I savored the moment, gathered my things, took one last look across the river and headed for the skyline of Louisville over the Second Street Bridge.

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The Sun is Up and the River is Down…part 2

As promised here is the second part of the previous post.  I did fill an empty cloth bag with river finds and here are some of today’s choice tidbits.  Once I straightened up my outdoor studio, I dumped the bag out onto the sand and started the sorting process.  I guess I also do a similar thing with my camera except it’s a memory card that gets filled and downloaded into the home computer.  Let’s begin with a few pictures of my newly discovered river treasures in situ.

I like all kinds of references to time.  I have a few other toy clocks and watches I’ve found courtesy of the river through the years.  Interestingly, I haven’t owned a watch personally in over thirty years and don’t want one now.  It seems I can find the time most anywhere I go and at the Falls of the Ohio…I pass by one of the largest clocks in the world.  Let’s see if I have a picture of that I can pull up for you.

Although this is a bit off topic, I thought you might enjoy seeing this mechanical wonder.  This is less than a mile away from my river spot.  It was once a part of a toothpaste factory that moved away a couple of years a go.  The building is a former prison…which is another way to mark time.  My reluctance to wear a watch has more to do with not liking to wear much in the way of jewelry.  Besides who needs the constant reminder?  Meanwhile, back at the river.

Houston…we have a problem.  I’m a plastic astronaut and it looks like the family dog has chewed one foot off!  Having some issues with my helmet too…don’t think I can last long in this alien environment.  This is an American astronaut so designated by the flag patch on his left arm.

I believe this is the smallest doll’s head I’ve ever found.  Here having a potential brain the size of a walnut could be a good thing!  I think I have found enough doll heads over the years to make a totem pole several feet tall and they would graduate from largest to smallest with no two alike.  This guy could be the cherry on top of it all.

 

As regular readers know…I have a thing for wheels too.  These are just the toy wheels I came across today.  I’m surprised by how many of these I have found in just the past two years.  I like them as a collection, but I may use them all in a single artwork.  I watched a depressing documentary today that included such nuggets of information like the average automotive tire takes seven gallons of oil to make.  And you may be thinking that all this petroleum is needed for gasoline?    I see too many real tires in the river as well.

Now how odd is this?  I found three toy hammers within a few hours of each other.  This is the most common toy tool that I find…not screwdrivers or pliers, etc…  At the river, it’s always hammer time, well the one on the far right is technically more of a mallet.  I’m not sure what the blue wheel on the far left hammer is supposed to do?

This is an interesting grouping of character toys.  It includes three dogs, two bones, a Weeble, and a Teletubby(?).  There’s a dog friend from Clifford the Big Red Dog and quick draw Snoopy from the Peanuts cartoon.  The dog sitting on the block has a nice oily river patina that takes years to develop.  The yellow character on the right is still full of mud.

Not everything I find is a toy.  Here are four fishing lures.  These get tangled up in the rocks or snagged on old fishing line.  Notice only the top left lure still has its treble hooks.  In the others, the hooks rusted or dissolved away.  I found a fifth lure after taking this photo.  I need to rephotograph my fishing lure collection because it has become seriously larger over the past couple of years.  You can see an older image in my Pages section.

I picked up all these disposable cigarette lighters today.  I have more at my studio at the church and intend to put them to use one day as well.  This was more of a photo opportunity.  I wanted to see some of the color range this particular make of lighter comes in.  No doubt the color is not light fast and over time would all probably come to resemble each other until the plastic broke down into ever smaller bits.  I also picked up other items such as interesting rootlets and sticks and heavier still…nice potential bases for the sculptures I decide to hang onto.  Well, this wraps up my finds from one particular adventure.  There is always stuff to pick up after the river rises and recedes again.  I wonder what I’ll come across next?

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Touching Base

It’s a new year at the Falls of the Ohio and this is my first foray of 2013.  As expected, I have the park to myself.  It’s cold, but not unbearable.  I can tell that the river has risen and fallen since I last set foot here.  The riverbank is rearranged with freshly deposited driftwood and junk.  The only wildlife to be encountered are birds.  I see the geese and ducks I expect to see, but the stars of the day are the hundreds of Ring-billed gulls that are flying over the river.  I begin my visit by walking the riverbank looking for potential art materials and anything else of interest.  I do find lots of new Styrofoam, but the pieces are heavy and frozen with water and too much to carry.  If the river doesn’t rise again soon, I may get the chance to move the bigger polystyrene chunks to my studio under the willows.  Walking the shoreline, here are a few of the other “gifts” I encountered courtesy of the Ohio River.

Half buried in coal dust and gravel is this plastic, scary Santa Claus.  I know we just celebrated Christmas, but I couldn’t resist posting this image.  He looks old to me and I pull him out of the mud and drop him into my collecting bag.  I may try to research him and see if I can find any info about him.  On this day, I also found another doll head.

I’m always finding dolls and doll parts.  The interesting thing about this particular find is the location.  I have on other occasions also found old doll parts in the exact same place.  I’m beginning to believe that prior to this area becoming a park it may have served as a landfill?  In other areas of the park it is clear that this area was used as a dump from the amount of back fill I come across.  Nearby, something blue in the sand catches my eye and I take a look.

In case you were wondering, bowling balls do float.  I turned the beautiful blue-marbled surface over and discover that this ball has split in half.  The interior is made of a dense, hard foam and this is the reason these balls are buoyant.  The outer covering is a very hard plastic and I’m wondering how great a force is needed to break one of these balls open?  I imagine it is considerable and is another reminder of the power of the river.  Here’s one last find before moving on.

As I walked the riverbank, this jar of peanut butter was deposited by my feet!  I wonder where this came from?  Near the river’s edge I’m also picking up freshly peeled willow sticks.  This is evidence that beavers are in the area.  The sticks all bear their teeth marks as they nibble the bark for food.  Beavers are very secretive and I have only seen them twice in the past ten years.  I like willow wood for its ivory color and use them quite a bit in my river sculptures.  I wonder if beavers would like peanut butter?

After scouting the river I head up the bank to the area under the willow trees that I have been using as an outdoor studio for the past year.  This ground is slightly higher, but is no match for a flooding river.  I have made many temporary studios over the years where I cache the Styrofoam and sticks I use for my figurative sculptures.  It’s been perhaps two months since I last visited this spot, but to my eye, not much has changed.  I set my collecting bag and walking stick down and select a couple of pieces of Styrofoam for my first figure of the new year.

Before too long, a new figure takes form.  Today, I’m breaking in a new knife because I lost my trusty Swiss Army knife out here.  That’s two knives I’ve lost since beginning this project and think of my losses as tribute necessary to appease the river gods.  My new figure also sports one other find from this day…it’s a button that says “Kentucky is My Land”.

After saying so long to his kin, my latest and unnamed Styro-figure sets out to explore his world.  The day started out sunny, but now has turned gray and cloudy.  I probably won’t stay out here much longer since the wind has picked up a bit too.

Here is further evidence that the river has risen and fallen recently.  A freshly deposited tree has been stranded on the bank and provides an opportunity for investigation.  In the distance and past the railroad bridge, one can spy part of Louisville’s skyline.  Curious about the tree, my newest figure climbs on top to survey the world from this vantage point.

Every day is a new wonder especially at the Falls of the Ohio.  2013 is a new year, but it also marks my tenth as the artist at exit 0.  When I started my Falls project I wondered if I would be able to sustain anybody’s interest much less my own?  It was fun learning from the WordPress yearly summary that my blog has been visited by people living in 103 different countries during 2012!  I suppose more people now know about this special environment as a result of my activities here which is cool.  The Falls are a unique window into the history of life from its past to the present.  It’s a place where nature and man’s nature intersect which tells us something about who we are in this  moment.  I hope my blog continues to be a venue where people can get a sense that creativity can be an active force in shaping the world for the better.  As for my latest creation…he decided to hang around to greet any new visitors by the fossil rocks.  Perhaps by now, he has gone home with one of them?  See you later from the Falls of the Ohio.

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