ROWBOTS

CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

ROWBOTS ... no ... that's not a mispelling. My ROWBOTS are all about water ... and boats ... and oars ... etc.

The ROWBOT ROWING CLUB is looking for new members. Stanley and Otis are recruiting robots of all sizes, strengths and gear ratios. While we strive for an autonomous environment, occasionally human intervention is necessary for adjusting vertical stroke and gear ratios. Each new member will receive an overall inspection, joint lubrication with a water displacement formula, and a t-shirt. Come join the growing community of ROWBOTS.
For more info contact zeb@rowbotswithknees.org

As I worked on these guys, I fell deep into the world of robots ... and in the spirit of research, I finally had to start my own collection of smallish reproduction robots. I am totally enamored with their shapes and colors and with the shadow that is cast on the wall by using a small flashlight at night while I sit on my couch ... totally enchanting. I even found myself making up stories about how they had to organize a bake sale to earn money for going to Nationals ... I think there could be a children's book in there somewhere.

I made these ROWBOATS for a show at BAINBRIDGE ARTS AND CRAFTS titled, TOYING AROUND. This exhibition will be open from Feb. 5th through Feb. 28th and features the following artists: Morgan Brig, Lynn Brunelle, Megan Drew, Garth Edwards, Jeannie Grisham, Solia Hermes, Sandi Hurd, Linda Jarvis, Don MacLane, Mary McInnis, Shane Miller, Carl Morgan, Gregg Onewein, Loran Scruggs, Raquel Stanek, and Kamilla White.


Stanley is photo etched nickel and stands approx. 11" tall and is 4.5" from shoulder to shoulder. His arms and legs are made from a zigzag metal folding ruler. It was important to me that the robots should be able to sit ... so they needed knees ... and to be articulated in a way that would make rowing possible ... or even getting into a boat possible. That was achieved by using threaded rod and washers and acorn type nuts. There were many trips to the hardware store ... on one particular day, I remember going 5 times ... whew!


Stanley's backside.


Stanley from the side.


Otis is photo etched copper and stands about 9.5 inches tall. Since this photo was taken, Otis now has a spiral copper wire as a finial head dress ... making him even more robot looking. His arms and legs are articulated using, again, a zigzag ruler ... this one is made of wood.


A close-up of Otis from the front.


The backside of Otis.


Otis from the side.


Here is an image taken at the gallery with Otis wearing his new head topper.


... and last but not least is an image of the ROWBOTS sent through a special filter ...could this be the beginning of the illustrated ROWBOT children's book ... stay tuned.

KEEPER BOXES

NOCTURNAL MOTHS
CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

I hinted in the previous post about what I was going to make from a beautiful 3' x 8' sheet of copper. Well, here's the answer....KEEPER BOXES. These boxes are solid copper and made using a shear...a notch cutter...and a metal brake. The images on the lids are photo etched using a salt water technique. KEEPER BOXES come in two sizes...(rectangular) 4.5" x 6.5" x 1.25" and (square) 4.5" x 4.5" x 1.75". There is a pad of velvet in the bottom of each box...to keep your things from rattling around too much.

I just delivered the boxes shown in this post to Bainbridge Arts and Crafts yesterday. The opening for the BOX SHOW is tomorrow night, September 4th. This exhibit, along with paintings by Sharon Carr and Susan Walker and photographs by several local photographers that share their perspectives on iconic Bainbridge landmarks, can be viewed through September 28th.


BEETLES

KEEPER BOXES
A place to keep the found button … a hummingbird feather … the note your mom left in your lunch sack when you
were seven … your rings and jewelry things … your father’s pocket knife … a photo of your childhood dog …
a letter of love … a found piece of blue sea glass along with a limpet shell … a toy plastic green soldier that
was dug up in the garden … an orange marble … an acorn from your grandparent’s property … your wish list …
a moon rock (or what you think might be a moon rock) … a dried poppy pod … a lost first tooth … a coin
from Australia … a Pez dispenser … a vial of gold flecks suspended in water … the key to the front door
of your first home … a tiny bird skull … a bead from Africa … and anything else your heart desires.


POPPIES IN MOONLIGHT


DRINK THE WILD AIR


HERON


OCTOPUS


TIME KEEPER

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS airbnb

CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS airbnb is my third piece showing at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts through August as part of the ROAD TRIP show. This was a fun piece to make...a healthy stretch of my imagination. This mixed media sculpture measures 12" x 15.5" x 1.5". The image is a compilation of 3 photographs that have been seriously photoshopped and messed with until I could come up with something that resembled a hybrid between photography and an illustration. The final result is ink jet printed using archival pigment inks and finished with a cold wax treatment. The edges are photo etched brass depicting the 4 directions...NORTH...SOUTH...EAST...WEST. Three small articulated inspection mirrors are mounted to the top of the cradle board.


This is the ad that is printed and included with the piece in a library envelope pasted to the back.

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS
airbnb

Disconnect for a while and come stay in this unique
and charming airbnb...where the air is clear and
the stars are unobstructed. We are currently
taking reservations.

This floating trailer has one bedroom that can
accommodate two and a small but cozy kitchen.
Pets are allowed but only those with wings are
recommended. The view varies but is always lovely.
Power is provided by the sun and GPS is available.
CHECK IN is at 1pm. CHECK OUT IS AT 11 AM BYOP
(bring your own parachute).
SIGNAL MIRRORS ARE AVAILABLE IN CASE OF EMERGENCY.

REVIEWS:
A great night sky...felt like I was with the stars. -Jane

Watch that first step...it's a doozy!!! -Eugene

Best sleep ever...I dreamed I was floating. -Zo

Be sure to bring your binoculars and sunscreen. -Tim

A view to die for!!! -Amelia

My friend and I stayed at HEAD IN THE CLOUDS airbnb during
a lunar eclipse. The experience is on my list of most
memorable times ever. -Liz

My cockatiel, Betty, and I had a wonderful time...thank
you. -Ruby

THE COAST BY NOON

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Friday evening, August 7th, is the opening of a new group show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts titled ROAD TRIP. I am so excited to be part of this show....the theme is right up my alley. No one likes a road trip more than I do and if you throw a vintage trailer into the mix...well...let's just say I am over the moon. One day I hope to have a sweet little vintage camping trailer of my very own...maybe I need two...one for the road and one to plant on my property as an airbnb.


THE COAST BY NOON is one of three pieces I have made especially for this show. It measures 10" x 10" x 1.5 inches. The image is one of my photos sent through a few filters and photoshopped to look like the result of a marriage between photography and illustration...a look I am quite drawn to. The image is printed with archival pigment inks and is then attached to a cradleboard...messed with a little...and finally sealed with varnish and cold wax. The sides are photo etched nickel and depict symbols that we have all learned to associate with campgrounds. A sweet little piece of driftwood from a favorite local beach acts as a finial.





The model for this piece is my very own vintage toy truck and trailer that live on the windowsill in my living room. These little trailers make me smile every time I see them.



I think the idea of a road trip is somehow built into my DNA. My mom and dad took a major road trip for their honeymoon, traveling from Hot Springs, AR to Sequoia National Park by car. I think there were several breakdowns along the way. One was captured by my mom...it is one of my all-time favorite photos.

That spirit of adventure must have stayed with my mom and dad even after they had a passel of children. In hindsight, I think they were so brave to load 5 kids in a car pulling a pop-up camper, or better yet, a converted school bus complete with 4 bunkbeds and a little kitchen. I remember many trips to Padre Island, TX and eating pancakes in the morning with just a little sandy grit in them...we didn't seem to mind. Another memorable trip was going to Estes Park, CO, and later driving up Pikes Peak in the bus as it overheated again and again. I also remember that each of us kids got car sick, one after another, as we slowly made our way up the mountain. I am so grateful for the memories...for the time spent with my family...and especially for my brave mom and dad.

FLOATING

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

FLOATING is one of the books I currently have on exhibit at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. It is part of the show titled CARPE LIBRUM: THE ART OF THE BOOK, curated by Cynthia Sears and Hidde Van Duym. You can read more about this exhibit in the previous post. You can view this work at the gallery through April 26th.


inside front cover

The metal covers for FLOATING are photo etched brass and the images are inkjet printed with archival inks on BFK Rives paper. The book measures 7" x 11" when closed.

Recently one morning I was thinking about dreams and how sometimes in my dreams I have the ability to fly. Upon closer examination of this I realized that I am not so much flying as I am floating. With that thought, words immediately filled my head and I went scrambling for pencil and paper to capture them before they were gone. Those captured words make up the text of this book.

I've heard people say that when they dream, they can fly like a bird ... by constant flapping of their arm-like wings or by coasting in circles like the red tail hawk over my pasture.

I try to picture this and the wondrous feeling of the wind in my face and my hair blowing out behind me, but it is a difficult image for me to conjure. I think this is because I know I am more of a floater than a flyer.

In my dreams I hover where the wall meets the ceiling ... just where the near invisible spider webs hide.

I float just at the top of the trees that act as sentinels on either side of the dirt road.

The sky is my ocean as I drift with a school of fish just above the water.

I am like low lying clouds content with slow movement and the ability to cast fuzzy edged shadows on the earth below.

Floating gives one time to contemplate the surroundings ... to notice the smallest detail ... to acclimate to the new terrain.

In my dreams, as I float, I am often aware that this is miraculous somehow ... that I need to remember this technique so that I can try it in my awake state.

I drop a breadcrumb right here so I can remember how to do this ...

... how to hold my mouth just right ... the proper arrangement of my arms and legs ... the attitude of my mind ... I drop more breadcrumbs.

The 'know how' stays with me for a while ...

... even as I start to stir ...

... even as my exploring spirit re-enters my body ...

... but the string attached to my fluttering eyelids tips the bowl and the 'knowing how" spills out and evaporates like water on a hot sidewalk.

I turn to find ravenous sparrows eating my dropped breadcrumbs ...

... perhaps tonight they will dream they can float.


This image in on the inside of the back cover.


back cover

All the images in FLOATING are photo based. I often like to use vintage photos in my art and I searched and searched through thousands of images looking for women who looked like they were floating or who I could manipulate in a way to make them appear as though they were floating. The couple of images I found, and tried to use, looked more like the women were falling from the sky instead of peacefully floating. After much hand wringing, I decided to take my own photos and have more control over body placement. This is where my friend, Zo, comes into the picture ... literally. I borrowed a night shirt from my good friend, Lynn Anju, and invited Zo over for a photo shoot. The night shirt was a little short so I had to stretch it out via photoshop in every image. The photo shoot was so much fun....figuring out ways to make Zo appear as though she was floating. Here is an image showing some of the high tech floating techniques we used ... Zo stretched out on a galvanized tub with a saw horse under her feet for support.





Zo was enthusiastic and charming through the whole ordeal and would have been more than willing to put on a harness and get strung up between the douglas firs ... if only I had a harness.

I definitely wanted the floating figures to be women and I pictured them with long flowing hair ... dream like. Zo's hair is about 1 1/2 inches long and is not exactly the look I was going for. I ended up making my life quite a bit more difficult by photoshopping my hair onto Zo. The process of working with the photographic images over the days and weeks got a little confusing for me and occasionally the lines between Zo and myself would blur and I would lose track as to which one of us it was that I was working on in the photo ... a very odd feeling.

Here are some of the images ... photoshopped and sent through many filters to get the look I wanted ... somewhere between a photograph and an illustration. Be sure to click on an image to see it larger.
























This is am example of the font and page layout for the text.


I turn to find ravenous sparrows eating my dropped breadcrumbs ... perhaps tonight they will dream they can float.

WAITING FOR THE LUNAR ECLIPSE

CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

PENUMBRA THEATER presents WAITING FOR THE LUNAR ECLIPSE. On Friday February 6th the show titled MOON AND STARS opened at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. Moons and stars and everything having to do with the galaxy and beyond is all imagery that excites me.

My theater, WAITING FOR THE LUNAR ECLIPSE, is loosely inspired by the photo below. I've always wanted to etch this image but the resolution is not very high and there is not enough detail in the faces. Still, every time I look at this photo, it seems to me that the people are on a stage...and the boat and driftwood are props...and the backdrop is of a starry sky. All of that is what led me to build a theater....PENUMBRA THEATER. Penumbra is such an excellent word....I love the way it rolls off the tongue. It means...the shadow cast by the earth or moon over an area experiencing a partial eclipse.





My theater is approx. 15 inches high in the front...10 inches deep....and 12 inches wide. The walls and floor are cherry and the metals are photo etched brass, copper and nickel. There is a small lever on the top that, when pushed, moves a black disc over the moon creating the lunar eclipse. There is also a momentary switch on the lower left that, when pushed, makes a subtle light turn on which represents the moonlight.

Inside the theater are three women actors who portray historic women astronomers, Annie J. Cannon, Henrietta Leavitt, and Maria Mitchell. It's hard to imagine being a woman astronomer at the turn of the century when men were so prominent in the field. In researching these women I learned that women astronomers were not allowed to look through the world's largest telescopes until the 1960's. That seems so ridiculous to me.....what were they afraid those women might see???


In this image you get a glimpse of the background...a bluff...water lapping the shoreline...and a starry sky.


I made this little lapstrake boat from some narrow strips of basswood.

Penumbra Theater was a challenge for me...one of the more complex pieces I've made. I'm dreaming now of 12 or 15 little theaters all together as an exhibit in some wonderful gallery. Stay tuned....