REPTIRE

Return of Reclamation Exhibition To Siler City

2012-01-10T20:45:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-10T20:33:00.000-05:00

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.

Burnt Out!

2011-12-22T23:27:00.000-05:00

So here is the word.

I am burnt the fuck out on this artist shit!

It is so easy to bust you butt, with 0.00 assurance ofreturn on investment.

I still love my Tire Art dearly, and I still love connectingwith my customers, and want to see many of my dream designs come to fruition,and I plan to revist all of these this summer at the Festival for the Eno.

But in the meantime, I am stepping back from it, and seekingmore direct ways to earn a living.
(And this feels like a good and right thing to do at this very moment)

What does that look like?

Well, at this moment it looks like my own personal back-to-the-land movement!

Have I hung up my artist hat to go grow okra, and sell it at the farmer’s market?

No! I’ve got my own delusions! (everybody needs a few, and Iabsolutely salute those with this particular set).

No for me, it is actually 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 workingon lately at my cousin blog

e arth/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.

The are both lines of work that I have been cultivating over that past 10-15 years. It is time to pay these old friends a visit.

Iron Crafter 3! Hy!

2011-12-22T21:49:00.001-05:00

To conclude my work shlepping the mountains of Scrap, I received one final mission- a 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!

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

2011-12-22T21:43:00.001-05:00

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 Liberty warehouse.

As you may know, the roof 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. Up in the warehouse space, we store supplies for outreach events, you could hear the water pouring through the roof when it rained; in fact you could actually see the sky (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.

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 select handful of us were selected as Scrap Special Forces. Mission: rescue what remained of our stockpile in the molding avalanching Liberty warehouse.

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

I had some great coworkers.

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

2011-11-19T15:19:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-11-19T14:59:00.001-05:00

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!).

Tire Mandala on Board!

2011-10-27T16:37:00.002-04:00

Well, I am proud to announce that after several years of gestation (talking it around, here and there), Bruce and I have finally just given birth to a our first baby Tire Mandala. It is kinda ugly, really just a working model, but boy is it CUTE!
Sorry, no pictures allowed just yet.

Steps Towards Creation

2011-10-25T16:00:00.002-04:00

This past weekend, the band of awesome and honorable musicians that I play with from time to time, aka ZamBambooGee, had a practice for our upcoming show at RSI. We worked on a lot of rockin Beatles kinda stuff, and it was alot of fun.

Later that evening, I stopped back by, and Bruce kindly let me park my tired self on his couch for the night, as I had work to do in the neighborhood the next day. The next day, ideas were Poppin!...

You see, Bruce, in addition to being a fantastic Bassist, Guitarist, Harmonic Player, and Human, is also a FANTISTIC Visual Artist.

Although he has been creating trippy psychedelic drawings for decades, in the past several years, this man has bumped his art and craft up to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. It is always really exciting to witness an artist push through like this, into new territory. What does he make? Well, in a word: Mandalas.

Over many years, Bruce has developed a complex technical process on the computer, by which he is able to begin with one of his hand-drawn motifs, and multiply and manipulate this image sometimes beyond recognition. What he ends up with is a terraced architecture of forms, building upon one another, rapturously, in an orgasm of light and color.

So enthralled by the groovatude of Bruce's work am I, that I have made a proposal of sorts to Bruce.
What I am proposing, is to encapsulate some of his mandala imagery, with in the 'rind' of a tire.

We both believe that there is some potent poetry, in this mating of mandalas, with tires, and we are both excited, to see what emerges from this collaboration.

So, last night, I got some specs to Bruce.

And today, I took a little trip to see my friend, Mr. Cranford, just down the street, at Cranford's Framing and Photo Supply.

Mr. Cranford has enjoyed quite a career here in Siler City, over the last 56 years! Thats since 1955, Son! As just a young boy of 12, Cranford was building and working in his own dark room, which he built from scraps from his father's construction business. Between then and now, he and his wife, an accomplished, and widely respected Artist in the area, have worked day's and nights, photographing wedding events as far away as Washington DC, or Siler City from 600 ft in the air! (Part of Mr. Cranford's business was in aerial photography, and some of this work is currently on display in City Hall).

Mr. Cranford was excited by the idea of the mandalas framed within a bicycle tire, when I showed it to him. He 'got' it immediatly, and keenly observed that this might actually be a product to sell, that we were holding here. Mr. Cranford is one sharp tack. Mr. Cranford happily supplied me with two nice pieces of matt board, as well as some scraps he collected from his shop, which offered to me to experiment with.
It is great to have this ally in the Arts.

Mr. Cranford proudly displays a painting he just framed for a client in Greensboro,
On the right is the large piece of silvered matt board, that he has supplied me with.

We are each players, in a new episode of artwork, that is coming, to be born, here in Chatham County.

SHOW AND TELL: The first in a series of Slide Presentations about my time spent at Hermitage, creating installing "Reclamation"

2011-10-21T16:23:00.001-04:00

WARNING: (this is an experimental hybrid post, combining antipicipation from the day-of with reflection from the DAY AFTER).

Tonight, as part of our 3rd Friday Artwalk, here in Siler City, I will be presenting a 'slide show' about my time spent at Hermitage.

A Very Special Thanks to my special friends at Chatham County Together! and Hablando Claro, and for their generous loaning of their projector, for this event.

I will be using this blog, as a basis for presenting, and discussion.
I want to share what it was like for me to be an Artist in Residence, creating site-specific work.

Wish me luck!

PS, we also have a great band coming down from Greensboro tonight- Emily Stewart and The Baby Teeth (!). I met this band and Shakori Hills recently, and knowing that we needed a band this month, I approached them about it. They seemed to be a perfect fit, sort of alternative country, which perhaps might be a good bridge between a lot of people around here. Its just a suspicion, but I think Alt County is maybe where its/we are at here, in Siler City, NC.

Thanks Emily and The Baby Teeth! You guys were great!!!

WELL, Emily and the Baby Teeth put on a hell of a performance, cold fingers or no. This is a top notch band, and I really hope we can give them their due, maybe in the Spring or early Summer. (they are such a 'green' band, in the sense of the color, vegetation). If not us, I hope that they get their due somewhere else. Someone said they would be good for the General Store Cafe, in Pittsboro. I concur. Also, what about the Bynum Front-Porch Music Series. YES!!

Also, a HUGE SHOUT-OUT and Thank you, to Geo DeSocio, who came in on Very short notice, to do an immaculate job on sound for the Baby Teeth. Geo is consumate professional- very well organized, methodical, stategic, considerate, and resourceful. He had top notch gear, and he knows what to do with it, pulling out the best of the band. Emily and the Baby Teeth sounded awesome!

We will have the Coconauts, chatham's own new improv troupe, giving their Siler City debut!
Are we ready? I guess we will soon see!..

YES WE WERE, THEY WERE FRIKKIN HILARIOUS! (I haven't laughed that hard in quite a while).

Lots of other great stuff going on tonight.
I really hope that we get a due crowd, for all that is in store!

LAMO!
I am grateful for the few folks that weathered the chilly air. But I think we've got to do better than that.

After the show, we all proceeded to my studio, for an after party party 'warm up, and a little slide show...

In attendance were: Stacye Leanza, Rita, Shawn, and Makani McKenzie,

Stacye and Rita and Shawn

Beth, who runs an outdoor Music and Crafts Festival on her farm out by Jordan Lake,

and the unwitting band: Emily, Doug, Sanders and Dylan!

Beth and the Band

Fortunately for me, this was exactly how many seats I had, including the blanket on the floor. Also fortunate for me, the band all seemed willing and game, and once the show started, seemed genuinely interested! I hope it was a good way for them to 'come down' from their big performance, before making the long trip back to Greensboro.

Konked Out Kid

Thanks to these souls for their good audienceship and sportly attentiveness (minus Makani)

Especially Big Thanks to Beth, for all of her awesome help with the projector, and also for her good comments and questions.

TIRE BONANZA!!!- Journey To Tire Island...

2011-10-20T21:30:00.001-04:00

A beautiful bounty

Where to BEGIN?

I suppose I should begin with a clean up of Jordan Lake that I participated in several years ago, at the invitation of Haw River Keeper Elaine Chioso.

There, on those muddy/sandy wooded banks, I witnessed that, in addition to your various plastic cups, beer and soda bottles, baby diapers etc that people hurl out of their windows I suppose, there was also quite a substantial a migration of tires landing on the shores of Jordan Lake.

In fact, In discussing this phenomenon with Elaine at a later party, she shared the news that there are reportedly HUNDREDs, if not THOUSANDS of these tires, piled up on islands in Jordan Lake!

The trick for the clean up crews was, and is, how to get them. Many of them are filled with water, and therefor quite heavy. Elaine said that the Army Corps of Engineers (who, in partnership with the DNR, and Fish and Wildlife, maintains the area), was considering leasing a BARGE to haul the heap of tire off of the island!!!

Now, not to be boastful or anything, but to your 'garden variety' conservationist, this might be seen as a rather large problem (and indeed it is). BUT to an enterprising tire designer / sculptor, this presented a whole nother set of speculative disposal perameters.

In two words: BURIED TREASURE!....

Perhaps I could share a quick story with you.

Several years ago, while taking a summer dip in the Haw River, beneath the Bynum Bridge, I dredged up a big blubbery tire, from the river's muddy banks; the rivers red-clay laden, iron-rich waters still sloshing about in this black, tubby loop of languer..as it had been for who knows how many years...

I enlisted this tire, because I planned to turn it into a planter, of the kind you might see in your neighbors front yard. But after I had made all of my cuts to its edge, I discovered that when I opened it up, so Crusty was the insides of this thing, such a filthy, muddy mess, that even after a hard scrubbing by a couple of teenagers, it still bore the mark of this mud's stain...It was inpenatrable.

A few days later, I was going to try to sell my rubber wares at a crafts fair for the first time.

I was too embarrassed to bring that hideious old muddy thing, I though surely it would ruin my entire image, and decided to leave it at home. But, at the last minute, I realized that I needed it to balance out my display, and on a whim, begrudgingly hoisted it into the trunk of my car.

Well, was I ever surprised to find that not only was it the most sought after planter in my booth, I actually sold it twice! (and once to the then Director of the Chatham Arts Guild!).

It got me thinking, and you know how that goes.

Before long, I had written up a business plan, to partner with HRA, and some others, to turn these tires into gold. Or filthy lucre, if you prefer.

So, the question then was, how to get my clutches on some more?....

To be continued...

Our Fearless Captain Fran- a Man with a Plan

Buried Treasure Map!

Booty in the hold! Army Corps Ranger Steven makes a fast getaway.

Swarthy Tire Buccaneers

The Plank!

Avast Ye!

The Gallows await.

A beautiful bounty

This was the first evidence I've ever seen of tire worms in the wild...
It seems that they prefer the creamy, marsh-mellowy, white-wall nougat in the middle.
Who can blame them?

They were also infested with crouching tire ninjas.
Yuck!

callin' up a herd of cheeky burnt marsh-mellows, mate.

A HUGE THANKS to the Durso family, for tipping me off to this incredible bonanza, and for helping me to shepherd this flock of lost tires to the Durso's magical manger, where they now await their 'new' destiny.

RETURNING HOME: "To be marked..."

2011-10-20T13:34:00.001-04:00

Returning to the stratosphere is never a simple thing. Come back in too quick, and you'll flare up like metoric hemroid, and either burn out or bust, of both.

So needless to say, this operation requires some pacing, and care.

And I tried to give it due respect.

Fortunately for, me I was treated to a graceful reentry.

Returning: In conclusion

2011-10-20T13:33:00.002-04:00

In conclusion:

Well, I have some more reflecting to do, but in the mean time, I would like to share with you the ANTHEM that carried me through this experience:

RECLAMATION: Opening Night

2011-10-20T13:28:00.003-04:00

The Grand Opening Reception

RECLAMATION: Hermitage Museum & Gardens, Norfolk, VA

Location: Around grounds, inside, in big tents.

My super good friend Arow, from Ghent RBC, REPRESENTED, BOOYAA!
Great to have him, and his lovely lovely there.

Tbis fine fellow, David had a rubber made out of wallet. I mean a wallet made out of rubber.
Yeah, you know us artists, thats how we roll...

I was in GREAT COMPANY, seen here with my Artist-In-Arms,
the one and only, Environmentalist/Photographer Ed Pollard

a very groovy person made a connection with Squire Knot

Awesome Ambiance (thanks to Lil!)

There was an awesome spread, of delicious treats, (Thanks again Lil)

...some drink was drunk...
...some dance was dunk...
...some merriment was had...

...the last thing I remember...

...that zebra blood, it'll get you every time...

Much Thanks to Edie, for documenting this event!

And to the Hermitage Staff

for ALL of their hard work,

making this memorable evening possible.

RECLAMATION: Upstairs- Virginia Lotus and Super Highway

2011-10-20T13:26:00.001-04:00

The placing of Super Highway

RECLAMATION @ Hermitage Museum and Galleries

Location: Room two of Changing Galleries, upstairs, at Hermitage.

Upstairs, in the Changing Galleries, I mainly left these to my co-Exhibiting Artist, Ed Pollard.
Ed has amassed an incredible collection of photographs, which speak very poignantly to the notion of Reclamation (and, which, I believe, were the original progenitors of this exhibition).

So the way it turned out, was that I provided a centeral sculpture for each of the two rooms, which would be surrounded in Ed's painting, running around the walls of the room. This was curator Melissa Balls artistry at work, and I am very pleased by the way it worked out.

I chose one pre-existing piece for room 2, and that is Super Highway.

Super Highway is a personal favorite of mine, has a pretty good track record (Cultural Crossroads, Juried Regional Exhibition), and I thought would be a pretty darn good fit for the idea of "Reclamation".

It features a toy car, a dinosaur, and a rock (all found objects), sort of playing out this mortal drama of time, in the geologic sense.

It is a pity that I don't have any pictures of this piece surrounded by Ed's work, as I think they compliment one another quite nicely. (I didn't want to publish his work with out his permission, but may take some more pictures when I return, and approach him about it).

For the first room of the Changing Galleries, I wanted to make a particular center piece. This was to be in some ways, a 'Title piece", as indeed, the name of the show was mounted on the facing wall of this room, and below it was Ed Pollards stunning title image of the dockhouse that once hosted countless bands, in his time.
Below this, was to be my contribution, Virginia Lotus.

The original inspiration for this piece was the compass rose image that appears through out Hermitage's iconography, for instance in the gorgeous bas-relief friezes mid way up the stairs on the way up to the gallery, and most notably, in Hermitage's logo itself.

My thought was to make a sculptural version of this, using the vernacular tire flipping technique common to most of rural America.

These were to incorporate some of the cotton, which I found littering the road sides of Suffolk county, right after harvest, appearently, when I passed through last year, on the way to Spiritual Visions.

However, while I do think that many of the qualities of this material would have spoken boldly in the piece, in the end, it seemed a little bit, over the top, and it never made it it. I regret this a little bit.

But, I am very pleased with the piece that I did create, and place in this room.

It was not an easy birth. Or that is to say, I lost the one before it; this one actually came very, very smoothly; its excecution is virtually, flawless, albeit, owing in some measure to luck...

This piece was actually a bit of a departure for me, in terms of design of these planters.
Hence forth, my tire planters, and any other such planter I have ever seen, has had a round skirt around the bottom, cutting around the rim, about halfway up the side wall.
However, on this piece, I decided to try something new.

And that was to leave the negative space left by the petals in tact, thus using a single cut to form both the top edge and the bottom edge of the planter.

This was in fact, some what self serving, as, in the lotus-like design, there are alternating rings of petals, as well as a ring of leaves at the bottom or outer edges of the design.

But as I studied the line that I cut, more and more, it seemed devine...

And indeed, when I opened up the form, to reveal its murky innards to the light of day,
this cut also revealed to me its own graceful secrets of wisdom, absense and symmetry...

RECLAMATION: The Parlor Diorama

2011-10-20T13:23:00.000-04:00

The Creation and Installation Of a Collection of Furnishings

RECLAMATION @ Hermitage Museum & Gardens

Location: large display case, upstairs, at end of hall, on way to Changing Galleries.

RECLAMATION: The Museum Hallway Downstairs

2011-10-20T13:19:00.003-04:00

The Installation of Three Knots, Two Spheres, and a Mirror

RECLAMATION @ Hermitage Museum & Gardens

Location: The Hermitage Museum Hallway, downstairs

Another space that the museum generously offered me to use was a long hall in the Museum downstairs itself! What is especially special about this hall, is that it ends with a set of large windows, and a spectacular view of the Lafeyette River, which passes before the Museum, on its way out to the Sea…sigh.

And in front of this window, Melanie and Melissa (known henceforth as M & M) wanted to put my sculptures!

I had some delusions about this piece, I must admit.

I wanted to make a giant panel, to reference one of 3 exquisite friezes carved into panels along this wall, by the window, I am guessing by Rydingspar. And while I had been thinking to do this all in rubber, Museum Director and Art History Professor, Melanie Mathews, saw an even richer possibility. To build the thing on Plexiglass, and allow the light to shine through, like a true piece of gothic tire art should! But alas, as much as I would have loved to, I didn’t think I could pull this one off in the time I had left, so I had to let it go…

I hope someday, I’ll find a second chance..

But I was able to hang Rydingspar’s tiresphere in the adjacent window, beneath those very carvings, paying some tribute his gothic sensibilities shown above…

And this view / picture window view also became the glowing halo around the gargantuan knot, “Leviathan”, who made a return guest appearance (from Spiritual Visions 2010) and took this place of honor for the exhibition. (which seemed fitting to M & M, as they shared that Leviathan had infact been the spring board for bringing Ed and I together to make this show “Reclamation”.

The siting of the large knot, before this large, laced window, turned out to be a stunning combo, as M & M insisted that he be tilted up, as they done in Spiritual Visions (leaning him against the wall). With no wall to lean against here, this was to be an installation challenge. But, thankfully they relieved me of this duty, and Tom rose to the challenge, deftly employing a couple of black wedges behind him. The result was that L stood there (I would say majesticly( before the window, radiating his powerful, and stately presence, while the light from the window shown through his center, which itself became another window. A true leader, that one. And a brilliant use of this sculpture, I have to hand it to them.

Leading up to Leviathan were two smaller knots, creating a series of three sort of visual stepping stones. I felt that this was really important, and I begged and scraped and pleaded endlessly for permission to do this. (this was only the second time that they had allowed a new artist’s work in the museum itself). To me, the series of three was very important, for several reasons. For one, well, I’m big on threes, they just come up over and over again in my work.

Of course, there is the association of the holy trinity, which HAS found its place in Hermitage’s artistry. You know, when you have a series of three, something magical happens, because you have a story; a beginning, and middle, and an end. For people to be led down this path, with a glorious destination awaiting them, just seemed like too great of an opportunity to be missed, especially in a place with such spiritual underpinnings.

And this series was in good company. The first of these knots landed smack in front of a stone Bhudda statue from the ??? century, flanked by two large, impressive, ornate, turquoise gourd-like ceramic vessels, one on each side! (I'm not allowed to publish photo's of this on the web, unfortunately).

This knot, I called “Norfolk Knot”, and was sort of my tribute to the sea, or waterway, which is a central part of Norfolk’s history.

To bring this marine element in, I used a really delicate and graceful strand of pillow trim that I had culled from the Scrap Exchange, bearing a lot of cool, aquatic tones. This I wrapped along the edge of a tredknot with its own strange history (it was once stolen from my car and later recovered…good story here, ask me sometime).

After some puzzling and reconfiguring, I was able to lay this along this edge in such a way that the lip of the tire’s edge, which I always strain to leave intact, acted as sort of a border or ledge, holding this ribbon in place (I never did need to glue the ribbon down, it just rested, nestled in place).

Visually, this provided a linier black edge, which made a strong visual impact, particularly as the three facets of the tire and ribbon converged at the knots center. The effect I find to be stunning, and I consider Norfolk Knot to be one of the finer specimens in the show.

And of course, to present this knotted tire, with its band winding around itself, in a symbol of continuity and regeneration, before this silent, ancient statue of Sidharta, was, well, a little bit mind blowing….

Next up we had “Queen’s Squire Knot”, which is another tribute to Charles Woodsend, the chief builder and sculptor of the house.

For this piece, I used a knot that I had built previously, from a farm implement tire with a very peculiar tread. I’m not sure what the repeating shape is called, but it has always had the feel of some medieval crest. Very Middle Ages, this knot. To enhance this aspect, I had added a pillow trim whose various faire colored strands looked like they had been pulled straight from a medieval tapestry.

And indeed, this piece found its own perfect place in this hall, landing in between Norfolk Knot, and Leviathan, smack in front of a particular painting that Mrs. Sloane had commissioned while in Europe, showing a mideval scene of Charles Woodsend, in his frock clothe, carving away at some frieze or other, as Mrs. Sloane in her gown and Guenivere Princess hat, and her children, looked on approvingly. It is actually a really nice painting, and the colors in the painting are reflected perfectly by the colors in the knot. (unfortunately, I am not allowed to show an image of this on the internet).

Also, back up the hall on the same side, about 10 paces up, is a display of a medieval tapestry using an old technique called ‘stump work’, in which the artist uses a carved block of wood to act as an under-form onto which they model the tapestries bas-relief features.

So point being, I feel that these three knots really found their perfect place, interacting with and reflecting various aspects of the house, its history, the permanent collection, and the environment surrounding the Sloane’s house.

To this end, with M & M’s good help, we also found a great place in this hall for a mirror that I had recently concocted for the Festival for the Eno- “Tar Pit Mirror”, featuring a poster of fossilized trees, a roofing tar inlay, and a ‘Tyranosaurus’ hybrid mountain bike tire.

As you can see, the creamy yellow tones of the mirror’s main surface matched the color of the walls in this hall perfectly, as did the browns match the hues of the particular wooden wall it was mounted on. And what’s more, they found me a spot to hang it above a couch, where the half circles carved in the head board above really harmonize with the circular mirror nicely.

Art History Professor, Virginia, who adopted Queen’s Squire Knot on the night of the opening, told me later that she thought the piece fit so well there, that they should keep it there! I’ll second that!

My hat is off to M & M for this excellent placement.

So, in summary it was really both an honor and a thrill to have the chance to show these pieces downstairs in the museum like this. Of course, there is the ego excitement of showing my tire artworks in a museum, which is substantial. But moreover, what artist wouldn’t get off on being allowed to bring their artwork into a museum, and place the thing near an old masterpiece, sitting there in the corner, maybe looking a little bored and drowsy. What parent (of an artwork) wouldn’t love to introduce their children to a wisened, wrinkly old senior at a party, with a spark in their eye, and watch the interactions that ensue?

To watch these two generations light up in one another’s presence.

Mission Accomplished.

RECLAMATION: 2 Woodcarver's Spheres

2011-10-20T13:16:00.001-04:00

The Installation of Three Knots, Two Spheres, and a Mirror
RECLAMATION @ Hermitage Museum & Gardens
Location: The Hermitage Museum Hallway, downstairs

Spheres.

Two pieces that I wasdetermined to make for Reclamation were two Tirespheres, on each for the twowoodcarvers, who devoted copious amounts of time, sweat and passion toenlivening every facet of the Sloanes’ house with their artistry.

SPHERE FOR WOODSEND

The first tiresphere I wantedto make for Charles Woodsend, a master woodcarver living in the area who theSloanes had connected with, and contracted to not just ‘wittle’ the house,Woodsend actually BUILT the house! And remodeled it several times, includingturning the whole thing around! THEN, of course, he proceeded to incorporatehis many fine features into the architecture of the place, finally inscribingon the wall above a window (at Mrs. Sloanes direction, to be sure) somethinglike “Art is simply about doing things the right way”

(GET ACTUAL QUOTE)

The second tiresphere was tobe for Rydingspar, a Scandenavian woodcarver who came to work with on the housewith Charles Woodsend. Rydinspar had a style which was more fluid and gothicthan Woodsends, who, perhaps as a builder, made more rectaliniar pieces toharmonize with the house that he had built. Rydingspar added some interestinghounds and gargoyle like figures.

(GET RHYDINGSPAR’s FULL NAME)

To honort these two artists,I wanted to create a sphere for each of them, reflecting their own personalstyle.

For Woodsend, I wanted tomake a sphere that reflected the man, his style and his work.

I knew that I wanted it to besomewhat rectilinear, relying on the right of angles at the joints of atireshpere’s perbindicularly intersecting tires to help express this. I hadbrought with me a basic tire sphere, which I had considered using, particularlyif I got caught on time. However, as the weeks wore on, I just didn’t feel goodabout it. It seemed somehow in sufficient. Fortunately, I was able to leavemyself enough time at the end to really concentrate some attention on thispiece, and when that time came, it became clear to me, that I would need tostart from scratch. Otherwise, I might have the ghost of Charles Woodsend,rattling his chains at me forever more (which he had been practicing to goodeffect for the past 4 weeks). So I had myself another beer, and got down to it.

First, I though it should bemore robust. Charles Woodsend was a big burley bear of a man from the looks ofhim in a painting. Kind of a John Bonham. So I selected a few ‘3-sets’ of mountain bike tires that I had broughtfrom NC to choose from, finally settling on a hybrid tire with a nice warmbrown sidewall, with the fabrics weave showing, and a nice smooth finnish onthe tread, reflecting well the smoothness and finish of Woodsend’s woodworkinside the house. This was a great start. In a way, it represented Woodsend thebuilder. But I knew that it needed more. After all Woodsend was not just abuilder, but an artist as well. In the words of an Irish sailer I met at a barin Norfolk, he was both ‘form and function’. So I decided that I would attemptsomething that I never had before, and that was to add another ‘tier’ to thesphere. An intierior sphere, inthe tiresphere. For this, I selected another ‘3-set’, this time a thinner roadbike tire, a nice ‘armadillo’, with a dark rich red sidewall. A set of thesecan make a really nice and salable sphere, and I must admit I was alittle bitweary of risking these for this experiment, as I was not at all sure that itwould work… RATTLE RATTLE, Woodsend wailed away on those chains, and so furtheron, into the night, and into new territory in my tire craft I plodded.

And when day broke, I finallyhad a Tiresphere worthy of hangingin the house that this man had built with his hands.

RHYDINGSPHERE

My next task, of course wasto build a sphere for Rhydinspar, the Scandenavian woodcarver, who came on work along side Woodsend at his work on the house.

This one I thought would befun, as, again, Rydingspar had a much more fluid, gothic approach. I hadcreated an ‘Irisphere’ several years ago, which Melanie, the Director of theMuseum, had really adored, and wanted me to include. The very organic shapescreated by tying these tires together in the way that they are is veryevocative of plant life to me, and I thought that it at least began to approachRydingspar’s style, quite well actually.

The only problemwith including this piece, was that I had originally created it as anexperiment, and it was still in somewhat of an experimental state. Forinstance, all of the tires were bound together with zip ties. Of course, thiswasn’t acceptable for presenting in a museum. But to replace them with anotherfastener would have been an exacting process, as I had not been carefull and methodical in marking the placesfor the connections, and then it was destined to be a bit wonky.

So finally, Irealized that the only thing left to do, was to rebuild it, from the ground up,using a new group of tires.

I searched through the pilethat I had brought and amassed, and fortunately, was barely able to find 6black tires of the same size!

And so I was off!

It had probably been 4 yearssince I had made that thing, but once I dug in, I began to remember how it allworked, and what a marvelous being this sphere is.

The beautiful thing about theIrisphere is that it is actually two sets of three tires, one inside of theother, each holding the other in place. The openings between the tire arecreated by pulling these two sets against themselves, towards eachother,somewhat against their own will God, there has got to be some fascinatingallegory of relationships in there, but I don’t know what it is yet. (Maybe anarranged marriage?) But the point is that the form is under a dynamic tension,and I decided that I wanted to bring that out and show it a little.

And so I used some left overscraps of ball chain to bind these parts together, in their unfortunatemarriage. You can these two sphere, yearning to return to themselves, by thetension put on this chain, which stretches straight and alert. I found theeffect to be quite a bit more telling (and visually pleasing) than those uglyzip ties. But I didn’t stop there. What, I wondered, if the inner sphere showeditself, as its own sphere, suspended in this marriage to the larger sphere? Theplot thickens!

Well the end result is notmeant to be any kind of comment of Rydingsphar’s family life (of which I knownothing), but it did come out to be a damned interesting form!

And while it is actually alittle TOO curvy for Rydingsphar’s style, which combined these curves withpoints, these points can be found, interestingly, not in the actuall form, butin its appearance, when the viewer looks through the form. All in all, I would call this piece mostlysuccessful.

These two spheres we hung inthe main hallway of the museum downstairs, infront of two large windows. Thesewindows had a nice grid of steel which I thought complimented the ‘moving’black bands of the tires. The light shining through also added to the gothicaspect of these forms, particularly Rydingsphar’s, which sort of took on thelook of stained glass, and the ornate bas reliefs that he had carved above thewindow.

Woodsend also built the watertower that you see on your left hen you enter the museum gate. It was here thathe had his studio. One day, Colin Firth, the Interpreter of the Museum, agreedto show me the space. Unfortunately, it turned out that his tools had beenremoved. But Colin did show me the inside of the tower, which was structure tobehold.

RECLAMATION: The Pod

2011-10-20T13:12:00.001-04:00

The Creation and Installation of "The Pod
RECLAMATION @ Hermitage Museum & Gardens
Location: Arched Entryway into Millstone Courtyard

The first piece of tire art that you might encounter as you approach the Reclamation Exhibition at Hermitage is one I call "The Pod".

The Pod/ Rain Tree Flower, with Kong Tower looming in the back ground.

Really though, it is inspired by the Rain Tree seed flower, or perhaps, seed pod.

This piece is a long time in the making, and there is a little bit of a story behind it.

The idea for this piece first came last year, when a young girl, the daughter of a friend, sweetly gave me an actual flower from a rain tree, which (completely unbeknownst to me) grows in the courtyard of the Courtyard Cafe, up the hill from the Siler City Farmer's Market we were at. The more I studied the gentle architecture of this form, the more I wanted to try to build one from tires, which I knew were capable. This would be the first, flagship flower of a series I am developing, called Tire Botanics (tm).

One aspect of the rain tree flower's tri symetrical shape, is the 'seam' that seems to run down each face, or petal, of the flower. Attached to the inside of these seams, are the seeds, or so it seems (sorry, I can't help myself).

For the seams of my rain tree flower, I enlisted the assistance of a very special friend, Chatham County Sculptress Janice "se Quoi" Rieves.

I have some pictures of her helping me with this, but dammit I can't find them.
She did a wonderful job though, of sewing me 3 panels +1, just in case.

These I attached to a frame that I constructed from tires.

RECLAMATION: Orb Weaver Spider

2011-10-20T13:10:00.001-04:00

The Installation of Orb Weaver Spider
RECLAMATION @ Hermitage Museum & Gardens
Location: The Rose Garden

RECLAMATION BLOG: OUTDOORS the spider

One of the pieces that I wanted to include in the show was‘Orb Weaver’, a large garden spider that I had made previously out of an oldSinger sewing machine body that my good friend, sculptress Ana Howard, whoappreciates creepy old things, had given to me.

The sewing machine constitutes the thorax of the spider, andto this I attached 8 gangly legs from racing bicycle tires, as well as a face,fashioned from innertube, and some brass snaps, to match the ornamentaion ofthe machine.

I have used a tire sphere for the abdomen, but have alsocontemplated ‘spinnin’ up something a little more substantial.

If you live in Siler City, you might have seen this galhanging under the landing of the stairs up to my studio, guarding my bicycle,or crouched up in a corner of one of the windows of the old Belk building onChatham Ave., which the current owners of Budd Tire generously let me use todisplay sculpture. (I have him positioned up in the corner, to give passerby ascare).

I thought Orb weaver would be a perfect addition to the sortof creepy, haunted houseness of Hermitage, and I thought that I had found aperfect knave near the entry, for him to wait in.

However, when it came time to install, I was not able tofind a sufficient way to mount her with out drilling into the wood or brick ofoutbuilding it was nestled against.

However, Jolima, the Columbian Gardener, had another,brilliant suggestion..

Under the trellis of the Rose Garden!...She pointed out thatwith all of the clematis vines growing around it, it would be a very naturalsetting to place it in.

It also occurred to me that this beautiful rose garden, withits soft textures of petals and leaves, would be a fine setting for thisspider, who would cut a sharp silhouette, with its black creeping legs (I planto redo them in black for Halloween), position in the rear entry way to thegarden.

There was still the trick for this one of suspending it, asthe cas-iron sewing machine weighs probably 25 pounds alone. Fortunately, thetrellis lent itself very well to this task, with a choice of several beams running perbendicular toone another to hang it from.

Also, the doorway made by the brick columns on either side,and the wooden beam running across the top, provided at least the potential fora place for a ‘spider’ to build its web….

To hang the spider, I had to go searching for some goodstrapping, and a carabeaner.

I had seen an army surplus store our on Military Highway(Norfolk is a Naval Port).

While the gal there didn’t know what I was talking aboutwhen I asked for strapping (I think she thought it was kinda kinky), I did findmany different kinds there, finally settling on some kind of back pack harnessthing that I reappropriated for my spider sling.

I also got a carobiner.

The idea was for the staff to be able to take the thing down if someone wanted to have her wedding photos taken in the rose garden (I still can’t understand why they wouldn’t want to have my tire-spider in their wedding photos…)

THE WEB

The web had to wait until the end. I had to save it, becauseI had so much to do, and I felt like the spider could stand on its own if itneeded to. I also had never built a spider’s web, though I have dreamed of itfor sometime now, though albeit, on a smaller scale…

Fortunately, I was able to squeeze it in at the very end, inthe days right before the opening, and fortunately, though I was making it upas I went along, it rolled out pretty smoothly, giving me the rush I needed togo back and forth, from the rose garden to the studio, back to the hardwarestore, etc…collecting supplies, and pulling things together…

For the web, I used some of the bamboo that my good friend Barbara, a gardener there, had brought me, from her neighbor’s yard.

With this, I made a rectangular frame, which I strapped to the iron trellis supports, bolted to the brick columns. For fastening these, I fashioned some pretty descent tethers from some bungy cord hooks that I found at the hardware store, and of course, my favorite accomplice of bondage, bicycle tire innertubes. I have to say, I was pretty proud of these.

Once I had gotten this frame in place, where I wanted it, (which was as out of site as possible), I began to attach long strands of ball-chain, across the form, up/down, across, and diagonally, using zipties to attach it to the bamboo frame.

I made sure to leave some

Extra at the ends, as I knew that adjustments would need tocome at the end.

Once I had these more or less where I thought that I wantedthem, I took the plunge, and clipped them in the middle, attaching them insteadto a key ring for the center.

Then I took a thinner guage of ballchain, and ran around theweb, for the lateral struts.

I used the thinner guage for two reasons. One, ballchain isreally expensive when purchasing it through a hardware store. Fortunately, theowner was willing to cut me a little bit of a break on a large quantity, whichI was very grateful for. However, his wife was not so generous orunderstanding, and I lost the discount when I found her at the register).

So I had to finish out my order with the cheaper stuff.Secondly, spiders actually use a thinner guage strand for these lateral rungs,so it kind of worked out!

SPIDER VISITATION

Ironically, I ran into Garden Spiders twice during my timein Norfolk, once behind the Greyhound bus station, when I went to take a leak,dropping off the RV.

And the second during the time that I was installing theshow (after the spider, before the web).

The spider was actually on the front door of the museum, andseemed to be attempting to build his web there. I could only surmise that hewas trying to capture one of those cute museum staffers, and while his effortsseemed in vain, I really couldn’t blame him for trying.

What was pretty effective though, was the way he wiggled hisbutt every time he wanted to put down a dab of webbing. I don’t know how thathelps, but I thought, if it works for him, maybe it will work for me….needlessto say, I didn’t catch any cute museum stafflings either.

Spider Creeper

RECLAMATION: Fortune Teller's Table

2011-10-20T13:08:00.001-04:00

This rugged table finally found its mate in life- this studded door, around on the east wing of the museum.
Cute couple, no?

RECLAMATION: Tyrius

2011-10-20T13:07:00.002-04:00

The Installation of Tyrius the Tire Worm
RECLAMATION INSTALLATION @ Hermitage Museum & Gardens
Location: Back of House, on roof.

Well, I have to say. Big Tyrius the tire worm, really kinda disappointed me on this one, showing himself to be the Big Baby that he is.

I mean this is a one of a kind oppurtunity, to get to hang out on the roof of a fancy museum. They even let him play on the tribuchets, menace the visitors, and even snack on a few palace gaurds.
And what did he do the whole time. Just sit up there and POUT!...

....from both ends!

I guess maybe he was home sick.

I even caught him trying to mooch some food off of this lovely bronze maiden. Pathetic!

However, we tried.

Before I go any further, please meet Stephan, who was instrumental in this thing.

Stephan is a fella who grew up getting into trouble at Hermitage.

Now he has his own successful architectural restoration business, has helped replace many of the plaster cielings at in the museum, and even teaches ceramics there too.

Stephan was an excellent accomplice in installing this particular (among others) as he posseses a sculptor's rare combination of practical whit, with asthetic sense, making him quite indespensable.

Additionaly, he is a good guy to be stuck up on roof with for hours at a time, as he has a bounty of good story's from his days working for a destructive rockstar ceramicist in New Jersey.

Good fella there.

So, our task up there, on the roof was two-fold.

1) Place the beast in such a way that it looked at least some what lively and maybe just maybe, menacing.

2) Keep it from falling down and crushing anyone important. (just kidding, we didn't really want to have to haul it back there again ;)

So spent along time, repositioning him (or, his various sections), trying to capture the illusion of vitality, life, movement. This was not easy.

I'm not sure if we succeeded. The part that I think we did succeed the most on, unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of. But I do remember getting it to a place, where it seemed to have some of that thriving animal energy, which was quite an accomplishment to coax out of Tyrius, who, as I mentioned, was behaving like a pile of rubber bands.

Here's a sampling of some of the many steps it took to get the guy up there, wether he likes it or not.

preparing new growth

Transporting Big Lug (in sections).
A new hood ornament design?

Workin' on that worm

A tragic viniette, no doubt. But so true, so true.

RECLAMATION: The House That Jack Built

2011-10-20T13:04:00.003-04:00

If you were taking a walking tour of the works that I installed at Hermitage Museum and Gardens, the next piece you would encounter, after The Pod (which I will return to, and describe at the end of the outdoor installations), and then "Kong Tower", (which I described in the last post) would be a hanging lantern of sorts, which I call "The House That Jack Built".

The inspiration for this piece came from a birdhouse that I found on one of my early scavenging runs in Norfolk and Ocean View, in a pile of detritus, that local victims of Hurricane Irene had amassed into a large pile, which the city had kindly offered to collect and dispose of.

(I have already discribed this piece alittle in my recent blog post about collecting supplies for Reclamation).

But I would like to talk about my ambitions for this piece, and what it became.

As I mentioned in that post, I was captivated by this small bird house. There was something so vulnerable, yet spunky about it.

I imagined it, hanging from someones porch by its tough steel cord, tilting and twirling in 75 mile/hr winds. Did it finally fly away, or did its owner just decide to let it go? I will never know.

But somehow, to me, it seemed an emblem of Hermitage.

I pictured it, out by that mystical water,

almost sort of a spector.

In the entryway to the Sloanes' house, there is an inscription, carved into a wooden beam.
It reads "This is the house that Jack built"
It is an ode, by Mr. Sloane, to the endless work project of his wife, Mrs. Sloane (nicknamed Jack).

This piece is my ode, to the funky, gypsy soul of Mrs. Sloane.

RECLAMATION: Millstone Court- "Kong Tower"

2011-10-19T14:02:00.002-04:00

RECLAMATION Installation @ Hermitage Museum & Gardens
Location: Outdoors-Millstone Court

THE MAKING OF 'KONG TOWER'

One of the sites that I was particularly excited about wasthe ‘Mill-stone Court’ at the front entrance of the museum. This courtyardfeatures one of the largest collecections of millstones in the southeast.Millstones of course, are large circular stone disks, that were once used byflour mills to grind grains into grits and flour etc. Mrs. Sloane, being Mrs. Sloane, had ‘reclaimed’ theseancient factory workhorses, asstepping stones, and arranged them in sort of mandala, leading into the centerof the design, and then out again. Obviously, this was a potent site. And so itneeded a potent piece. And for this I chose a sort of tribute to what I thinkall would agree is the most powerful and awesome piece of art that Mrs. Sloaneever aquired. And that is the jade Kong, aritualistic vessel, ‘forged’ somewhere between 400 – 600 years BC in China.
(SHOW POSTCARD IMAGE?)

The piece has a really spooky presence, which I don't mind admitting, I am somewhatafraid of-

it is a powerful and awesome artifact.

So, with some trepidation, I endeavored to make some sort ofsculptural ode to this object, which would occupy the center of thismandala..

My design was quite simple.

1) make a tower-like tube, by sewing mountain bicycle tirestogether,

2) erect this as a sort of a tower, and

3) illuminate the tower from within, allowing the light topenetrate the latex embedded fabric of the tires’ sidewalls, causing it to singwith colorful hues of yellows, oranges, pinks and reds, shining out in betweenthe bands of the opaque, black rubber treads.

4) There was also the thought to top the tower with a Tiresphere. The currators had recognized a compass like quality in these forms, and, with the compass points inherent in the millstone court's design, coupled with the nautical aspect of this natal location, there was considerable creedence to this notion. My suspend this globe ontop of the tower, so that the light shining up through it would light the sphere from below, with a duely dramatic effect...

Show sketch drawing of Kong Tower.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Kong Tower presented one of the more vexing engineeringproblems: one that the pharmasutical engineers at Viagra have been wrestingwith for years- how to got a long, heavy rubber noodle to stand up straight?...

I have made a much shorter version of this sculpture before,for the base/cone of Atomic Ice Cream, which I installed in University Mall forthe first Scrapel Hill exhibtion, in 2008.

For this I had devised a pretty effective system of usingabout twelve 3’ long bamboo poles to hold the the tube up. The biggestchallenge, and subsequently the ‘crowning’ achievement of this design, was,ironically its crown itself. How do you get the heavy tube to stand on thesepoles?

My answer to this problem was to use equipment that was mostindigenous to these bicycle tires, a rim, and spokes. I inverted the spokes, sothat their flanged ends, normally holding the hub of the wheel, held the rim,with the help of a nut. These then poked into holes drilled through the nodesof the bamboo. And so then I had some sembalance of a structure that could hangthis heavy tube from. The problem was that the top most tire kept on slippingoff the edge of the rim.

How to keep this tire evenly positioned upon this rim? Well,once again the answer came from the tire’s native equipment. A uniform bag ofair positioned around the wheel, in between and the tire, served to keep equalpressue on all 360 degrees of direction, centering the wheel perfectly on thetire! Behold, the innertube, used in a way that is akin to its native purpose,yet divergent.

So, asbeautiful as I thought this solution was, it was devised for a 3’ high icecream cone, and, I found, to much chagrin, was definitely NOT cutting it for an 8foot tall Neolithic jade tower of power….

CHALLENGE #1

First off, the height demanded some support, which I hadhither to been able to get by without. For this, I tried employing some internal spires, that sculptor Bob ofFresh Fish had once recommended.

I tried and tried these out, with someglimmers of hope. It seems like a very graceful solution, and I still believe that it may be possible to make them work.

However, by the end of a long and precious day, I finally had to recognize that what I had wasnot sufficiently sturdy, as currently devised. So I decided to step away fromit, and sleep on it. And during that slumber time, I came upon a simple solution. And that was a tube of gridded wire fencing, to attach the bamboo poles to.

And with whole lot of fanagaling

eventually, I found that this worked quite well.

Turn off the lights...

and boom.

CHALLENGE # 2

Now that I had my tower erected, and attached to the base (adisk of plywood), the question was, how do I keep the whole thing from tippingover?

This was in fact, THE question, because the ExecutiveDirector of the Museum, a tough cookie, had made it absolutely clear that shewould not stand for it falling over on any one. And with the museum’s location along the edge of the bay,they can get some pretty

Strong winds roaring through there, I was told. Hmmm. What to do? I didn’t want to guywire around it, as I felt that would really detract from its presence andpower, as a ‘stand-alone’ object.

I consulted Steven, a fellow who worked there in differentcapacities, who would over thenext few weeks prove invaluable to the operation, for his practicleincisiveness.

Stephans suggestion was internal compression. To wire up theinside of the thing, much the way that skyscrapers are held together. This wasquite a revelation for me, and I did attempt some version of this, with greatresults.

However, in the end, I returned to my original approach,which was quite simple- Put all ofthe weight at the bottom. My model for this approach was the punching bag thatyou might have had as a kid, that took a licking, and kept on ticking, comingback up for more every time. An opponent from hell- “Why wont this thing justlie down and die”, you might have found yourself wondering. Of course the reason was that it was‘Weighted and inflated’, in all the right places.

So this one time apponent was now to become this piece’savatar. Perhaps not the stolid, rigid character the Jade Kong imposes, butpossessing a certain quite staying power of resilience , all its own, none the less.

For this base-weighting task, Steven resourcefullyrecommended some rocks piled up behind the shop, to keep the bay at bay, whichworked very well. I had cut a small access door in the fencing to get to thelight bulb,

and through this door, I loaded the rocks.

For some reason, this interior scene, this space of a wirecage, loaded with rocks, surrounded by the eerie striped black and tan rubber,reminded me oddly of some cousin operation, maybe moving a komodo dragon byboat. I guess there was the King KONG name element that could have been at playin this fantastic adventure…

CHALLENGE #3

Getting the lip of the tire to lock on to the lip of the rimwas just not working with all of that extra tire weight pulling down on thetube. You think its hard for you to carry around that flat tire on your gut?Well I had 20 of them! I could think of a few solutions to this problem, butnone that I really liked very much. I knew there had to be a better one outthere. (or atleast, I really hoped there was...). So I decided to suck up mypride, and ask Steven. And, incisive guy that he is, he saw straight throughit, right down to that perfect solution.

Kong Tower Lamprey..

The trick of course, was to tie the tube, in place, to therim. For this punched holes in the tire, and then ran zip ties through thespoke holes of the rim.

It worked Beautifully! It was almost as satisfying as thetube had originally been, to see this gasket, so securely secured to the lip ofthe tire. Function, pure function, can be so fricken gorgeous when it really isjust that. I think Buckminster Fuller said something about that….

ARTISTIC CONSIDERATIONS

One question that I came to was, how tall do I make it? I wanted it to be generally ‘on the human scale’, which was one valuable concept that I learned about at the SF Art Institute. As my teacher had pointed out, humans relate to objects that are the size of another human, in a special way, unlike we do to objects of any other size. Part of what I was doing there, at hermitage, was to help reintroduce the permanent collection to the public. So I thought, why not introduce this object on that scale, as a human like figure? Originally, I wanted the edge of the sculpture to be just above eye-level, to introduce that idea of mystery. That you could never see over the crest of that lip…

But as I began to build the piece, and was finally able to see it in its space, I was reminded that this object has an almost larger than life presence. It is forboding. Angry, domineering. In essence, it is an Angry Father, to be feared and respected. And so I decided to make it tower, at 8 feet tall.

I also decided at this point do do away with my idea to place the compass-sphere on top.

It began to feel a little bit ornamental, and sacreligiose. Hermitage Foundation's Jade Kong is a ritualistic vessel, not a pedestal! And as such, I thought it could, and should, stand alone.

INSTALLATION
Next, I had to install the thing.
This involved balancing it on the central millstone (which I might add, is not level).
It also involved digging a trench for the power cord, which I ran from the tool shed to the light at the tower's base. Lucky for me, Public Programs Director, Melissa Ball got on her hands and knees, to dig this trench, so that I didn't have to soil my hands. Thanks Melissa.

The day of the opening, I was faced with a terrible realization. Though I was using an outdoor bulb, I was still using an indoor fixture! (I had only used the piece indoors previously). Lucky for me, Tom caught the mistake (after I'd tripped the breaker several times), and back to MeadowBrooke I raced, finding an outdoor fixture, per Tom's suggestion. Tom, in the knick of time.

Finally getting the piece up there was quite satisfying.

Much Thanks to Barbara, who shared of her Bamboo,

and helped Kong Tower to stand proud.

Interlude 2: Tire Bonanza

2011-10-07T17:23:00.002-04:00

Oh boyoboyoboy. Mountains of tires from 'Wilderness Island'...

I wanted to bookmark this date, as just yesterday, a recieved a very significant 'windfall' by the name of 'Hurricane Fran'....You can read more about it in a more recent post, also entitled "TIRE BONANZA!!!"

Interlude: "..To Be Marked"

2011-10-07T17:21:00.001-04:00

I would like to share a story, about a fellow that I met when I reentered Chatham County.
I am going to have to follow up with this soon, but I wanted to hold this event's place in time.

RECLAMATION: Outdoors- The Qurtain / Unity Screen

2011-09-30T02:34:00.002-04:00

One of the first pieces that I installed out doors was a piece that I had recently made in Siler City (you can find a post on this blog about its creation here). I thought this piece might be a good fit for the Reclamation, and the Hermitage grounds and gardens.

Why?
a) because it is very much a formal piece, and formal design is a very strong element of the artistry at Hermitage (indoors and out), and also
b) because it is a piece that alter's your view of your everyday surroundings, and this was part of my goal in being there (and I think the currators', and Ed's, as well). The round windows afford a portal, or an altered view, and the treatment of the space inbetween these portals also invites you to explore, and cherish this negative space.

SITING
To let this piece shine, to something close to its full capability, it needed a 'room' with a 'view'. A spot that came immediately to mind was a certain point out at the edge of the Hermitage's grounds, where the land meets (and contemplates) the expanse of the sound (the Lafeyette River). Here sits a bench from which one can sit, and look out over the water, and also pair of contemplative Great Herons in bronze.

INSTALLING
Garden Manager Jolima showed me two handsome cedar trees to tether it to, and made the good suggestion of some natural fibers to lash it on with.
Gardener Karen generously provided some bamboo for me to use as a cross brace above.
However, in the end, I decided to use ropes to extend upwards, following the trajectory of the diagonal struts of bamboo, which comprise the piece's frame. I do feel that this approach harmonized better with the diagonal lines, than the horizontal brace, which I think would have disrputed this some (though, though, of course, those vertical trees have their own presense in the piece. (The bamboo that Karen so sweetly brought me played very important roles in several other pieces, most notably "Kong Tower", and "Orb Weaver"'s web.

Fine tuning this thing was somewhat of a vexing, but rewarding process. Like many of the pieces I built for Reclamation, I found that this piece had its own interesting dynamics of tension, sort of running through out the entire form in sort of the unexpected manor of a pinball machine.

Of course, at the crux of the pieces eccentric behaviour, was the fact that I was attempting to position the piece's many elements in a flat vertical plane (a somewhat unnatural proposition). As gravity pulled downwards on each of the rims, within the bamboo frame, against the stretchy rubber inner tube tethers, that pulled them towards eachother, and the frame, it sort of writhed and buckled, as though possessed by unseen forces.

Finally, fortunately, its weight settled its 'toe' on the ground, and with this single point, it took on some semblance of equalibrium, finally allowing it to rest.....sigh.
What a parable for groundedness...

USING IT
Once this piece found its own way in this new environment, it got right to work, doing its job, of fracturing the landscape, affording a mosaic of various, changing, tesselated windows, through which the viewer could 'review' and interact with the environment around it.

Interestingly, I found that this piece is quite photogenic, and I think probably for some interesting reasons. For, does not a camera act in exactly the same way? I think that a camera's lense will find much akin in this piece.

The nicest way to photograph this piece is early in the morning, when the sun is beginning its tiptoed dance over the water, sparkeling through the trees.

Of course, it is also nice to watch the bay through.

When my Mom- Painter, Portrait Artist, and Photographer, Edie S. Cohn came to visit, we also found that this piece is very much on the 'human scale' (a concept that I refer to in the post about making "Kong Tower", had not really recognized in this piece!) For this reason, I think, this piece affords some interesting interactions with the human figure.

Here is some of my Mother's artistry.

NAMING THE THING
A couple of names came up for this piece, one in my discussions of medieval art with Hermitage Director and Art Historian Melanie Mathews. Mrs. Mathews had pointed out that piece bore a resemblance to a form which has been used throughout the Middle Ages in all manner of art and architecture, and which is also found incorporated into the artistry at Hermtage. That form is the "Quatrafoil", which I guess you could say, in some ways resembles a four leaf clover.
What drew her to draw that comparison is the use of negative space, evident both this piece, and medieval uses of the form. I thought that this was a fascinating connection to make, especially as the use of negative space is at the very core of this piece, in fact it is its 'main feature', framed as it is by the inverted bicycle tire surrounding the pieces central window.
And so, as in some ways the piece is a 'curtain', a term which I believe she had also used to describe it, I thought that a contraction of these two words would be appropriate. I also like that the name reflects a little bit of the Islamic/Moorish influence, which I suspect has its place in the quatrefoil's history.

The other name I came up with was Unity Screen. Why? Well...
I would say that a screen is an interesting way to approach this form.
But more importantly, there is an interesting thing happening with this piece.
And that is that the inverted bicycle tire creating a window frame, at the piece's center, is held in place by the four rims and inner tubes. And thus, the tire, which would normally find itself at home, wrapped tightly around a single rim and tube, now belongs to each of these rims.
Together, they act to hold this frame in place, and its form reflects each of the rims curved shape (or its values), and also the groups 'values', as a whole. It also honors, and sanctifies the space between these four different rims.

Installed this piece on September 11, on the 10th Anniversary of the bombings on the World Trade Center. I don't know if it would be appropiate to say that this piece was a tribute of sorts, but these were thoughts running through my head as I installed and interacted with this piece that day.

RECLAMATION: Indoors- 'The Parlor' Diorama

2011-09-27T01:01:00.002-04:00

AN UNEXPECTED OFFER…

One unexpected spacethat Hermitage Museum offered me to use for the Reclamation exhibtion was alarge showcase just to the left of the 2 gallery spaces upstairs. This spacewas a bout 5’ x 6’ x 8’ tall, and about 2 feet off of the ground. This makesfor a small room at the end of the hall, framed by a large picture window,which visitors peer through as they round the crest of the stairs, and approachthe gallery spaces, around the corner to the right.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

When Melissa offeredme use of this chamber-like space, it didn’t take long to figure out what to dowith it…

I had been thinkingsince I returned that while my site-specific plans were making good use of thegrounds and gardens outside of the museum, I had not really duely addressed theinterior of the museum. And the more that I thought about it, the more itseemed like there was some rich potential to create a dialogue with the elegantand artful furnishings in Sloanes’ living room. With this in mind, I made aspecial run to that great resource that is Scrap Exchange (when I returned toNC for supplies), and dug through their fabric and ‘notions’ section, gleaningsome scraps of really REGAL upholstery fabric, and several bagfuls of dark andcolorful trim…I also found there some large, dejected oval-shaped mirrors, witha nice wide bevel, very elegent…

So, as you cansurmise, my aim was to attempt to recreate in this ‘vaulted chamber’ some ofthe ambiance of the Sloane’s own ‘parlor’ downstairs below- in essence, adiorama. The twist of course, was that many of these furnishings wouldincorporate the improbable material of tire rubber.

TIRES AND TRIM, COALLESCING…

This was a task,which I must admit, I set to work to, with glee.

I have always wanted tocreate a series of treadknot tire knots (a family actually), incorporating thissort of fabulous and stuffy pillow trim, and as I schemed on, it quickly becameclear that this was the PERFCECT context from which to birth this family.

In fact, many unconscious currents of my tire craft over the last 9 years seemed to be COALLESCING in this ‘parlor diorama’. For instance, Luther, (the Snapping Turtle) himself, the Great Great Grand Daddy of my RepTire Art) found himself right at home at this ‘ball’, even getting himself gussied up with a new mount, complete with a mount-mount, featuring an elegant silk liner…

Luther's mount, mount..

Booyaa! How you like me now, Sucka!
Copyright, Travis Cohn/Reptire Designs 2011

‘PILLOW TALK’

For pillows, I made a pillow knot (part of what I call the ‘pillow talk’ series;), and also came up with a new design- a round pillow using a smallish ‘knobby’ tire.

This one incorporated some of that upholstery fabric and trim from The Scrap Exchange, and also some supporting materials scavenged around Norfolk,

including foam stuffing and cardboard doorskin.

It was a little tricky pulling this one together,

An early sketch

but finally, with some carefull planning,

and alot of patience,

I did pull it together.

In the end, I think it worked like a charm, especially withthat button/dimple a the center (of the pillow AND the rose).

Its a pizza! Looks good enough to eat. Just like Mama Rosa used to make!

Some of my betterwork, I priced it high cause I wanted to keep it (or loan it to the Scrap Exchange), but Idon’t know, it has some worthy admirers…

SPHERE DU MONDE

This scene was alsothe opportunity to bring into existence a certain ‘TireSphere’ that I havealways wanted to create- the Globesphere. This incorporates a fancy Frenchglobe that I bought at this eccentric antique store. As the globe was French,and the French are undoubtedly lovers of the bicycle…I thought I would ‘roundit out’ with some choice French ‘Forte’ racing tires. Perhaps I will have torename it some day- “Sphere du Monde”….

SUPPORTING CAST

A supporting castfor this parlor diorama was furnished from a variety of sources. To get usstarted, I borrowed a favorite Persian rug from my studio, that my parents andI had hoisted from a Duke dumpster, way back in the glory days.

Melissa Ballgenerously lent the exhibit an essential chair from her office- one that hadonce belonged to Mrs. Sloane herself! While we had tried to locate a more‘stately’ wingback, this one did fine, and its warm gold tones held the scenetogether well.

From my parentsattic, I borrowed an end table that had once held my own grandfather Ted’snewspapers and various books. I think it was an unintended shock, and hopefully a treat also, formy mother to recognize this table and rug being displayed prominently in thismuseum showcase!

CENTER PIECE- The Mirror

The centerpiece ofthis diorama is the mirror. This was to be the collections most difficult pieceto conceive, yet as is often the case, is ironically its most glorious success(in my own opinion).

This piece beganwith the ovular mirror that I found at the Scrap Exchange, while volunteeringthere by chance shortly before I embarked to Norfolk. I had been excited todiscover the stack of mirrors, because the looked to be the general circumfranceof a bicycle tire….However, upon closer inspection, I found that most of themirrors were variously scratched (which is probably why they were donated). Furthermore,I soon discovered that being VERY close to a perfect fit for an elegent mirroris a maddening FAR CRY from a true perfect fit.

I spent a good threeweeks struggling to reconcile this difference.

I really had only one tirethat was a worthy match for the mirror (an old ‘gum wall’, whose natural latexrubber sidewall was deteriorating with age in a way that made it look just likea nice stained wood) , but my attempts were not working out, at all……

I had tried to breakthe tire at its cardinal points, but the tension across the tire caused thebead to buckle, and drift away from the edge of the mirror, which it hadpreviously promised to follow with uncanny ease. Thus, eventually I had to staple the thing back inplace, and device edifices to cover up there moorings.

However, theseedifices came be the piece’s crowning glory, and I embarked upon a whole newchapter in my craft, in devising them….

From the treads of 4various different tires that I had laying around, I painstakingly cut variousbits and pieces of this embossed black rubber, using these not only asornamental motifs, but also to begin to tell a little bit of a story…

I began with a quitreptilianesque tread, using patches of this to anchor the 4 cardinal points ofthe mirror (and to cover the aforementioned necesary breaks in the tire’sbead).

To mount each of these pieces on, I used a shiny silver snap, which I thought mirrored the mirror in an interesting way, and of course always gleams spectacularly from the matt mat of black rubber. I thought that these elements helped to usher the mirror into a new state of being, or rather, brought out the ‘reptilian nature’ which I find latent the tire rubber…

My next motif was tobe a feather motif. Its hard to say at this point if this was intentional, wewere now well into the creative realm, but I found the mirror’s progression into the aviary realm to be quite, well, ‘serpentdipidous’. I had discovered thatthe edges of the some of my thinner, more ‘fare’ road bike tires, exhibited arepeated chevron pattern. From this band, I hewed small delicate feathers,gently guiding their edges up, in the effort of the image of flight… Ipositioned these around the upper cardinal point, but intentionally left themof the point below. I wanted to leave this bottom point reptilian, in it’s abarest essence, with this essence mirrored, mirraculously, in the birds essenceabove. The piece was quickly taking on a life of its own…In fact too much so.It was beginning to look like some carnal swamp drama unfolding, maybe morefitting for Papa Mojo’s New Orleans inspired Road House Blues bar (I going tohave to give them a call), than the home of the aristocratic Sloanes’…

And so, practicingsheer prudence, obeying my duty to the task at hand (once more), I decided totone this carnage down a little, and add in some nice floral elements along theedges. Vegetation has that ability, to sooth, and balance out the brutalcarnage of the animal kingdom…The vegetal God has been worshiped and valued forthis reason since the Egyptians, at the very most recent.

First, I cut fromthe tread of a favorite Kenda mountain bike tire, a distinctly vine like motif.Then, echoing the fine toothed chevron combs of both the cut feathers (and theedging of the frame tire also), I added some sharp-looking amped-up jumbochevron clusters to the tops of the vines/stems, fashioning two pairs of ‘riveroats’. To these I added some more spears of feathers, becoming sheaths ofleaves, to gaured and protect these noble stems which emerged from them.

And thus was born anentire aquatic ecosystem, unto this ovular mirror. To finnish it off, I addedsome silky, slimy black frog legs, snipped from innertubes, to the ‘reptilecome amphibean’ ‘below’,

and a few sparrows soaring and darting in the airabove.

If I had the chance, I would love to etch the silhouette of that meanderingoak tree limb, that pierces (and comprises) my view of this estuary from mycamper.

ILLUMINATION

Lighting this scene waslittle bit of a challenge. My best offer for this task was a certain lamp thatmy father, Steve, likes to call ‘Lola’…. With an enchanting road-burned tireknot serving as it base, and a fuscia feather boa draped laungidly andseductively for a lampspade, which glows with a beckoning ‘come-hither’ aurawhen turned on, Lola is 2 parts road warrior, and 6 parts burlesque / go-go dancer-the ruin of many a man. Indeed she brought an interesting twist to this‘parlor’ diorama…

There was some concernfrom the Museum staff, that thisaddition might ‘burn the house down’ (its good reptutation, as well as itsfantastic wooden halls and chambers). So in the end it was decided that thepink boa would have to go…

What to replace it with? Atthat late date (the day before the opening), I didn’t have time to createa new lamp shade (though I do have some half baked designs thatcould work someday). Fortunately for us all, Melissa’s fiancé, Carey works hisuncle’s lamp shop, Ghent Lamp and Shade.

And so, with less than 48 hours beforethe opening, Melissa took me (with Lola in arm) to visit these fellows, andwhat a treat that was…

Their shop was a jewelencrusted cave of glowing gems. And the brightest glowing gems by far therewere these two gents themselves. Immediately, these two warmed to thechallenge, with gusto, floating over a stream of 20 different shades, each oneaugmenting the lamps knotted tire base in a different way. James quickly honed in on the qualitiesthat made the lamp’s knot’s tire so special- the parallel strands of nyloncordage layn bare by the roughness of the road., and exhibitited on itssurface. To make these strings sing, he found us a shade, whose knap or weaveechoed these perfectly, I could not have hoped for a better match. The shaderoundness also enhanced the form’s Asiatic murmers.

To this mountingmanifestation, Carey, in a bolt of genius, added a crowning gesture….declaringthat it needed a worthy finial, to finnsh it off once and for all.

To this task, he deftly sweptup a recently retired motorcycle tire pressure guage, reclining on his workbench, and securing this in his vice, quickly fashioned this piece of apparatusinto plume that any tire lamp would be proud of!

"Rhoda, the Reclaimed Reclaimed Tire Lamp

As a wise man once said,“Roxanne, you don’t have to wear that dress tonight”.
Much Thanks to these two Gents, for jumping and saving my butt (not to mention perhaps the Hermitage and its collection!), with style and pinach. These fellows speak well upon their country men.

So, here, at long last are some shots of the finnished Diorama.
Thanks also to Melanie and Melissa, for playing along, and trusting me on this impromptu, but apropo installation.

Many Thanks to Truly, forbuffing this scene to help it shine!

RECLAMATION: Securing Supplies

2011-09-27T00:36:00.000-04:00

Before I could really get down to work creating pieces for the show, I had to undertake a very important step, and that was to secure sources of various needed supplies.
Namely, these were:

Tires- Bicycle and motorcycle, and farm impliments if I could find them...
Hardware
Random Junk- Scrap wood, fabric, etc...

Fortunately for me, Norfolk yielded all three of these with ease.

MOTORCYCLE TIRES

My first score was Triumph Motorcycle shop, on Little Creek Road.

There, Brian graciously gave to access to his pile of tires out back, and I got some good ones from him. He also showed me about the coolest, most unussual tire I have ever seen- this beach tire, imported from So Cal, mounted on the back of this beach cruiser. Highly unique!

BICYCLE TIRES

For bicycle tires, I was very fortunate to find East Coast Cycles, up on Granby, at Ocean View.

There I met John, who would become one of my favorite people in this adventure. A stalwart and enthusiastic supporter of my efforts, John opened not only his tire piles to me, but his entire shop, really going out of his way to make a traveler feel at home. Perhaps as a Navy serviceman, who knew what this means to a stranger in a new town. The gesture certainly meant a lot to me, and I will not forget it.

HARDWARE
For hardware, I was Very fortunate to find Meadowbrooke Hardware, on Little Creek Rd, a small, family owned and operated gem just around the corner. It is becoming such a rarity these days to find such a small and intimate hardware store- we sadly lost ours in Durham to Home Depot many years ago. Siler City is still blessed to retain our Ace. The owner Phill, was really helpful in helping me find all of the many supplies I needed, and the rest of his staff was as well.
Incidentally, Meadow Brook was right next to something of an enigma. I never did find out the story on this one...

'RANDOM JUNK'

As for other random junk, the streets of Norfolk yielded these quite readily also.

On my first commited evening of searching, I came upon quite a mecca: a pile of hurricane debris that the city had allowed its citizens to amass for pick up. This, I thought, was a great use of government!

There I met several intersting people, leaving stuff off, and I also made some innanimate friends there, taking many more than I should have in my car...

One of my favorite recoveries from this reckage was this small chair below.
It was just a small frame, completely intact, besides the missing seat, and cracking red paint, neither of which seemed to matter in the slightest...

...it just seemed to....well, resolute.

So I carried it home. I later would decide this chair was a sort of a mascot for the idea of reclamation- a hero, and a survivor- and I would submit it (alas, unsuccessfully) as a readymade, into the exhibition. I call it "Resolute Chair". While I personally thought it was a shame that this object was not reclaimed, and exhalted, in this exhibtion, I do plan to keep it, and treasure it as such. Or perhaps pass it on to one of a few artists who I know will 'chairish' it as well...

Aside from some nice pieces of salvaged wood, and these bicycle wheels, one little darling that I did find, and successfully make a star of, was the small bird house you see below.

Perhaps it was the ephemerality rendered unto abodes, that the hurricane Irene had wrought, but amid this wreckage, the small fragile birdhouse seemed all the more precious, and poignant a keepsake, to pull from it.

Once I took this home, and cleaned it up abit, this would become the centerpiece for "The House That Jack Built", a tribute to that fragile little gem of house dangled on a string of coast, by its mystical architect, Mrs. Sloane, so that we all may come, and nourish our souls there.

2011-09-27T00:06:00.002-04:00

RECLAMATION: Getting to work

In our innitial discussions of the exhibition, I shared that I was very interested in creating site specific work, not just for the gallery upstairs, but across and around the museums grounds and gardens.
Public Programs Director, Melissa Ball and Director Melanie Mathews told me this would be relatively new for them, and while there would be some restrictions, due to the diverse uses of the grounds, for weddings and other events, they would do their best to accomodate this ambition, which I appreciated.
There seemed to be so much potential there for installation!

So I plodded and plotted in Siler City, trying to prepare these sculptures for this distant landscape, with its own duties and developments.

When I returned to Hermitage in September, to work there, on site, we had to reconvene. Some sites were no longer available, some pieces I had prepared for were no longer possible due to a variety of factors. However, new oppurtunities had arisen also!...

It was decided that I would be allowed to use several parts of the museum, in addition to the gallery.
These were:

The Gallery
A large (5' x 6' x 8') display case which you face as you approach the gallery
An area of the museum downstairs- a long hall whose windows face the water.
Several spaces outside in the gardens

These outdoor spaces included

the millstone court in front of the entrance to the museum,
A distant lookout point across the water, on the far reaches of the gardens, which features a bench, and some heron sculptures
The rose garden
The roof of one wing, which featured tribuchets

These were the various sites I would be working with...

RECLAMATION: The Work Space

2011-09-17T13:31:00.001-04:00

Wow,
Well, I have really got alot of catching up to do!
I truly regret that I have not been able to keep up to date with this blog, but library/internet/downloading hours compete with work hours, and I've got a lot of work to do! My life for the last few weeks has really been: wake, work, meet, work, search for supplies, work, eat, work, sleep, repeat.

But I wanted to just at least give a glimpse here of my workspace, to anyone who might be wondering.
Thanks for your interest, and I promise to follow up with a flood of good images once I get us all through this exhibition opening. I am dying to share them!

THE WORK STATION
Here below is my 'Work Hut', generously lent by Hermitage Museum for my preperation for the Reclamation Exhibion. A work of Reclamation itself, the building was built as a horse and cow stable, then used for photography classes, then summer Artcamps, and now me, a live in artist. This room is the left wing of a beautiful olf larger building which they still use for art classes.

If you walked through this door, you would see this stage.

Figuratively, this is the stage, on which I am to perform these Daring Feats of Tire Defiance.

I set the stage accordingly.

However, in reality, this remains mostly a symbolic stage, as most of my real work occurs in the galley below...

Here is a workbench that I improvised from the housing for chemical bath tray that was leaning against the wall. This has become my cheif workbench, as it has the natural lighting from the door, and also is at a good height for me. I layed a piece of white plexiglass I also found in the room over the top of it, and as you can see, this has made a great work surface.

I also moved this table over by the other side of the door, to create a sort of reception area...

I also set up another table along the wall, and have a central table, totalling a luxurient 4 different work tables that I can going with different projects at once! This has proved to be optimal for this operation.

STORAGE FOR TIRES

When you are working with tires (and any material for that matter), it is important to have enough material around to have some choices, for the right bits for a piece. I was alittle concerned about this going up, so I brought some tires from my own collection, to get me started. Later I connected with two bicycle shops and a motorcycle shop. But where to put all these tires? Melissa was kind enough to let me use the back of the building to store my stash, as well as big Tyrius the Tire Worm, who was in the pitiful (but manageble) condition of being hacked into luggable bits. I found this strange chamber, which helped keep them out of the neighbor's sight.

The Hermitage Tire Knave
(made just for this purpose, no doubt)

STORAGE FOR MY SLEEPING BODY

For Living Quarters, I have been fortunate enough to be allowed to borrow my parents' RV.

I have spent many days, packed with as many as 7 people in this tin can (mostly with fond memories too!). But I have never experienced this as a one-man-camping-domain. Having lived in my own van for 10 plus years, I have to say that, as such, this thing rocks! Its really got everything I need, and is very comfortable indeed. I set her up in a corner, and set up the "Fortune Teller's Table", to make it feel more like home in Siler City, and impress the neighbors.

Alright, if you are feeling a little bit envious of this alloted work/play space (I can't say I'd blame you, I'd feel the same), let me really sink it in for you, and leave you with this one.

Here is my prized view (around supper time) of a small inlet of the Lafeyette River (that the RV looks out onto)

(It does get kinda smelly at low tide, and there I have a lot of herons for neighbors, who never stop scowling at me from over the fence. Such is moving into an old established neighborhood, I suppose;)

Sometimes, the long work of an artist has its rewards!

Reclamation Preperations Day 3

2011-08-31T20:43:00.000-04:00

Hermitage Blog Day 3

This morning I met with Hermitage Museum’s Director, ThePrograms Coordinator, and the Assistant in my new borrowed work space. It wasfun to host them there, around the work table up on the stage, surrounded by ahorde of half baked tire shemes.

TheHermitage staff are all understandably a little bit at their wits edge jugglingthe new challenges that Hurricane Irene has thrown at them (for instance, aflame broiled fuse box, and still no power, with several on- site wedding comingup this weekend!), so at this point, they are a bit punchy and delirious. Whilethey are actually are holding together impressively well, maybe being aroundweird art gave them the chance to blow off a little steam. Needless to say, itwas a charged and exciting meeting!

Melanie, the Director, liked many of my ideas, which wasrelief. She is also a professor of Art History, so she has a good sense of art,and where my tire art fits in. She also has a good sense of humor, andappreciates my own, which goes a long ways, I think.

Particularly relieved was I that she was willing to go alongwith my brand new proposal (as of yesterday), to create a mini-Parlor Dioramain the large ‘display case’ as you approach the gallery. My aim is to recreatesome of the ambiance in the parlor downstairs (in the museum), butincorporating rubber tires into many of the furnishings.

There was a suggestion of making a sort of portal/windowinto this ‘world’. While I think this could diminish its impact on approachingit, it could be interesting…

I made the mistake of showing her a sketch for one of mymore ambitious proposals- She loved it…This is a proposal to recreate one of 3ornate friezes carved into a wall panel in the downstairs area, incedentalyright in the area where they would like me to display some sculptures. When Ihad stopped by earlier this year, I was taken by the intensity of thesedesigns, made a sketch of two of them, and thought to recreate one as a large(4’ x 8’) shadowbox, of rubber…

This would be new ground for me, and I am really not Surethat I could pull it off, in this time frame. To make it more complicated, andproportionally more awesome, Melanie made the brilliant suggestion to usePlexiglass instead of wood, adding a an element of luminosity, to what alreadyis a very Gothic design….(It would be shown infront of a large window, with thesunset lit bay behind it…) This could be incredible….I suggested that we lookat creating it at a later date, after the show…

Towards the end of the meeting, Jolina, the Grounds Keeper stopped by, which was greattiming. I showed her my treadknot planters, which she liked, and she ordered 4for her plant sale, (which will take place the weekend of our opening)!

Jolina was also excited about the tire screen, or curtain,which I proposed to place in the far edge of the garden, looking out on thebay, so that you could see the bay and the sunset through it. She recommended afew cedar trees, which look like they should do the trick nicely.

A few pieces didn’t make the cut, and they perhaps deserve arequiem.

One was the “String of Pearls”. This would have been thedebut of the Great Balls of Tire Series, and a glorious debut it would havebeen. It would have run above a run of 14 millstones, leading to an arch which overlooks the water. Above eachmillstone, would have dangled a different Tire Sphere.

While I mourn this loss in some ways, I am not sure that theGreat Balls of Tire series is yet ready to meet the world. There were ready tobe made, but their sharing with the world can wait.

Also lost on the chopping block, was a trinity of a Silkworm, a caccoon, and a butterfly, to hang below and around a beautiful oldmagnolia tree, that can only be described as Grand and Matriarchal. This islamentable, because sculptor Janice Rieves had helped me to create a mock up ofthe caccoon, and it was really off to a great start. She even did a special‘Tea-stain’ to the long john fabric, to give it an antique look, which was veryeffective. The butterfly also had the potential to be quite spectacular. Ohwell, their days will come…

Though I was sad to see both of these projects go, at thesame time, I really have my work cut out for me. So let this be a good lessonin cutting your losses, and moving forward to "strengthen the things that remain"….(to quote Bob Dylan).

Reclamation Preperation Day 2

2011-08-31T20:40:00.002-04:00

Today (Day 2, Tuesday)

Yester, I got set up.

Today, I got to work.

I made a list of all possible sculptures, in preperation formeeting….

Then I met with Melissa, to talk pieces and places.

She showed me a some new spots to utilize in the museum!

One is a little cove/dislplay area, which you see as youapproach the gallery

The other is in the downstairs area, at the end of a hall.

They are still interested in me showing in some of the areaoutside also! Which I am very glad for.

It sounds like we are mostly on the same page. There wassome issues about the Reclamation theme. Melanie said just be creative, and doyour thing. This is really what I needed to hear. Melissa seemed a little bithung up on it, but I think we got it figured out.

I am very excited by their offer of both of these spaces,and have some plans for them already!

In the ‘nook’, I am going to propose that I set up a minidiorama, with an arm chair, one which I will place some ‘pillows’.

I would also like to hang a mirror, and maybe throw down arug, and put Lola the Lampa in there. The idea is to create a lux Parlorenvironment.

Why? Well part of the idea is to reclaim this museum, for mygeneration.

Rather than think of it as stuffy, think of thecraftsmanship.

SCAVANGING

SEEK, and YE SHALL FIND

After work, I went shopping on the streets of Norfolk, for afew materials.

Mainly I was looking for some door skin, for the backs ofsome pillow pads, and also the backing of a mirror. I also wanted to hunt upsome local sources for tires.

Triumph Motorcycle shop- Bryan, got some good ones.

Custom built bike with MASSIVE beach tire “Bigger Digger”,from CA on rear.

I’d found my moto tire supplier

Then I stopped by Cycle shop- John showed him Luther. Theywere getting ready for ride.

Then I decided to explore the coast. Came across pile ofdoors, in place that we being gutted.

Score I thought! Feeling pretty smug,Until I tried to peel away door skin, and fouind that of all things, it was made of cardboard.

I remarked tosome fellas walking by, and they were like, ‘yeah, where you been?’ I may havelived in a van for 10 years, but look what I was missing!

Eventually, I happened upon the Mount Everest, of scrap. Itwas actually two giant pile, where the city of Norfolk is accepting A) Tree DebrisB) Home Debris in respective piles. From this pile, I harvested several piecesof REAL wooden Doorskin, plus a few odds and ends…dangerous, I know.

I also met a nice transgender person named Jesse, who wascleaning up a destroyed deck from his Grandmother’s home. (PIC of Jesse tossing last foundationpost). Jesse told me that his girlfriend has just gotten into belly dancing,and also mentioned some thing about drum circles. While I had some what absolvedto curtain my social activities while I am here, in the name of keeping to taskat hand, this might warrant an exception….
I also met there a fellow that claimed to have poured the giant cinderblock that is the newish prison in downtown Durham. He told me that they put ground up tires into concrete walls, to help absorb noise from highways. Thats kinda cool!

Dogs and Burgers

After a hard day of hauling, I began the GREAT SEARCH for ofa burger….

I have decided that a side project is to sample the cheeseburgers of Norfolk.

This began, while pitching in to pick up sticks in front ofthe Hermitage yesterday, when the subject of hamburgers came up, in somewhat ofa ravenous revelry. As this happens to be a subject of some considerableimportance to me, I had to inquire, where could one find a good burger aroundhere. To this, Collin The Conservator, informed me in, some confidence, thatthere are several opitions. BUT, one that stands out from the rest, is theBurger at a place around the corner called D’Egg, which will serve you not justa hamburger, but also a fryed egg, at the same time, laying flat up on it!Well, while I didn’t venture my opininion that D’Egg has to take the prize asthe All Time Stupidest thing to name a restraunt, I did acknowledge myrealization that this could very well alter my life forever.

I am forever searching for debaucherous new ways to increasemy cholestoral level, and this Ladies and Gents, smacks of a winner!

Dog n Burger Wins the Prize!

Great service, great burger, I’ll be back!

While eating there, it occured to me, that in this day and age, there needs to be an award for resourcefulness. Like a Pulitzer Peace Prize, but for using your noggin, and your eyeballs, to SEE what is under your nose (not always so easy to do).
Of course, the architype of this virtue is MacGyver, the ingenious hero of that TV show that the Fonz produced in the 80's. So what I would like to propose is:

The MacGyver Award for Resourcefullness

(Post on Engagerer Blog. Also, post on Reuse Alliance group)

Nominations:

The guy who drank his own piss, and THEN whitled his arm offwith a pocket knife gets my first ever MacGiver.

Then comes Piedmont Biofuels, who use rotting corn to maketrucks run.

Mohatma Ghandi, who led his countrymen to make salt from the sea (and royally pissing off the Brittish while he was at it) would be an excellent candidate.

Reclamation Preparations Day 1

2011-08-31T20:39:00.001-04:00

If you are an asiduousereader of this blahg, you might recall that, in November of 2010, when I dropped of my 3 ‘pilgrims’ atthe Hermitage Museum, in Norfolk VA, for the Spiritual Visions Exhibition,Executive Director Melanie Mathews, and Public Programs Coordinator, MelissaBall ushered me into a small, dark meeting room in the 'far reaches' of themuseum, where they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse…

What they had in mind was atwo man-exhibition.

And what they wanted to callit was “RECLAMATION”…

There were no lead filledhoses involved.

BUT, I thought they had apretty place there, and I had really enjoyed working with Ms. Ball, andso I decided to make a go of it of my own free will.

I knew that I was going tohave a busy year; that, in many ways, I needed to turn my attention to my homefires. And that is what I have done. However, I also knew that opportunitieslike this do not come along everyday..not only was this a Very unique place, inthe bigger picture, I also saw this as an opportunity to take a step in aninteresting new direction, that I’ve been eying of late..that ofvisition/Artist in Residence. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to dip mytoes in the surf, and get my feet a little wet.

For the Hermitage’s part, Ithink they are trying to reach out to a younger audience with the Museum, andperhaps I can help them with this a little. All in all, they seem likeexcellent partners for us both the take this brave step forward, into newterritory together with.

So after due Hemming andHawing, I agreed, we signed a contract, agreeing that I would supply/ create abody of work for they show, and they even very kindly agreed/offered my astipend, to help with related travel expenses.

That was about 10 months ago.In that time, I have made several trips to Hermitage, to sketch, plan, ferment,boil up an exhibition.

While this was fine and good,I learned something about creating for clients far and way. They are not inyour peripheral vision, and a lot of other things are!

So finally, last month, Iemailed Melissa, and asked her ifthere was any way that I could and set myelf in front of my subject. Sheagreed.

So now, about 10 monthslater, about 1 month before the opening, I’ve finally managed to tear myself away from my busy Siler City life,and have brought myself here to make it happen. Thanks to Hermitage’s generousoffering of a space to work, I will be living and working ‘en situ’ (that means‘on site’, in fancy artist language) and am hoping to give myself over 100% tothe task.

To work, I will use a spacethat once was most recently the site of a summer camp (2 weeks ago). Beforethat, it was a photo studio (20 years ago), and before that, it was a cow barn(60 years ago?).

To live while I work, I haveborrowed an RV from parents.

I depotised it here about aweek ago, stuffed to the gills with Tire Sculpture and materials, taking the 5amgrey hound back to Durham.

I spent a long weekend of fretting over images of my folks RV being washed into the bay, and battared with god knows what bludgeons. They had declared a state of emergency, and mandatory evacuation.

"Red at night, Sailors Delight"....don't know about that

But last night, I drove my carup, and found the RV, having survived the wrath of Hurricane Irene, stillintact, and quite sleepable.

This morning, I awoke to aneccentric Russian gardner, surveying the damage to the trees “Oh my babies!”,who promptly put me to work sorting nursery pots and picking up fallenbranches. As this grounds crew had helped me to safeguard the RV, and I would nodoubt have to call on their help in the near future, to install the exhibition,I was happy to help. Hermitage is a small Musuem, with a small tight staff, andI am happy to help them get back on their feet from this blow as much as I can.

However, they have aptlyreminded me that my first priority is to get in the studio, and milk thosetires! (used to be a cattle barn ironically enough!).

So, today, after a groundscleanup crew/staff meeting, a morning of work and then a Pizza lunch, I wasshown to my ‘quarters’.

The space will do fine. Ithas a stage, with some cubbies (for Summer camp), which will do very well tohold my various tools and supplies. It also has several tables which I haverearranged to maximum benefilt. It was really to set up shop! I think that Iwill really be able to make the space work for me.

I have to remind myself, thatfor all of us, in many ways this is an excercize. For me, it is great to seebefore me: This is it- This is what I need to create Tire Art. This is my‘mobile response unit’.

And response is what I amhere for. To respond, and to be responded to.

Trip to Wisconsin

2011-08-31T20:38:00.002-04:00

Trip to Wisconsin

Last week, I took a trip tothe MotherLand, of Wisconsin.

The purpose of my visitwas the Steudel Art Exhibition, ashow of 3 generations of artists in my Family. It began with my Grandpa, TedRoosevelt Steudel. Ted became a painter later in life. While he was alwaysalittle strange, eccentric and slightly artistic (drawing cartoons for hiskids, and painting hand lettered signs for his community in New HolsteinWisconsion), he didn’t get into painting until late in life, when my mom, whowent away to California, to study art at Haywood Community College, got himinto it.

His wife, Evelyn Steudel (myGrandma), was also a bit of an artisan, creating wild rhine stone jewelry fromrocks she would tumble.

Also showing their art in theshow, was my mother Edie, and her two sisters, Andrea Fenner, and Pamela Pigg.My aunt Andy has really created a business for herself, first as a signpainter/ graphic artists, and now as a scenic/wildlife painter. My aunt Pammyhas also found her voice, painting similar subject matter.

For my generation, I wasflanked by the art of my cousins, Shannon Fenner and Katy Steudel. Shannonrecently discovered her voice in Photography, and I was pleased to see that shehas a great eye. And Katy, following in her mother’s Marion’s footsteps, muchto my uncle Charlie’s chagrin, has persued a successful career as a graphicartist, studying at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and going on thebe a graphic artist of a company which manufactures bicycle components.

It was really neat to see allof our work together. The Plymouth gallery staff did a phenomenal job puttingit together on a crunched time line. I also enjoyed to process of writing aboutour family’s art streak, and also reading my releatives thoughts about it.

But, I tell you what, when itwas done, I was glad.

I love my family, as myfamily.

After the dust settled, I gotto enjoy their company again.

My cousin Shannon showed usgood time in Madison, taking us to the Zoo (which is downtown, and connected toa park!). She also took us to the Botanical Garden, which I really enjoyedalso.

Here are a few pictures ofboth. Lots of inspiration there!

Energy Show @ Hotel Hadley Studios

2011-08-31T20:37:00.002-04:00

Still playing Catch up!

Newspaper Article in N&O by Diane Daniel.

2011-08-31T20:35:00.003-04:00

This needs a place holder. Fill in someday.

Last Supper

2011-08-09T00:54:00.000-04:00

What will your last supper be?

I was recently posed this question, while filling out some stupid online profile.

After thinking about it for a moment, I answered (with some chagrin) that the way things are going, chances are I'll be eating a balogne sandwich...

Back in Action

2011-08-08T20:26:00.002-04:00

So, you may have noticed that I have not posted many pictures in a while.
I dropped my camera a few months ago at the Haw River Festival. I was so bedazzled by the Awesome Pillar of Beauty and Strength that is Charity Alston, that I dropped it, and it plunged 4 feet to its death on the rocks in the asphalt below, withering heights indeed, never to shoot again. Here is the last picture that camera took, see for your self, of the Siren that did it to me).

Pillar of Strength, Charity Alston, still holding strong, at the end of a long day.
Charity, we miss you, and wish you the best in your adventures to come!

So, for a while now, I have been plodding through my roller coaster of a life, grasping in vain at the moments that pass me by, a fisherman on the sea, with out a net. Sigh. I was having a hard time coming to terms with this! (and hated to imagine pages of this book, that might be blowing out in the field..)

Well, a good fairy Reptire Admirer took notice, and decided that this was not to be.
So this week, she left me directions to her secret treasure chest. And inside, what did I find but a camera! And it works like a charm.

Who is this kind benefactor? Tis none but my good friend Amy, a Muse, and a Sister.

Amy has been such a solid pillar of support, and enthusiasm, for Reptire Designs. In fact, Amy is the only person that I KNOW reads this thing at all! (which gives me very good reason to keep writing it).
So, Amy, here's to you, and here comes some more pictures for you!

For the rest of ya, the pictures that you see from here on out (hopefully, for a good long time to come), we can all thank Amy for them.

By the way, we can also thank my mom, Edie, for the pictures you have seen up to this point, as she gave me her old camera, which, as I mentioned, I have tragically just broken.

We can also thank Chana Meeks for kindly lending me her camera recently also, to capture several important studio occurances, and which I did not break! Chana has also been a wonderful and consistant source of support, - beaming face, that is always shining across the street a the Raleigh St. Gallery. And Mom, well I can't begin to say enough...

It is a very fortunate fellow indeed, who is surrounded by such good women as these.

National Night Out

2011-08-06T00:36:00.005-04:00

TAKING BACK THE STREETS, That what I'm talkin' bout.
Gwen Overturf Spangles A Street Pimple!

I have been taking a mini sabatical from Tire Art, this last month.
I just got done teaching a cartoon camp at the Arts Center, which was alot of fun.
And before that I did some painting of puppets and sets for PaperHand Puppet, which was also fun (and looks to be a great show, opens this weekend).
I have also been heavily involved with the Siler City NC STEP Leadership Team, whose work I might describe another time. It has really been exciting and worthwhile to work with this group of people, and we have some really important projects brewing on the horizon.
Now is a very important time, when we choose which projects to persue. It is just a really exciting time to be in Siler City, inSPITE of all of the economic problems we face. It is still a wonderful and diverse community, and in some ways, I think our struggle brings us closer together...

This certainly felt to be the case last Tuesday, when we had our National Night Out.
This is an event put on jointly by the local police force, and (downtown) by a few local nonprofits, namely the El Vinculo Hispano, Chatham County Together! and the Arts Incubator.

We had a really nice blend of a little different folks downtown that night, and I was really pleased with the ease with which all of the groups intermingled, which hasn't always happened here, historically.
Everything was peachfuzz!

My band, Zambamboogee, was going to play, but that didn't quite work out, for better or worse. So we did have some good tunes from Mano, an awesome dance performance by the El Vinculo Youth Group, Face Painting, Street Painting, Pinata Busting, Fire Hose Showers, and contests, including a cake eating contest, which I contested in for the first time (but was not triumphant, perhaps because, as usual, I wanted to have my cake and eat it too...)

Sitting back to taste the cake.
Mmmmm, chocolaty....

I also got to sit in an do a cameo with the El Vinculo Face Painters, whom I have been working along side for several years now, and was a pleasure as always.

Its funny. Our band could have added something to this event. But, you know, we Really didn't need to!
It was a really nice event, and for me, it WAS very nice to get to 'sit back, and enjoy this cake' that is this community. Amen.

Gimme Cat Beat

2011-08-06T00:00:00.004-04:00

So Amos, the Alley Cat, is quickly acclimating to the life of a Tire Studio Artist, how about that.

He's slowly made his way up the stairs, to the landing, which he lounges around on. He acts as if he has died, and now has his own Valhala in the sky, which in many ways he does. He is now a mountain cat, of the High Shteps of Downtown Siler City... and as far as I can tell, he loves it!

And I have been enjoying his company too. Sometimes, I'll come home, and after calling for him, I will hear a rustling coming from the giant heap of tires I keep in an old cart by the door. A few moments later emerges from this blackened hive, a sleepy headed Tire Kitten, ready to gingerly greet me, get fed some food and a little love. What more could a guy ask for?

Amos lounging in his Tire Lair...

Tonight, I decided to introduce him to the drumset, and learned something a little kinda interesting..
I had been playing, and to my suprise this ussually doesn't send him scampering off, as one would think.

In fact, while I was jamming out, I had looked down, and there he was, at the base of my stool, hanging out.
I reached down and scooped him up, and set him on my right (kickdrum) knee. I tapped the floor tom, and even set him on it, and tapped it, and let him feel the vibes. I'll made a drummer out of this cat, I thought, after my friend Vito, who made sure that his son, little Joshua Sparrow, got a good dose of African Drums in eutero, at the ADF, good forsite from a rhythm loving father I thought.

Well, I don't know what Joshua thought, but Amos seemed pretty non-plused. More than anything, really just utterly puzzled. I moved him back on to my leg, tapped the cymbals, to snare, the high hat, all seemed to arouse suspicion in the little cat. Finally, I started playing a little beat, with a soft touch on the ride cymbal, and a soft boom-Boom on the bass drum...and no sooner had I struck that double beat "boomBOOM", the little cat instantly settled down right in on my leg, sort of flopped over on his side, and strarted purring like a lawnmower!
There we sat for a few minutes, boomBoom, boomBoom, boomBoom. I could tell he didn't want me to stop...so I just held it steady for him for a while.
I guess a cat CAN appreciate the drums. Who knew?! Reminded me of what they can do for people also.

Beaver Feast

2011-07-18T01:46:00.003-04:00

We did it. She was delicious!

A New Friend

2011-07-17T02:50:00.000-04:00

Reptire Designs has a new friend! Amos, the Alley Cat. Or Alley Kitten to be more precise.
It is really a pretty long (and sad) story, which maybe I will share some time.
But the long and short of it is, Amos the Alley Kitten, has been in need of some friends lately.
He is the sole survivor of his litter, not sure what happened to the rest.
And recently, it seems like his mom ditched out on him too (a pattern for her, it seems...).
So, we found it, that Amos was suddenly one lone hombre in the world, the mean streets of Siler City.
Actually, our alley way is pretty chill.
I've been feeding his mother and him for several months now. I put a bowl up on my porchlanding, and they come sneak up there.

But since he got left on his own, I've decided to try to befriend him. It was not easy, as he and his mother are really for all intents and purposes, wild animals. His mother, it seems is especially suspicious. Maybe she is not such a stranger to the ways of Man after, but she is VERY weary. I don't know what it was.

Over that past few days, I have been patiently drawing little Amos in. It is an excersize in patience indeed.
However, I have learned that such patience pays off, as little by little, I have been able to earn the little guy's trust. Often, after he eats, we just chill out together in quiet of the alleyway, me leaning against the brick wall, he about 10, then 6 feet away, laying down, and us both seeming to enjoy a little company in this sleepy town. Quality, guy time.

Last night, while my friend Larry was visiting, during the 3rd Friday Artwalk, for the first time, after about a week of drawing him closer, and earning his trust alittle more each time, that I wasn't going to pounce on him, he actually ate from my hand, kind of a miracle, considering where he had been only days before.

And tonight, we finally broke through, as he ate from my hand, under the full moon, he let me pet him, and returned the affection, and we spent the rest of the evening solidly establishing and confirming ourselves as buds for life.

I tied a cigarette butt to a string, and gave him a little guerilla training, important for a lone kitten in the world.

Then, out of nowhere, his mom showed up.....I knew that she was back in town, I had seen her around more lately, but she didn't seem to be giving her kid the time of day...

When she saw me with her kitten though, she stopped dead in her tracks...
I can't even fathom what went through her mind as she watched her little kitten nuzzle against this giant hulking mountain of a beast, who seemed to be playing with it...with an improvized bug on a string. Could she gather that concept at all?.....Probably not...she must have been really baffled.

She slunk around, and eyed us fearfully, intensely, hatefully and suspiciously. I have recently come to realize that she is slightly frightening to me. Maybe its her coloration, her fur is so dark around her face, her eyes, and their is something distinctly skeletal about her face.

She seemed to regard us with such an intense, unfathomable malice. An unstoppable rage seemed to burn with in her. Was it her sense of betrayal, by her Kitten? I could certainly understand her feeling that way. I tossed her some cat food, that I had soaking in milk.
As she sniffed around for it, she continued to eye us suspiciously.
Amos the kitten really didn't seem to have much interest in reconnecting with her.
However, after a few minutes as she drew closer for more thrown bits, he seemed instinctively obliged to think about approaching her, like he felt with in the sphere of her influence, and felt like he should be a good cat, but really didn't want too. You could tell that this cat was really hanging on the fence poor thing...
Well, when he finally made a more to approach her, she setteled it pretty quick, giving him a nasty hiss.
Oh the sound that she made. So disaster ridden and torn, was her voice.
I had always thought of her as sort of a young mother, out on her own..
But from the cry that emerged from her guts, she now seemed like a s sort of desperate old crone.

Amos retreated, visible hurt of his feelings, to be so fiercly rejected by his estranged mother!...
He came and lay down beside my leg, and then did a funny thing. He sort of flopped over on his back, so show me his big round white belly. It seemed like such as gesture, of defeat, and resignation to defeat.
It seemed to say to both of us "Well that settles that, not gonna work. I'm yers buddy old pal!

Siler City Lantern Festival

2011-07-14T16:12:00.002-04:00

Mark your Calenders,
Because this October 3rd Friday, something very witchy is brewing....

A visit from the Chatham County Bureau of Tourism

2011-07-14T16:07:00.003-04:00

Today, I got a very special visit from Mrs. Neha Shaw, our one-woman office powerhouse, here in Chatham County. I have recently had the pleasure to meet Ms. Shaw through both of our work the Siler City Merchants Association, and I have continually been impressed by both her professionalism, candor and vision.

It was a real treat to get to introduce Neha to the Reptire Design Studios and Showroom today. She seemed to delight in the mysterious ambiance of the space, in its many nooks and corners of eclectic tire amazement, which was satisfying to an artist like myself, especially coming from a tourism professional (with exceedingly good tastes) like herself.

Mrs. Shaw also brought with her a cache of Great Ideas!
One that she sold me on particularly deftly, was to set up some kind of an art making experience that visitor's could have with Reptire Designs.
I have to admit that while I was initially dubious and suspicious, in the course of discussion, she somehow turned me around, and after some serious brainstorming around the topo-tire coffee table, we devined a pretty neat plan!

On 3rd Fridays, (beginning in Novemember) I will host worm sewing parties at the Studio. Visitors form out of town, perhaps staying the night at Celebrity Dairy's Bed and Breakfast, can come in and 'tie one on'!, to old Tyrius!

At my last 'Verm-Sewing Verk Party' back in September of 2010, we had a great time sewing up Tyrius in preperation for his YOGA SPECTACULAR at Reuse Conex. There, Pro Chatham County Together! Counselor Extraordinaire Gwyn Overturf marveled at what an enjoyable, relaxing and really quite therapeutic activity worm sewing is.

And it is absolutely true! The repetitive motion of hand sewing these two fabric rings together, (with jumbo sized, curved upholstery needles and heavy duty fishing line) to create a long, bendy, human-sized glowering tube, with alternating stripes of black, orange, white, pink and yellow is a unique and special experience indeed!

(It also sort of brought a lot of very special in my life together, so too, it seemed to emminate the residual warm and hearty aroma of community building in my own personal collective memory, at least. There is something about doing small repetitive handi-tasks together around a table (or fire), that seems to tap into some part of our brains, somewhere back there, when we spent a lot of time doing such things (sewing fishing nets, sails etc....
Definitely some 'Stitch and Bitch' potential here..)

As Neha suggested, wouldn't it be wonderful for a visitor to get to step beyond that veneer of buying an artist's crafts, and get to step into their space, their gloves, their process, for an evening, and help to create something of lasting shock value!

I think it sounds awesome!

Article in News & Observer

2011-07-14T15:50:00.000-04:00

Great article about Reptire Designs, and its genesis, penned by writer Diane Daniels, for the News & Observer, which is now a statewide publisher! I gave Diane an impossible amount of information to juggle, and she boiled it down very nicely and eloquently I think.

Diane's story was also accompanied by some terrific photo's by Silk Hope's own Harry Lynch, whom I enjoyed meeting also.

Thanks very much to these two News Professionals for lending their keen, well honed eyes and ears to Reptire Designs, and its story.

It has been great to share it with them and with others through them!

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/07/02/1312870/bicycle-tires-become-art-in-his.html

Festival For the Eno 2011

2011-07-14T15:41:00.000-04:00

Had a wonderful time, and made some very significant connections between my artwork and people at the festival.
I will try to catch up ASAP!

Hang Tags for Reptire Designs

2011-06-29T02:15:00.001-04:00

OOOOWeeeE!
Got my hangtags, all printed up from the Printer, and trimmed up with my mat knife, and stacked in their colorful little stacks...devine.

However, it was not easy, getting to this stackED point...

I have had some serious setbacks in this effort.

For one, my so called, (and otherwise) 'trusty' computer (Yes, I said it, Computer)...
Now how is it, that a computer, a simple machine.., can tell when you are really in a pinch, and really need to get something out the door, so that it knows "OK, this is the time when I will really F$#% Travis UP!"
"I've got it all figured out- when he pops that blank disk in, and loads up all of his precious little hangtags files, rubbing his hands together in Greedy Graphic Glee, well I'm just going to swallow that thing whole, and watch the look on his face, as I refuse to eject it. No matter how hard he tries to coax that thing out of me, my lips are sealed, a promise is a promise. Teach him to call me a simple machine."

Well, I have my ways...

Long story short, got the files to the printer, and Ann at Caviness Printing kindly spent a bit of her day with me and my hangtags and signs, getting them all printed out. They own a marvelous machine over there, and I swear some of the the printed images look embossed...
They are real pals over there, and I feel very fortunate to have such a great working relationship with the Caviness family, and to have their service as a local resource here in Siler City. They take the time with you to make sure they are meeting your needs, and you are satisfied, and they do a superb job meeting my needs.

Looking forward to sharing these little dangling dodads at the Festival for the Eno, and hopefully garnering some feedback on wether or not they do their job of introducing the products they hang from.

Wren Out On A Limb

2011-06-29T01:47:00.001-04:00

Well,
That cute peeping has quickly become non-stop-squawking. For the past several days, there has been a non- stop blaring barage of a birdy alarm system, alerting me that I am an intruder in my own studio..ey.

Now, in addition to the two Parent Wrens, those deftly flying darts, shutling spiders back and forth from the abandoned Hair Salon behind my studio, we have the arrival on the scene of three different bushy eye-browed, sleepy headed, awkward as all get out little yapper/crappers, who each look like a mini Grandpa Munster. Actually, they look more like unhappy, awkward teenagers who just woke up from a nap..

They have been spending a lot of time hopping around on my tire sculptures though, particularly the Tirespheres and other tire constructions of the Great Balls of Tire series, with their arching bows..
I was able to borrow a camera from Chana Meeks, as mine is broken :( sorry.

Where are Ma Dukes Wren and Pa Dukes Wren during all of this? As far as I can tell, they have decided that their job is over! "So long Sucker!" they said, as they hopped and soared out the window, towards canada for the Summer, leaving their peeping pups, with this beleagured sculptor, in the wake of a festival.

So I am left with these things...how is it?

Well fortunately for an unlikely surrogate parent like myself, it turns out that baby wrens grow up fast, like in about the course of an afternoon...

I found one perched on the edge of the stair landing, contemplating his plunge into adulthood...
Don't do it! I said. I ran to borrow Chana's camera, and by the time I got back, he was a Real Bird!

Of course, all this meant was that he was clinging pitifully and bat-like to the wall of the barbershop in the alley way below, eyeing me sort of both sheepishly and suspiciously, as if to say "......What?!"
Ah yes, Independence. I was reminded of a few short lived running away from home journey's of my own childhood, all the way down to the neighbor's house on the corner...(as they say "Just because you get out of Dodge...")

He let me pull a few of my studio's cobwebs off of his feet before flying on towards his Bird Destiny, whatever that will be...

One down, two more to go.

I found another clinging to the outside edge of a window that I leave cracked open, two stories up, above a busy street. This was quite pitiful. I didn't try to catch him, as I didn't want to scare him into doing anything stupid like flying down into the street.
So I just left him to figure it out, and eventually he was gone...

So finally there was just one little bird left, who sat perched on the handle of a closed window, crying to no one who cared, pretty much all day yesterday.

When I found him early this morning, in the exact same place, I resolved that when I got home from my tutoring job, I would help him find the door.
However, when I returned this afternoon, it seemed that he has found his own way also.

And thus, the din has subsided, for the time being, and I can get a little badly needed work done.

Moving Time- The Metrauds

2011-06-24T07:57:00.000-04:00

OK, here is a place reserved for the Metrauds, best wishes to them on their journey.
Will sing their due praises as I find the time.

Moving time

2011-06-24T07:55:00.000-04:00

Before time slips by too far, I need to mark here in time, that this past month, I have helped two very special families move.
Its moving time!
One of these is the Scrap Exchange.
The other is Metrauds, a family who opened a very special establishment here in Siler City.
In fact, both of these families/moves, warrent their own post, some I'm going to reserve a space for each.
And will fill in another time.
Till then.

Wren's will be wrens

2011-06-24T07:45:00.000-04:00

Animal visits are always a special occurance around here (or anywhere).
While I do not feel particularly honored by the continual visits of the mouse who likes to nibble my occassional precious avocadoes, and who laid waste to my bag of Eno Mill-ground grits...(they must love that place!), I do feel honored by the visits of a few other interlopers.

Most notably was a black snake a couple years ago, who I found hanging out in my second story downtown studio/flat. While I was absolutely thrilled to watch her slither around my tires, and hoped she would stay, I must say, that for several days of saying "Here Inky, here girl", I kept thinking "there's Inky", when in fact she'd gone away.
Here in the Reptire Design Studio, just about everything looks like a slithering black snake!

So most recently, I have been visited, increasingly, by a family of house wren.
Over the last year, I have seen one come in through the tiny opening in the window screen. S/he would sort bob and flit about the studio space, seemingly in panic, not able to find his/her way out.

Now, I have watched house wren's before (they are the subject of a drawing "Wes's Nest", please see my graphic arts blog by clicking the lizard graphic at the top right of this page). And one thing that I know about them is that they are very smart and clever.

So I decided early on that I was not going to get all worked up, and spend a precious work day fruitlessly chasing the thing around studio, stirring us both into a frenzy. Instead, I was going to remain cool, and let him figure it out. "You know what" I said "you guys are smart, you found your way in here, you can find your way out."
(I'm a busy body too!). And sure enough, after about 10 minutes of darting around, he was gone!
I must admit, I felt pretty smug about my cool approach.

Well, funny thing, this started happening on a regular basis. I didn't mind, I liked watching him dart around, lighting gracefully on different ledges and edges, and his escape time seemed to be clocking down. I might find the occasional white spot on a tire sculpture, but this seemed like a small price to pay (say a nickel) for this intriguing companion.

Well, needless to say, before I knew it, 'they' were coming everyday, carriying odd bits in their beaks, and soon enough I discovered a small nest buried behind a tire purse maquette sitting on top of the giant box/window fan. An odd place to build a nest, as that thing is a giant churning beast, which I can barely hear myself Think over. However, I am reminded that as a baby, my parents used to call me T-Bird, as they could only get me to go sleep over the rhythmic din of a car engine, or washing machine. So maybe there was some strategy in this young couples choice...though their babies might grow up kinda wierd...(drummers?) we'll see.

So added to the Concerto of this fan's low churning chello, is an almost perpetual picalo chorus of peeping wren chicks. Add to that the piercing violin stabs of the wrens in their darting flight, who seem to take turns, diving out the second story window, to return only minutes later with a fresh spider dangling limply from their beaks, which they hop, sticatto like over to the nest.

It never ends! (I'm sure that's how they are feeling too!).

Of course, one of the greatest benefits of hosting a wren family in my studio, is that I get to watch this liting on my sculpture.

It is always such a treat for an artist to see anyone interacting innocently with your sculpture, particularly in an unexpected way. I am reminded of a Tiresphere that I made for a local Boxing Gym in Siler City several years ago. Don Cabellero has since returned to Mexico, but the sculpture still hangs proudly in the large store front window.) I offered to retrieve it once from the Tienda that the store has since become, but the new owner defended emphatically "No, its mine!". From it, he dangles odd knick nacks,- key chains, tiny stuffed animals- eagles actually. So be it! Always gives me a smile to walk by.

SO, long way of saying, that I derive supreme pleasure in watching this little guy, lighting on my scluptures. I will catch him poised on the gracefully curving bow of a hanging tire sphere, or hopping along the edge of by bamboo booth display. It is just magnifiscent to see his tiny frame interacting with these forms in this way, his nimble reptilian toes, curled around the edges of an arching tire.

All the while he is chattering away. While I can't quite make out what he is saying, its sounds something like, "My studio, My studio, Hey! He He He" repeat, al dente, ad nauseum.

Oh really? Inky might have something to say about that...

Beaver Day

2011-06-20T22:54:00.002-04:00

Well yeah, so to follow up on Beaver Day...
That was a really neat experience, and I must say, quite out of my realm.

Earlyish on a Sunday Morning, I and a very small handful of interested individuals gathered, to pay a special kind of homage, to Our Lady, The Beaver, beautiful babe, who had found 'sun bathing' on the side of Hwy 87 North, several months ago.

To recapp, As you can learn from previous posts, I had found this gal on the way to band practice up at Blue Heron Farm, and thought her too precious of a find to leaver' for the vultures. So I threw her in the back seat, and off we went, to a land where I knew that they would know the value of a beaver...

And indeed, man of many resources Raymond Milosh, heeded my call to freeze her, in his personal freezer, (clearing a hulking beaver sized shelf for her) which I will be forever grateful and eternally impressed...

Recognizing the educational oppurtunity that such a fortuitous find provides, my good Father, Steve Cohn, who serves actively on the board of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, as well as on regular creek clean ups and other important tasks, offered to sponsor her preservation for educational purposes of ECWA, and maybe other interested parties...

After consulting a few taxidermists, and discovering that 'mounting' a beaver costs about as much as mounting a deer (the darn thing weighed about 30 lbs), we decided to just settle for tanning her pelt, with the hope of preserving a few key features, namely her fabulous scaly, prehistoric taily-po, and just as magnificent, her back feet, giant furry webbed hands, really though.

And so it was that we gathered there in Ray's yard that morning, among the cool forests of Blue Heron Farm.
Lucky were we to have presiding over this momentus occassion, Dr. Perrin Heartway, the local Holistic Vetrinarian who had helped us to originally discern this was 'indeed a Beaver' (he thought this was pretty funny), and who is a good friend of mine. Dr. Heartway would be leading the skinning of the animal, a task which he has undertaken frequently in his own exlporations of salvaged animal resources (most notably for a beautiful and special sounding drum!).

Also in attendance was Artist, Longtime Friend, Student of Native American Animal Medicine, and co-organizer of this momentus event, Stacye Leanza. Stacy and I had sought to open this ritual to others, as sort of a ceremonial skill share. However, the response from key players was, well, not even tepid, which was really quite disappointing, but what can you do. So we persevered, and those few who were interested were treated to an experience out of the ordinary.

Those in attendance were: Dutch, Eric, Cedar (Perrrin's Son), and a nice young man and his son, who had Just moved to this community from NY, and who seemed psyched to get to partake in this out of their ordinary experience. I was grateful for all of these people's interest in this experience.

Perrin had unthawed the Beaver the night before, and so her skin was soft enough.
You know, its hard to prepare for something that you have never ever done before. Trying to imagine these steps from the dark of my bed the night before, I had packed a utility knife with a hooked lenoleum cutting blade for cutting hide (that I ussually use for cutting tire's hides), and a hack saw, for cutting bone, and a large tarp, to catch the ocean of blood that imagined might poor forth. I layed this over a slanted picnic table in Rays front yard (which has been used for similar tasks before, I was told), and assembled the tools, some rags, and a small fan 'upstream'.

We said a brief invocation for the Beaver, then had a moment of silence.

Then it was time dig in. Perrin was kind and generous enough to allow me the experience of piercing this beaver's flesh, and from what followed, I think its true to say, that I will never be the same.
We moved the shallow cut down her belly to her tail, carefull (Perrin) not to open up tight package of her valuables yet. We cut to the legs, found the broken bone of her hind leg that Perrin had discovered when we first met her, and Perrin disarticulated the other hind foot, and the tail bones, that held her beautiful tail to her skeleton. Pulling, and de'seaming' we undressed this carcass, little by little. Perrin did a Masterful job, and was able to salvage much more of her than have ever expected.
When it was finally through, she had not only her tail and hind legs still on her, but her front paws, and her perfectly preserved snout and ears. A real artist we had behind the knife on this task, and I am grateful both for Perrin's attention to detail, and that we had chosen for the task. For not only did he execute this with deft cunning and precision, but he then proceeded to walk us through the butchering of the entire animal, pointing out the various glands, tendons, and bone structures. We could not have been luckier!
Along the way, we encountered another special part of the beaver, her castor glands. We had been warned in the instruction that local soap maker and BHFits Hannah Shoemaker had shared, that we needed to look out for these, as they could taint the meat. The instructions went on to say that we should give these to some one who could process them for the perfume trade. One unfortunately got fed to Perrin's dog Ralph, who I must say does not have very discriminating tastes (as was proven in that moment...), but the other I kept.
And what a smell they had. We were reminded of the pungent, woody odor that we had all taken note of that day when we found her. It was a resinous, piney smell, a very special smell, scent, like no other...

Once the butchering work was through, Perrin and others had to go tend to families and what was left of their appitites...
Stacye and I then spent a couple hours cleaning the meat, and soaking it in a salty brine, per Stacye's good hygiene recommendation. (I did recognize the double rinse bucket method adopted from the aciduous paint-brush washing method that I have learned from her, in my work as her assistant over the years in Mural Painting!) Was funny to see, but effective, and a nice way to spend some time, gently handling an getting to know, this material, that was at once, both being, and food...

I hope this is not the last time that I will get to experience, this strange, yet completely natural dichotomy, of being, and food.
I feel grateful that I was able to experience this. Grateful to the beaver, to the pond, to the road, to Ray, Stacye, Perrin, Cedar, Dutch, Eric, new guys from NY, Steve, Hannah and Sage, for allowing this to happen.

It was a Beaver Day!

I rolled up the hide, and dropped it off at Circle Acres at around sunset that evening (last night). My friend Noel will work on tanning the hide. Noel is great tanner (as evidenced by his new fox pelt bag that he modeled in downtown Siler City last Friday Night!), and I sure that he will do a great job.
Hopefully, soon, other people will soon get to experience the special thing that is a beaver skin, with its many special 'feetchers'

Thanks All.

Beaver Fever

2011-06-19T23:38:00.001-04:00

Travis Cohn, 'Beaver Retriever', at your service.
"What the $%#, what's with the pluck? I've never known Travis to have much luck"
Well, today, was an Busy Day.
Today, was Beaver Day.
Yes, I know, you in Durham will say, "what?, Beaver Day was two weeks ago today!"
Well, maybe for you city slickers in Durham, THAT is a Beaver Day- a beaver parade, I dare say a charade..
In fact, I'll go so as to say Durham's is but a Beaver Teaser.
What of Chatham's?
A Beaver Pleaser.

Had a dream...

2011-06-09T16:29:00.002-04:00

Last night, I had a dream that I was a Tire Diatom... rolling about through a Vernal Poole (life infested puddle), or maybe that was my name..., I could see all of the little misquito larvae, squirming about, it was wonderful...

Prepping for Eno Fest

2011-05-27T00:51:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to get my butt in gear for Eno Fest.
Sometimes its hard.
I worked so hard to make a splash last year, and succeeded. But now, I want to make a bigger splash.

There is a piece that I desperately want to make for festival.

However, I just don't think it is feasable this year...

So this year, I am going to try to resist that tempation, and try to merchandize a little better.

I got a really strong and solid start on booth design last year, and I'd be pretty happy to see that same site again..
But I think that it could still stand to be refined...

One bit of feedback that I got from several pals that care was....BETTER SIGNAGE.

So that is something I am working on....
I have developed a whole SLEW of hang tags. The purpose of these are to give each piece a bit of context, to help explain where this piece fits into the Reptire Pantheon.

Does anyone care? Probably not, but I guess we will find out.

So yes, I am going to try to refine my merchandizing. That is my first goal. Any thoughts?

Followin up- Beaver Day

2011-05-27T00:25:00.000-04:00

Well, that Beaver I mentioned, said I'd never leave 'er. Well, I left her, in the freezor!
Its been what 2-3 months now.

BUT, her day is coming, in a major way- It'll soo be Beaver Day!

Yes its official.

We are gonna
-skin her
-tan her hide
-cook her
-and then were gonna tell stories about her

That's the plan..

I'll fill in more as we draw nearer...

A hard blow for The Scrap Exchange...

2011-05-27T00:18:00.000-04:00

Oy Oyve!

Our dear Scrap Exchange has suffered a serious blow!
Last week the roof caved in upstairs in the old tobacco warehouse, due to a Long Standing Puddle of epic proportions.

As much has this place has meant, and means to myself, Reptire Designs, and the Durham arts community, and a whole TON of other people all around the piedmont, Wow, this is little hard to fathom.

Spent most of Sunday helping load a truck, to take to the new storage space, an industrial sized warehouse in East Durham.

It felt good for us all to give back to an organization that gives to much.

Then Muriel Williman and I helped another tenant of the space, the family of none other than Vernon Pratt, 'Art Rat' move his collection to the warehouse also.

Dave Rogers is going to hold a benefit concert soon. I am going to see if I can get the guys (and gal) to play..

Silk Hope's Knot

2011-05-19T22:43:00.001-04:00

Sorry, have to play some catchup here.

About a month ago, local sculptor Eddie White called and invited me to contribute a work for the commemoration of the new Community Center that they have just built up the road in Silk Hope NC.

I was happy to accomodate Eddie's invitation on many levels. He is a great guy, and has been a good friend over the few years I have known him, so I didn't really need any other reason than that.

However, it was also kind of an additional thrill to make a piece for Silk Hope's new community center.

Why?

Well for one thing, Silk Hope is kind of a special and unusual place.

Its character is decidedly rural and agrarian. There is just no denying that. Lets just say, you would be walking for a long time..

However, there are some surprising and interesting twists to Silk Hope's plot...

In his book about Chatham County, Small Lyle Estil talks about Silk Hope. I'll have to reread it...

One interesting thing about the surrounding area is the Quaker tradition.

There is also a Massage school up here, the Body Therapy Institute (though I believe this now has a new owner.

And of course, there is Eddie White, with his luminous pole tent of amazing, organic forms of popped out steel..!

So anyways, this seemed like a great oppurtunity for me to make some Silk Hope specific sculpture, as alot of my materials happen to reflect the rural surroundings of this area.

I decided to tie a knot for Silk Hope, but not just any knot, but a special tractor tire knot, in honor of Silk Hope's said agrarian character. For this beast, I had a beast of a tire.
And boy, was it a beast.
This was actually one of the most challenging tires I have Ever tied.
In fact, it was suitable STUBBORN. A winning and defining and NECESSARY trait, bred into farmers...

So I wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled with that thing, and then wrestled some more, and then some more, and then some more!

Oh god.

But finally I got it there, or close enough.

And was it fantastic! Talk about Knotus Robustus. This was the King of Kings! It has the bearing, and muscularity of the Incridible Hulk!

And to top it off, its treads all magically aligned in a beatutiful rosette at its center. Truly magical.

To top finnish this beast off, I added its Silk Hopey wu wu, a white feather boa...

I dropped it off on the way to work in Saxapahaw and got to meet some great Legends of Chatham County, Bill Moore, and Kathleen Jardine.

Here is my good friend Gwen Overturf, one of the most caring generous women I know, who recieved Silk Hope Knot in Silk Hope at their new community center, and who was nice enough to usher it home afterwards.

Thanks Gwen and Eddie, Love ya guys!

Chatham Hero Gwen Overturf, gaurding Silk Hope Knot.
(It looks like I asked her to pose with a skunk!)

A little help from some friends

2011-05-17T23:39:00.004-04:00

The other day, I had a great experience.
I ran into a groovy gal I had met previously, and her friend, also groovy folk.

I had a bug up my butt to make this screen I had recently dreamed up, and was so excited about it, that after a whole day of landscaping, I had plenty o steam to go hunt down some bicycle wheels down the street, which is where I met Eleazar and her friend Mike.

I invited them come check out Tyrius, we all hit it off, and before we knew it, we were all working on the project together! Which was a good thing, because their company helped keep my momentum moving in the right direction.

This is a new model of getting things done, that I learned from my friend Perrin, who recently enlisted my own help to get a few projects of his own knocked out, in the face of the arrival of his daughter, Wren. It was a really positive experience for us both, and appearently, it carried over..

It was GREAT! We got alot done!

THE TASK AT HAND: Suspend 6 bicycle wheels in the air (from my studio porch), at very specific and equal distances from one another, taking into account the pull of gravity vertically across the form..

THE WILLING COMMANDOS:

Name: Mike
Code Name: "Rob"
Situation: Fresh out of the Armed Forces, in search of organic farming experience, adventure, a taste of a new, different way life, and what ever the road my offer forth to him. (?)

Name: Eliazar

Code Name: Elia

Special Powers: skills of stealth..

Well, these agents proved themselves well worthy of the task.

So stoic were they, in their devotion to their mission, and their unwavering composure...

The next day, having recovered alittle, I decided to clip the spokes out. I have Mike to thank for this pragmatic approach (as I had been caught in the notion that I would need to get a spoke tool to tediously remove each spoke. Ow. Is this the kind of thinking they teach you in the Army?

Mike cut the gordian knot.

What this did was open up the space (obviously).

What might not be so obvious, is that doing so also opened up a sort of dialogue with the negative space between the wheels. This is in fact the entire point of the piece, to engage this space, through the apperatus of an inverted tire, share a 'corner' of four adjascent wheels.

To me, this effect is endlessly satisfying to behold..

I also like the way that this allows the piece to behave as a 'screen', which I believe it begins to do very well, as such.

What is a screen but a membrane, that allows a viewer and the back ground to interact in a special way.

I don't think that I am describing this very well, but I do believe that there are some interesting things happening here, which probably merrit some more reflection and exploration.

Thanks to Mike and Elia, for catalyzing this being's back alley birth into the world.

Reptire gets atastasoma 'THIS'!

2011-05-17T01:00:00.009-04:00

Wow, what rich potential for titles, Pittsboro's new epiphany of a space holds...

This past weekend, I had the pleasure to visit 'This' in several different ways, most notably backing up the fabulous Sheila Flemming, on the drums for her CD release party, which was a Smash Hit!
Lots more to tell here, so I won't try to get it all out in one breath.

Alright, Pittsboro has got a really visionary new space. Dare I say, it, and it debut exhibition 'On Making' has really blown Pittsboro's mind.
I'm not going to be able to do it justice, but let direct you to someone who can put the event in some well articulated context...Mr Matt Zigler, in his NCArt blog.

I first encountered this space when I showed up to draw caricatures at The Abundance Foundation's Mardi Gras Fundraiser Event at the Chatham Mills this fall.

I was not at all expecting what I encountered...

The first thing I encountered was a wooden board walk through the space. This Gesture, lent my visitors experience of space a certain something, a sense of adventure. As I embarked down this board walk, here are some of the ingenious artworks I encountered/was treated too.

An installation/selection of one of my favorite local public sculptures, which lives in the parking deck/entry to the RDU airport- a flock of canadian geese, born of open suit cases, in flying V pattern...
I knew I was in rich company then..
Another favorite of mine was a wall made of cinderblocks, which has been brilliantly appropriated to be a block of text...Sheer genious. So obvious, right under your nose.

Another really intersting piece was a study of Durer's alphabet, in wood...
Here is a picture of the Artist who created the work (as part of his Graduate Studies at NC State), checking out my sketchbook, yikes!

There were also some really stunning metal sculptures, and a table made of a giant tree section that I remember. (The 'table' pictured above)

Just to give you a glimpse of that fabulous evening:

There were many Belles at that Ball.

Wallowing In The Lap of Luxury

Here is The Official Belle of the Ball, Madamoiselle Nicole.

And here is the unofficial King of the event, in my book.

Cool Dude. I used to play in a band with this guy!

Aw...New Found Friends:
Is that not about the sweetest thing you've ever seen?

Well, when my new friend Sheila Flemming decided to hold a CD release party, to debut the Ass Kicking, Inspiring album she just produced, this is the space that she chose...

Far be it, that in her notably and remarkably good taste, she also chose yours truly to back her up on drums ;).

So, as her arrangments progressed, Sheila filled me on how the Space works alittle. Needless to say, I was entranced.

Well, a few weeks later, I found myself waiting for a half an hour for a business meeting, and getting very fed up, was about to blow off, when whom did I see, But Simon See, owner of "This" gallery, getting into his car to drive off..

I approached him, and reintroduced myself, and asked if he would be willing to check out my tire studio.
He said that he would love to, and in fact that I was next on his list! It seems Sheila had been making more arrangements..

So we walked up the street, and showed Mr Simon around the Reptire Designs Studio and Showroom.
Its funny, because just that morning, I had wrested a Very Rusty innertube out of one of the tires they had dredged from the Haw River. It had been so fantasticly rusty, that on a whim, I stretched it out on a nice old board I had salvaged from the Bolin Chair Factory a few years ago. Pinned up like this, it took on the impression of a deer skin, splayed open to cure. Not really knowing what to do with it, I set it against a chair.

As soon as Mr. See entered the studio, he was immediatly drawn to this!

A few days later, his associate, Sculptor Mike Steel came to pick up some work, and he reported that that was the piece that convinced Simon that he needed to come over!

Mike and I had a great lunch together downstairs at the Sidewalk Cafe, discussing the sculpture business. We decided to use a contract for exhibition loans.Mike actually brought the subject up, which I was grateful for, as this is always a little bit awkward of a subject to breach, though it really shouldn't be.

As a sculptor himself, Mike was very into the idea of dratfing one. I have a great book of contracts for artists, and from this we used a thorough contract for exhibition loans.

Once we had negotiated all of the relevant details, we drove over to the library together to sign it, and made a copy for each of us. As we walked out with our contracts in hand, I think we both felt a sort of a rush, and a certain lifting of weight from our shoulders...

Then Mike said something that I will never forget. "This is freedom".
Wow, such a simple statement, yet so powerful. Because he really hit the nail on the head.

It was quite a pleasure to have this experience, sculptor to sculptor.
Mike drove off with a few of my works in his truck, and me feeling like they were in very good hands.

Studio Visit by Sculptor Mike Steel.
Steel on contracting:
"This is freedom"

Sheila's gig was awesome.
Sheila ROCKED THE FUCK OUT. Had every body rivited to their seats.
She had an awesome guest artist too.
7 Sista's in Full EFFECT.
Food was off the chain. Popcorn balls flying, brownies disapearing.
DJ Janisphere spun some Dope Ditties.
We all danced the night away.
It was an Amazing Evening.

DESIGN ECSTACY

To TOP IT ALL OFF, the next day, we, the clean up/take down crew got royally treated, to what will remain one of the aesthetic eye/brain orgasms of my lifetime...

(Much thanks for Amy Durso for generously lending her cameraism for this unique oppurtunity)

(I am working getting the name and permission of this amazing artists work, mostly so I can share these images with him).

Haw River Festival 2011

2011-05-16T06:52:00.012-04:00

I got to return to the Haw River Festival again this year, to adorn its willing participants with the occassional skink thumb, or tree frog snack wrap.

It was a lot of fun!
Last year was great, but a little exhausting. So this time around, I decided to bring in some reinforcements. So I invited in a few choice Guest Artists who I knew had both the skillz and flava for this special event. This allowed me to enjoy working at a little bit more relaxed of a pace, and I also got to enjoy the creativity of these fellow Artists, as we celebrated the Native Denezins of the Haw.

I was blessed first with the talents of Chatham's own Charity Alston, who has been festooning faces at Pittsboro's 1st Sunday event for many years (among other places).

I was also blessed with the talents of Suzette, a really great face painter I had met at the festival last year!
She whipped up some really nice designs, incorporating some native flora, such as this tiger lilly.

Suzette with her Tiger Lilly

Though I didn't get to add a lot of new designs this year, as I had hoped, I did get to make some good matches this year.

My friend Brooksie requested a talisman of my choosing. Said she needed alittle pick me up. Wow, being entrusted with this creative task actually really got my juices flowing. I had a lot of fun with this one, and hope I did her right.

Brooksie

My toughest customer of the day was this man, a Pint Sized Herpetologist.

With the conviction of a Father of a teenage girl in a Used Car Lot, he demanded a poison dart frog, which was to have shiny black skin, bearing blue spots, a yellowish abdomen, and red eyes, and on the double!

It was my first poison dart frog...had he been a true pygmy, I probably would have wound up a poison dart shishkabob....to appease him, I gave his frog a tasty dragon fly snack on the other cheek, gratis. A guys gotta do...

One of my more satisfying works was for this young feller.

Tough guy Talisman.
I don't know, I think I see a tattoo materializing..

And once Little Bro saw how cool his Big Bro looked with his, well, you know, he HAD to have one too! (only he wanted his with just yellow stripes!)

Two Brothers Skinks

Check out the pride evident in Little Bro's expression, of Juvenile Awe, and Brotherhood...
This is the stuff...

I got a little bit entranced by the stone wall which formed both the rich and majestic back drop of this painting session, as well as the foundation of the Saxapahaw Post Office.

Skink Scape

This wall was in fact adorned with its own live a squirmy embellishments, a raucous bunch of skinks had made this Tunisian Palace their home and playground. Last year, a sole skink "Hugo" had provided a perfect specimine for delighted and watching eyes. However, it seems Hugo had not felt adequetly compensated for his wildlife modeling services last year, and I would say was not on his best behavior this time around!

Skinks Gone Bad

Well, I guess if We get to celebrate the wildlife of the Haw... I guess maybe this is just how they celebrate up here in Saxapahaw...hey, its a party!

And here is a skink couple, looking pretty amorous. Who would have ever guessed that skinks were capable of such post-coital tenderness...makes me rethink the skink to be honest with you..

I did get a request for a new creature that I had never heard of before...and thus was born, friends, the first and only TIGER SNAKE in known existance....

But not for long!

Because once that thing hit the ground....well it was not 20 minutes before the second ever Tiger Snake was paged into existance. This one was customized with a green stripe, for a very special fellow, none other than the Son Of A Very Dear Friend, Jimmy/Cosmo Magoo!

Cosmo's Tiger Snake

I also had a little Reptire action going at the festival

For one, I made a donation of the Lovely Lady Alligatory Knot, that I had prepared for the Haw River Assembly's live auction at the festival.

I regret that I missed the Reverend Gary Phillips spinning this bugger, but I was gratified to hear that

A) it was planted by a dear old friend, Ken Moore, with some bamboo like plant, which I am sure suited it rather exquisitely, as Ken has a great and very artistic eye.

and

B) It sold to some one who was reportedly very excited to have one it!

I would love to find out who this is, and meet this person some day. If anyone has any clues, please contact me at traviscohn@gmail.com. Thanks.

One satisfying result of this, I believe, is that, as I was sitting there, painting a salamander on someone's cheek, I heard a woman's voice from behind me inform a friend that "This is a treadknot", in a very expert like tone!

I had to turn around, a little bit baffled. Who was this new Reptire Design expert? It was not until after I had gone home that I realized that Gary and Germane must have done an excellent job of spinning this planter, because they had created a new expert in the field! (This was quite a suprising, and gratifying, and maybe defining moment for me).

Another gratifying moment was when I realized that the new Gallery in Saxapahaw was started by a woman whom I had met last year. She had mentioned her ambition/dream to start such a gallery for local artists, and to be honest, I hadn't take her dream very seriously.

Well, I stand corrected. One year later, this lovely, stately, and very well situated gallery stands in defiance of my pessimism, and fully stocked with a rich collection of outstanding art made from local greats, filled with splendor. Saxapahaw seems to have a streak of defying the odds.

From a gas station that serves out of this world Gormet food (which is also very much 'of this world'- locally grown, and now, not only this gallery, but also that night the grand opening of a Grand Ballroom?!!! What are these people thinking?!!! And yet, they are thriving. Here is to Saxapahaw. Shine On, You Crazy Diamond"!

And even nicer, everyone seemed to be really chill at this festival this year.

I traded this Gentle Giant one of my treadknots for some wicked strands of his 'Dragon Maille' chain-maille, which felt like a good trade, of kith celtic knot-work. A very nice and friendly guy, Father of Tough Customer.

Some Merry Olde Souls I encountered

In fact, fortunately for me, my toughest customer also turned out to be my best, and most satisfied customer.

A seemingly satisfied customer

Charity Alston: Pillar of Strength, Grace, and Bad Ass Lassitude

SPECIAL THANKS TO CHARITY ALSTON FOR HER CONSISTENT, STEADFAST HELP WITH THIS EVENT. One of my very favorite persons I've had the pleasure to meet and work with in Chatham County, I don't think Charity quite realized what she was getting into when she signed on for this one (with a giant bamboo balistrade to assemble). And yet, she was down for it all, always a step ahead of me, and seemed genuinely glad to be there, which I appreciated. I'm so glad we got to spend this time together, Love Ya Baby Doll.

Tour d' Carrboro: Reptire visits Night Light!

2011-04-11T23:24:00.005-04:00

This was one more very busy weekend, doing, how you say, Repartire Arte?

For it found me, among other places, a la Luit Nuit, en le Paris du Piedmont, Carrboro, NC!

Hien, Jean Luc! Reptire Arrive!

My Girl Alexis Mastromichalis, who runs the very funky, hipsperimental Night Light club in Hip Music Mecca of Carrboro, recently approached me about an awesome Art From Reclaimed Materials Exhibition she is putting together for Earth Week, entitled 'Elemental'
We know one another through our work together doing outreach for The Scrap Exchange.

I decided to join her in this endeavor, because
a) she's my girl, and I want to support her in her Reuse endeavor
b) I thought it was a pretty cool idea for a show
c) I am currently developing a body of work centered around the theme of the element of Earth, to culminate in the GemLine Series, to take place in the NC Appalachian Mountains. I thought this would be a good chance to let this work stretch its legs a bit.

One of the pleasures that didn't occur to me was the thrill all exhibiting at Night Light, a place with a long a rich history in Carrboro's mythology, including many of my dear friend, and a little bit my own.
Plus, Alexis has really remodeled the space in a lot of ways that I wasn't aware of, and the visual richness of the space was a pleasent suprise.

It was also fun to share art with the funky homodenizins of Carrboro. Night Light was abuzz with a steady hum of Artsts at Work, and it was a pleasure to work with them in this serene hum space.

UnNamed Hottie checks out my Junk Art

Awesome Installation for Mother Nature, as viewed through the lens of my Wormoscope
(unfortunately does not do it justice by any means :(

Artist Julia Gartell at work on her thought provoking installation;
invoking the 4 Elements in modernized manifestations.

"Chance"'s eerie installation, featuring live fish
in the manequin's head on the table

So, I spent a Very long day installing my work on Friday, but in great company.

There were deffinately some challenges to installing in such a mixed use space, but I sort anticipated that their would be, and so tried to plan accordingly. And eventually my sculptures landed in a good spot for themselves.

When I finally got done, I had to zoom back to Chatham County to play a gig with ZamBamboogee, at the beautifull new Culinary School at CCCC, for the 'Empty Bowls' benefit for CORA.

It was a pretty hairy getting there and set up, but eventually I did, and we had a Great show. For playing this Empty Bowls benefit, we got paid in soup, and boy was it delicious. We had a great audience too. Good after-parties ensued.

ZamBambooGee: (From l-r) Suzanne Saunders, Scotty Young, Yers Drooly, Joey Howell
(MIA Bruce Saunders)
Chatham Legends, those guys!

So unfortunately, I couldn't make it for the opening (gig was schedueled long before)

But the next evening, Lucky me, I returned to the scene of the crime, just in time, to catch the thrashin' Trashion show, showcasing the work of another Colleague In Scrap, none other than Nicole Hogan.

Needless to say, the runway was a river of wonderment; a bombardment of shock and awe.
With Bangin models stuttin their stuff, showcasing a pleathorae of real hot little numbers, my favorite being a jumpsuit with a hoodie, but I had some technical 'misgivings', so had to let that number slide by. Oh well.

The next morning, I ran into Rich from the Recycelry, (who I had recently reconnected with at the Reuse Rodeo) and got to connect him with a treadknot, which seemed like some good product placement;)

While in the neighborhood, I also dropped by Back Alley Bicycles, to drop off an Atomic Tire Sphere.
I had promised to lend them one for their shop years ago, but had been chincy ever since. So I finally decided it was time to deliver. Was remiss to find they are closed on Sundays (out riding, go figure).
But just my luck, driving away who did I spy, but owner Jason himself, carting some kind of large cargo freight on a bicycle flatbed! I flagged him down, and made him my offer. He seemed glad to have it! so we strapped it on top of his cargo, and off down the road he rode with it! Couldn't have been a better send off to that piece!
I trust Jason to do good with it (though at this point we agreed it was just a loan), and I am thrilled that he finally has it for his shop. At long last!

We shall see what the future holds there...

Carrboro has some pretty special businesses (it is, in many ways, a very special place), and perhaps some very good matches for Reptire Designs, both in terms of people and businesses, and culture...

When Tires Attack!

2011-03-30T23:28:00.023-04:00

FORWARD

TIRE THURSDAYS AND FRIDAYS
In order to get ready for some big shows coming up, which I need to describe SOON!, I have set aside Tire Thursdays to work on Reptire Art. At the pace I am going, it looks I'll need to make the Tire Fridays as well. But that means a lot more other work the other days.

This past Thursday, I got to work on a special project, though indeed it was not preparing for the events I should be preparing for, but instead, an event that comes around every year that I like to participate in, and would like to bring more of my tire art into.
That is the Haw River Festival, which my mother and sister have been involved with for many years, and for which I have been getting more involved with since I've moved out this way, and have been painting faces at for the past 2 years, and plan to again this year.

HAW TIRE VISITATION
But here was a special oppurtunity. My girl down at the Haw River Assembaly, Lady Germane James recently gave me a yoohoo that at recent clean up, which I had missed, they had recovered several tires that I might be interested. I recently approached Germane about a project I have in mind to convert some Haw River tires into planters, as a fundraiser for them. So we thought this 'harvest could be a good dry run.

So the other day, I swung by the old Bynum Bridge, where Lady J had informed me they were waiting, en route to the dump, and packed a few choice blubbery lugs into the back seat, and took them home to meet the parents.

MR. AND MRS.
So, of these that I harvested were two good old biased tires, still on the rim, which should be perfect for some 'Haw River Petina Planters', and two biased Truck tires off the rim, oldies but goodies, though each in pretty rough shape. (The bigger of the two actually had its side walls cut out, strange, I wonder why..(fortunately, they hadn't butchered him too bad..)

HERS
I decided to start with the smaller of the two, to tie her into a treadknot. Once I had removed her battered side walls, I discovered that the tread width to circumfrence ratio was not quite what it needed to be. So I had make a change in plans, and narrow her width.

The solution I chose was to actually remove one edge of her tread. And to do this, I followed the jagged line of her tread (She is actually an old trailer tire! which I had never yet encountered). This edge treatment a) would help her to become a planter, as one side would then be open, creating the top, and the other closed, creating the bottom. b) additionally, cutting along this jagged line would create a rhythm along that line, that I thought would be interesting....so I went for it, this was to be an experiment.

TIRE SUPRISES
Along the way, I discovered a few suprises... a the two plies of the tire had seperated in several places, something that I had never encountered before. I don't know what caused this, was it a defect in the tire, or just age, or both? I wonder. So that was strange enough..

But then, I discovered that this dirty old tire, bore another blessing within--- it seemed that, while sitting on what ever river bank it was on, a colony of small black ants had decided this thing was their Super Dome / Omni Plex, and had built their kingdom right between these two seperated plies, which I discovered when they began to pour out of a hole in the tread's face.....in a rage.

Of the various tires I have tied into knots, I could tell that this was to be a unique tying experience...

Well, I'm sorry to say that this was sort of a massacre. I did not mean for it to be, but in the course of me rotating the tire around on the table, and they pouring out onto the surface of the tire, to defend it, many many of them were slain. I only got one bite on the elbow, from a very brave little ant, thank mostly to the cow her gave her hide to make my gloves...

LOVELY LADY
But when it was all said and done, I think the knot came out looking very nice. I think that the scalloped edge gives it a little bit of an ...alligatory feel...what do you think? I think that I would like to plant her with either a spider plant, or even better, some kind of Agave, maybe an Aloe plant...

So this was a pretty satisfying operation. I actually really like the dirty look on her face, it is part of her; her Haw River Patina. So I think that I will leave that on, as part of the sclupture. I think I might call her Agave Knectar Knot. It would be nice to find a way to some how honor the slain ants, that once made her their kingdom, and perhaps still do....Perhaps she will make a good addition/donation to the Haw River Live Auction, which our friend the Revered Gary Phillips will be spinning, a marvel to see in action. An Actioneer.

HIS

So next on my list was Big Daddy, or Hercules, as he called himself...
This was one thick tire. I cleaned his edges with my knife, and his flanks (sidewalls) were about an inch deep!

I quickly surmised that he was going to give the same ratio treatment as the last one, and require a similar approach. As I had liked the way the edges looked on the little lady I had warmed up with,
I decided to take a similar approach to this one, and made the bold move to split him straight down the middle, along the jaggedy line stretching down his back, or tread.

I have attempted a similar treatment of much smaller motorcycle tires, but I really had never tried anything of this size. Even the motor cycle tire I had recently tried had giver me a world of trouble.
But some how, I felt like I had the upper hand on this beast.....perhaps because I had just warmed up with the other.

This was kind of grueling, and I only got a third of the way through, becuase trying to tear and hack through that thick tread rubber was really wearing on my writsts, and they are an asset that I need to protect.

But the result I found very interesting, and worth repeating some day.
Visually, the 'cracked' tire had its own appeal, and I got some good 'Andrew Goldsworthy-worthy' shots'
OK, maybe not worthy, pretty fricken cool for a tire, right?

TIRE THUNDER!

White box cowering under desk

After Storm Thunder

Coming to Life in Primordial Stew

He Got Me!

Tyrius Triumphant!

2011-03-21T21:46:00.002-04:00

Tyrius looking suspiciously post-coital...
one can only wonder what kind of wild night this guy had...

Here's another real purdy one...

Hung-over tire worm in tree

Yes, quite a night it was for us all...

Quite a night.

NEWS FLASH: Tyrius The Tire Worm is Sprung and AT LARGE! Witness says Gustavo Ocoro was Driver!

2011-03-17T16:52:00.006-04:00

Its happened. What we all feared....

As I was mopping up the front of the old Belk building, which Mr. and Mrs. Grimes have graciously lent us for the Farm to Fork Dinner, I heard a wracket of RATTLING. I looked across the street just in time to see the doors of 223 (where Tyrius is held captive in his lair of tire imprisonment) FLUNG WIDE OPEN! And who should gallop out, but that reviled blackened beast himself, snorting and puffing and drooling his hideous slime all over the pavement. Ohhhh, it was disgusting. And the Stench!
With his 50-long-butt still stuck in the door, he peered his frothy snout hastily about, up the sidewalk... and then back down again.... as though he were waiting for something..

Just then, a hulking Muscle Truck with a 20-foot-long Trailer came screeching around the corner of Chatham Avenue, and ground to a halt in front of him. With out missing a beat, Tyrius sort of bunched himself up, and LURCHED up at the bed of the trailer, flinging himself onto it, and using his slobbering nose as some kind of anchor, hoisted the rest of himself up onto this bed, giving a final double slap of his tail "THUDTHUD" at which the driver spead off down Chatham Avenue, through town, with Tyrius hanging off the back.

Where was he going? No one knows. His trainer, Travis, the Tire Tamer, is stricken with Grief.
"I thought he was happy" sobbed the bereft Gussonologist.

But Travis warns, he might not have gone far. "Tyrius will come back, I'm sure of it. An apple does not fall far from the tree, nor will a 160 lb tire-worm crawl far from his Papa." posited Cohn, philosophically.
"He's probably just getting a little antsy, cause you know, its Spring Time."
Explains Cohn:
"This is the time of year when an eft Tire Worm grows restless. He probably just wants to sow his oats around a little. He is actually probably out searching for a mate, a beautiful Tire Worm Lady to call his own. Sadly for Tyrius, what the poor little fellow doesn't know, is that he is the only Tire Worm in Known Existance. He would have to search the world over for his Love, and might still never find her. And you can't just chop him in half, and have him mate with himself- we tried that, and it didn't work. BUT, for that very reason, if you encounter Tyrius at Large, out on the town, you should use every precaution. A 50 foot Tire Worm in heat, well, its not a pretty site."

To make matters worse, say Authorities, this Friday night is supposedly a 'Worm Moon', which probably accounts for why Tyrius has gone berzerk in the first place. This raises the Worm Alert to a Code Pink.

If you encounter Tyrius, rolling around in leaves, smelling like Old Spice, contact his Trainer IMMEDIATLY. Do NOT attempt to apprehend him yourself. This is a job for a professional.

He does like doughnuts though..

A Compatriot of 'La Vita Vanna'

2011-03-17T16:19:00.000-04:00

These two old codgers from Maine came and visited my Studio this week ;)

The Codger on the Left was visiting the Codger on the Right, who asked if he could show him my artwork (R Codger is an Antiques dealer, so he knows what he's looking at ;)
Come to find out, Left Codger, visiting from Maine has been living in his van for the past ......36 YEARS!!!!
Yow! My Hero!

I'll have to wax poetic about their visit another time, but needless to say we had a great time sharing experiences and tricks of the trade, its amazing how much we had learned in common. I had to get his autograph when I heard that, will post once I get it scanned.

Some very Righteous Dudes, was an honor to have them over.

RITES OF SPRING in Downtown Siler City

2011-03-15T20:22:00.001-04:00

This coming Friday evening, is very special Friday evening. Why because, not only is it the 3rd Friday of the month, the Friday when we all pour out of the woodwork around here, in downtown Siler City.
It is also a very special 3rd Friday, for several reasons.

Well for one, this 3rd Friday will be held in conjunction with another event, which is the Chatham Creative Economy Summit, which will be held officially on Saturday, the 19th, the day after our Dionysian fet.
The organizer's of the summit have deftly incoporated Siler City's relatively new 3rd Friday tradition, as both a before party, and also perhaps as a example of the force of 'Creative Economy' component of urban revitalization. For some reason the word 'bolstered' comes to mind....bolstered pillow?...

Anyways, So we are really doing it up this 3rd Friday!
We downtown merchants have been meeting, and organizing how we can really make this one count. I NEEDS to count, not only because we are being used as a bolstered pillow showcase of Creative Economonomy, but Also, because we NEED it for our selves, for our own team spirit!
Last 3rd Friday (feb) we had near perfect weather (for February no less!) but an abysmal turnout.
We know that WE CAN DO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT!
So WE ARE RAMPING IT UP. In the good faith of spring, and all that it brings.

From a 'farm to fork' Supper prepared by the farmers Market, to a Holistic Pet Medicine showcase at Paperbacks Plus, to a Mardi Gras Party, 1st year anniversary Celebration with the Inclusive Arts Innitiative, people are throwing down, and pulling out all of the stops.

Many of the galleries will actually be showing spring related themed shows.
Reptire Designs myself, will be showing sneak peaks of a few Spring/garden related bodies of work.

Here is a silly news release that I sent Chana, who will put in on the Chatham chatlist, that gives some idea of what I have in store.... (we'll see what kind of trouble this one get's me in...).
(Fabled Spiritual Visions 'beer pong party' joke was a bust, Chatham News took me at face value, can't blame them)

REPTIRE DESIGNS STUDIO AND SHOWROOM

This Third Friday, in honor of the Rites of Spring, Reptire Designs will be letting visitors peek their heads into the tire nursery, where several Springy bodies of work are peeking their own sproingy little heads out.

Among these might be just the slightest tendril of the germinating seed of a budding body of tire artwork, Tire Botanics… But don’t tell anybody; someday, its gonna be Big, and Bouncy.

Thereabouts, you might also find the cocoons of a few Insectires.

Speaking of...

NEWS ALERT, Tyrius the Giant Tire Worm is reported to have escaped his shackles (I knew shackling a worm was a dumb idea), and is reportedly at large, on a RAMPAGE through Downtown Siler City!

If you see Tyrius hiding out downtown Friday night, maybe munching on some leaves or food scraps, do not attempt to apprehend him, as I am not certain that he is a vegetarian. However, information leading to his recapture will earn you an autographed old tire.

So, that's the plan. I'll let you know how it goes.

I also had the privilage to design the poster for this weekend's activities.
You can read about it on the Speyedr Graphics blog, by clicking on the poster image below:

Though the deadlines were tight, it was a real pleasure to contract with Joan Underwood, of the Courtyard Cafe, who commissioned me (for a modest barter), on behalf of the 'Yellow Flag Committee' to design this poster for this ceremoneous event, and the larger Creative Summit.

I've never more acutely felt the fervor of The Spring, on so many different levels of importance.

Artists Statement and Bio for 2011 NC Artist's Exhibition

2011-03-15T19:50:00.002-04:00

I wanted to share the Biography and Statement that I prepared for the 2011 North Carolina Artists Exhibition, as I feel that to a certain extent, it marks a place in time for Reptire Designs and I . Hopefully, it will serve as something of a place holder for this Chronicle of Reptire's developement.

TIRE TAMER - TRAVIS COHN

ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY AND STATEMENT

FOR THE RALEIGH FINE ARTS SOCIETY’S 2011 NC ARTISTS EXHIBITION

Travis Cohn was born and raised in Durham, NC. While his Portrait Artist Mother bequeathed to him his first love of drawing forms in Nature, this practice had always had a secret (shadow) twin tendency towards creating art from found objects. Recently, in 2002, he day-lit this passion, and married his love of the line with his love for the found; bound, as it were, within the ring of The Tire. And there he has remained ever since, devoted to exploring what possibility can found within this symbolic vessel, the bastard child of the Transportation Industry.

In 2004, after several years of purposeful play, determined to find an eloquent way to let used tire rubber express it own beautility to the world, Cohn conceived of the treadknot. An enigmatic form of folded flubber (primordial, single-celled basketry, if you will) 7 years later, it still stands as a vexing sherpa, shuttling varied luggage of interpretations. In it, the artist finds a symbol of man, in an endless struggle with the self, and subsequently, a symbol of regeneration. From a larger perspective, in its familiarity with the Internationally recognized symbol of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, the treadknot form could also be boldly posited as an article of iconography within the contemporary Art-From-Reclaimed-Materials Movement. To learn more of about the treadknot; it’s creation; and the treadknotics of its interpretations, you can visit a page devoted to it on the Reptire website at www.reptiredesigns.com.

For The Future, Cohn is planning to take these tires on the road. He envisions a series of place-based art installations, which will explore the Geography, Geology Ecology, and Human History of North Carolina, and its Environs (of the 0-8 legged variety). Where to start? Where else, but at the top of the hill?!..

In The Meantime, Travis Cohn feels highly honored and excited to be included in this special showing of North Carolina Artists.

Never leave 'er, Beaver.

2011-03-15T19:39:00.000-04:00

I don't know how this relates to Reptire Designs....but Fuggit!

This past sunny Sunday morning, I was driving up Highway 87, on my way to band practice at Bruce and Sue Saunders' house, off Lutterlow Rd. when I saw this great big heap of brown fur to the right of the road. Now that is fairly common around here, probably everywhere where there are lots of woods, with occaisonal roads, sadly.
  What was unussual, was that this lump of fur had great big monsterous flat tail sticking out.
To be completely honest with you, my first reaction was, "is that a Platypus?!!!" Of course, I quickly discerned that, no it was much more likely a beaver (as of course, these are in plentiful supply in these parts, and their distant cousin the platypus, lives, well, on the other side of the globe).

Still, of all of the poor slain animals I have encountered over the years (and I do pay attention), never once in my 30+ years have I seen a beaver.

What's more, I thought that I saw this lump of fur move....

So I turned around and pulled over.

What I found kind of blew me away...

It was a beaver all right, but this was one Big Mother...I would say just shy of a yard long from nose to tail tip. I'm not sure where she had been struck. She seemed to be completely intact. But she was bleeding from her mouth and nose a little.
When I layed my hand on here back, she was Very warm to the touch...steamy, I think she must have just been hit.
Her feet... we're just incredible..I've never seen anything like it really. They were webbed, like a duck's, but with soft fur on the tops....
With these great mittens of hers, I pulled her off the pavement, and tried to figure out what to do...
What TO do? Another car pulled off, and in sympathy, tried to help me answer this question.
Not really much to do. The beaver seemed pretty clearly gone, though so recently so.
I thought to call my friend Sarah Haggerty, who works for Piedmont Wildlife, and left a message with my friend Josh Zaslow, looking for her number.
  After the woman left, a rumaged around in my trunk, for a plastic bag or something. And lo and behold, I found the big plastic tarp I use for a camping ground cloth.
So this I brought over to the old girl, and slid her on to it.
I then grabbed both ends, hoisted her up, and lowered her onto the canvas tarp I keep in my back seat for hauling tires..,and OFF I went to band practice....!

Well, it just so happens that Bruce and Sue's neighbor is my friend, Perrin Heartway, a skilled local vetrinarian!..
  So I dropped by, and asked his new son, Cedar, "where's your Papa?" and Cedar pointed there! (after I'd found him). So Perrin agreed to take a look at him, out of his own curiosity, which is really why I wanted to show it to him.
Perrin was able to sex it though, and also observed that the beaver's leg had been broken.
Bruce called Mr. Honeycutt, a local Taxidermist, who gave me some good advice about preserving this creatures qualities, for the sake of education. He agreed that, while he had too many beaver's already to put it too much use, that a beaver is a marvelous creature, and an educational resource not to be wasted!

So, I was pretty much left to my own to find a way to cool this body down with in the next 2 hours....
I happened to know that there at Blue Heron Farm, they have a meat freezer where they keep their delinquint cows, so I went running across the farm field, to ask Ray or Hannah about this. On the way, I ran into Jean, who was excited to the beaver, as I thought she might be.
When I got to Ray's and described the strange thing I had found, he was indeed curious.
I then mentioned that we had about 2 hours to cool this thing down or loose it forever, could we use the meat freezor, if there was space.
To this Ray responded, that they had just filled the freezor with a (presumably delinguent) pig.
But, instead, he said, bless his odd ball heart, lets see what kind of room we have in the freezer here in the house.. and he went to rearranging the tator tots and bacon, or what ever he had, clearing a shelf/tomb of the perfect proportions for out gainly friend.
So we conviened around the big beaver, and spent some quality time with her. Murray came too, and Soren, and Ray's daughter. We held her in our arms, cradled her like a baby, passed her around a little.
Its funny, along with her smell, a very woody, resinous, musty odor, a part of her rubbed off on all of us, and as I knew that would happen, I carried a part of her into our band practice, where I got royally drunk, on both the case of NewCastles I had brought, and her beaver perfume.
There was a toast to a lovely Lady of the Lake...