family tradition

When I was 7 my dad thought I was old enough to take my first crack at welding.  I used a stick welder and made an ugly 3 legged table out of scrap steel.  I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  

Today at 7 years old, my boy Blue stepped into the family tradition.  He's a natural.  After the first tack he was excited and he kept grabbing steel scraps out of the floor and zapping them on to make his first steel sculpture.  


Papa Mac would be so proud.

great moments in sculpture #9357

Another semester of Advanced Sculpture has ended and I have a new crop of sculptures/sculptors to brag about.

This year the administration approved 10 sites on campus, some in very prominent locations, for long term temporary sculpture exhibits.  This is a big deal.  Huge.  How big?  Well, it's the first time anything like this has happened at Lander since about 1872.  Since 1972 would be impressive but go back and read it again - that's an 8.  1872.  Which means this is the first time ever that Lander has had outdoor exhibits like this.  

As soon as I got the approval, I shared the news with my ART 402 class and assigned them the task of creating the first round of sculpture installations.  Since we needed to make sure this was done well, the pressure was on.  Lucky for me, they rose to the task.

 That's Andrew Catterton with his steel sculpture "Accumulation"

 "Accumulation" is located on the lawn beside Jackson Library

 That's Brandy "Cessquatch" Cessarich" with her steel sculpture "Tree Type"

 "Tree Type" is composed of 3D letters and is located near the bridge outside the dining hall

 That's a very proud Tyler Frasier with his steel sculpture "Meristem"

 Funny story about Tyler:  He was the first one finished with his sculpture, which means the first one to install his sculpture in this first ever type of exhibit.  This means I sent him out to his location with a wheel barrow, post hole diggers and a shovel to dig the hole for his anchor.  He started digging in the middle of a very beautiful grassy area and was immediately accosted by a campus official who could not understand why any student would just start digging a hole in the middle of campus.  Of course I had already attained proper approval of the site and had been approved to dig in the area, so it was fine, but Tyler didn't know this and he was pretty shaken up by the ordeal.  "Meristem" is located on the lawn outside Centennial residence hall.

 That's Abby Jordan with her concrete sculpture "The Struggle Is Real"

 "The Struggle Is Real" is located beside the Horne Arena and PEES building

 That's Travis Taylor with his pinky up and his steel sculpture "Spark of Interest"

 "Spark Of Interest" is located on the lawn beside Centennial residence hall.

It's been very interesting to observe as students, faculty and campus visitors have reacted to the sculptures.  The response has been overwhelmingly positive and people have been pleasantly surprised by having public art on campus.  Tyler had a couple of young ladies compliment his odd sculpture on the day of his installation.  This helped him recover from the trauma of being accosted.  Even the grounds crew who are forced to cut grass and landscape around these new obstacles have been very excited about the sculptures.  Having interesting exhibits rotate in and out during the academic year helps to make that routine walk (or run) to class a little less ordinary.  I've had a few people find out about the exhibit and take a walking tour of the campus in order to see it.  

In addition to the on campus sculptures, I had three students who chose to create sculptures for off campus sites.

This is "Butterfly Bench" by Caitlin Madden.  Caitlin worked with her hometown of Ninety Six, SC to obtain permission to permanently install her bench in a public garden.  

This is Katie "Katertot" Carver posing with her "Hero Of Heroes" steel sculpture.

 "Hero Of Heroes" is a superhero figure made out of superhero logos.  It is currently on display at Tangled Web Comics in Spartanburg.

And this is "Reginald" the rooster created by "Mean" Megan Taylor.  "Reginald" is made out of recycled chicken farming parts and is made in the likeness of the mascot for the SC Poultry Festival.  He will be installed near his coop on the festival grounds.

It was an excellent year in sculpture at Lander.  I'm so proud of these students and their hard work.

my people

Four years ago I started teaching at Lander and we welcomed a huge group of freshmen.  These new recruits were the first bunch to get a taste of the new Lander Visual Art department faculty. 

The program was tougher and more rigorous and those foundations classes were especially rough.  And the projects...the projects were out there.  When they checked in to their freshman dorms they had no idea they'd soon be wallowing in plaster, welding, making public sculptures, getting permanent sculpture commissions, winning awards, getting news stories written about them, getting on the tv news, Skyping with famous designers, getting to know a darling of QVC, changing the campus with their artwork and playing racquetball with their professors.

It was such a great group of students and over the years very few faded away.  Those same faces I saw in that first 3D Design class mostly stuck it out for the entire four years.  Some of those students enrolled in three, four or five of my courses during that time.  Some would come visit from time to time when they didn't have my classes and some would even visit regularly.

There are a number of things that make Lander's Art Department great but one of the more important ones has to be the students.  

Spring semester of their freshman year.  Plaster pouring day in my 3D Design class.  KJ, Abby, Colleen, Tylan, Rion, Ashley.

Fall semester of their second year.  My ceramics class on Raku night.  Cessquatch, The Tavmanian Devil, Josie, Elizabethe and Abby.

 Fall semester of their third year.  1st day of Sculpture class.  KJ, Fred, Mean Megan, Whitney, Cessquatch, Kelsey, Other Megan, Abby, Bennell, The Tavmanian Devil, Katertot, Ashley, Sean.

Graduation day, last Saturday.  The whole gang of hoodlums.

Mean Megan was fussing at me about something as usual.  The Tavmanian Mane in the background.

Katertot, Jim, me, Sean, Singletary

This is the pose I got when I said, "OK, look smart."

And this is when I realized they were leaving me forever.  Cessquatch, Tavmanian Devil, Sean, Katertot.

 We offered to fail a few of them to keep them around longer.  Some of them considered the offer longer than they should have.  The Tavmanian Devil, Mean Megan and a couple others begin the MAT program in two weeks and I'll teach them yet again in the fall (Lord help us all).  The others hit the bricks this week looking for jobs and preparing to begin their professional lives.  

It's been four years of laughter, creativity, learning and silliness.  You'd be hard pressed to find a better bunch of hoodlums.  


I'm not a big fan of people, but I'm a big fan of these people.

how I ruined Lent

Since the snow events the school schedule has been crazy this semester.  In addition to the tweaked schedule I've been on a search committee and trying to learn how to use 3D rendering software and a 3D printer.  By the time Fat Tuesday rolled around I found myself sitting in Cookout in Greenwood with Sean, Blake, Katertot and Cessquatch trying to come up with a last minute thing I could do for Lent.

That situation does not scream "careful consideration" I suppose.  If you're new here and you don't know my take on Lent, type "Lent" into the little search window up there and read the Lent posts from previous years.  The basic idea for me is to give up something or adopt a new action that will in some way make me a better person.  The hope is that the forced practice of doing or not doing the thing during the 40 days will lead to me doing or not doing the thing in my normal routine. 

Blake threw out a lot of good ideas that night but when he said we should all give up complaining, that seemed to strike a chord with everyone.  All around the big table everyone said, "Ahhh.  That would be tough."  And like a bunch of goofballs who had no idea what they were getting into, we all agreed we were in.  We would not complain for 40 days and any infraction would cost us a donation to the money jar we set up to help Blake and Ashley bike across the country this summer with Habitat for Humanity.  We were excited and positive...for at least a couple of hours.

The next day was a tough one for all of us.  I complained about one of my classes.  A few of us dropped money in the jar.  It was ridiculously cold here this winter and while we love a good snow, if we get more than a few weeks of freezing air we feel we are being punished for sin.  Another day later it was terribly cold and windy and we had to do some horrible manual labor at a public sculpture site.  Three of us complained all morning.  Blake held out for a couple of weeks with his positive outlook on life.  The rest of us complained about him being so positive.  Finally he too hit the skids and quietly walked in the sculpture studio and dropped some money in the bucket.  I think unofficially everyone gave up.  Cessquatch and Katertot quit after a few days pretty openly.  I kept trying and I kept failing.  


But I had a secret backup plan.  On the drive home the night of Fat Tuesday I had been thinking about how the busy school year had kept me from sketching regularly in my sketchbook.  I bought Blue a sketchbook last summer and he filled it up in a couple of months.  I got him another and he filled that one up.  When I flipped backwards in mine time traveled from the present to a year ago way to quickly.  My 7 year old son was making me look bad.  So my other Lent thing this year was to sketch at least one thing every single day for 40 days.  This worked better than the no complaining thing.  At least I could draw the things that irritated me each day and still be on track.  

Things went well in the sketchbook.  I only missed two days through April 14.  Then, somehow I forgot about it until Easter.  Failed again.  Apparently I'm a complainer who doesn't draw enough.  

There's this old sermon that's become a caricature of sorts.  Apparently the entire message consisted of the guy saying, "It's Friday.  But Sunday's coming." over and over again until his congregation got the idea that he was talking about the change from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.  I sucked at Lent this year and failed miserably at changing my actions.  That's Friday.  But now I realize that I do complain a whole lot more than I ever imagined.  I realize that I accurately recorded about 30 days in sketches and my drawing skills got better before I fell off the wagon.  With that in mind, I can head toward summer consciously trying to be more positive and making a point to draw every day.  Sunday's coming.

sculpture deathmatch II; the war of the welds

While my grass at home kept growing, last Saturday I rolled out of bed well before the sun and made my way to school.  That's right, school on a Saturday.  What kind of idiot goes to school on a Saturday?  Better yet, what kind of idiot goes to school voluntarily on a Saturday?  Well, me and the coolest students on the planet apparently.

 The Sculpture Deathmatch was hatched last semester as a fun event and promotional tool for the department.  It was a hit and so this semester we wanted to have another one.  Just to make sure we're all on the same page with what this entails, here are the rules:  We meet on a Saturday in the sculpture studio.  We divide into two teams to compete against one another.  Each team has 12 hours to design, create and install an outdoor sculpture on campus.  The following Monday photos of the finished sculptures are posted on the art department Facebook page and the students vote for the winner.  

This is not a graded event.  The students give up an entire Saturday to participate in this.  For some this means not going home, getting off work and missing out on easier, more fun weekend activities.  It's a big sacrifice.  And yet they still choose to do it.  Like I said, coolest students on the planet.

My Advanced Sculpture class became one team.  For the other team, I called up Sean who participated last semester and Ashley who also participated last time and has since graduated.  

 The trash talk began immediately.  

 Since the students are sacrificing to participate, I try to be a good host.  Doughnuts for breakfast and a ton of cookies, snacks and drinks through the day.

 At 8:55 am we met to go over the rules and take team photos.  That's my Advanced Sculpture class, "Team Coffeesmoke".  It's a long story and it wouldn't make any sense to you.  Just go with it.  

 And this is Team "Ostentatious A".  It's also a long story and while it might make sense to you, just go with it.  Singletary was the surprise team member.  Team Coffeesmoke didn't find this out until this photo was made.

 Three days earlier the forecast was sunny and 72 degrees.  When we showed up it was chilly and drizzling rain.  It stayed that way all day.  So instead of spreading out on the patio we crowded inside and the teams tried to keep their plans secret.

 That's Travis with his eyebrow raised while he draws a leaf from observation.  Team Coffeesmoke chose an outdoor site and grabbed some leaves and flowers from that site to inspire them.

 While Sean and Ashley worked, Cessquatch took the sledgehammer outside and started pounding things for no apparent reason.  This is normal.  Hammers are fun.  When things need to be destroyed with a hammer everyone calls in the Cessquatch.

 That's Abby inside an old pool filter tank for no apparent reason.  This is normal.  And yes, she's wearing a dust mask and overalls.

 I encouraged Sean to work within a more reasonable scale.  Everything Sean makes has to be enormous.  It's a problem.  And after my "please make things small enough that we can move them" speech, he ignored me and started building this huge, heavy steel structure.  Sigh.

 "Does that need hammering?" asked Cessquatch.  She's at her happiest with a hammer in her hand.

 Ashley has been away from the sculpture studio since December.  She missed it so much.  She was thrilled to get to use the fun tools again.

 Andrew got the day off from keeping his 7 month old son.  I'm not sure if this was such a sacrifice for him.  More like a day off.

 Hungry sculptors need a good lunch so I brought in a piping hot tray of chicken from Chick-Fil-A.  Boom!  Host of the year.

 Another cool thing about the Deathmatches is that people can come hang out.  Katie's mom and stepdad came to check out the fun.  Molly visited on breaks from working on her project in the next room and Gordon brought us breakfast and stayed for a long time.  Our wicked schedule this semester forced us to have this one on the Saturday before Easter.  Not a great time to get visitors, but we still had a few.

 Abby's man-friend came and painted her face with wood stain.  It was nice to have a budding romance to try to destroy on the side.  They met at Pizza Hut earlier in the week and had a date after the Deathmatch.  

 Sculptors don't care if they get wet.  They also don't mind driving the streets surrounding the school and picking up branches and vines the locals have put out on the curb.  

 I know that during the average school day people walk by the sculpture area and wonder what the heck is going on.  I'm sure they hear things and see things that seem absurd.  Things like this perhaps.  But what's going on actually makes some sense.  Those three are acting as counter weights while Andrew bends things in the vise.  It's logical, it just looks goofy.

 See what I mean about Sean?  He pulled Rashaad into helping him with this ginormous thing.  A little while later I walked out and he had recruited this 9 foot tall basketball player to come hold something.  That was when I began steering them away from the ridiculous height they were shooting for.

 Safety is a big deal with these events.  I have to make sure visitors and team members are protected at all times and there's a lot of preparation that goes into that.  Still, with sculpture, even the most precautious people can pick up some small injuries.  Singletary dropped a red hot spark down her shoe and it toasted her sock and her skin.

 And Cessquatch had a little incident with the hammer.  Ok, it was just a scratch but we poured some BBQ sauce all around the band aid to make it look more impressive.  We are idiots.

 In the afternoon we had some more visitors.  G came with the kids to check out the show.  Blue was immediately drafted on to Team Coffeesmoke for his hammering skills.  Tyler left his mom's wedding and sped to the Deathmatch and jumped right in with his team.  He threw the safety glasses on Blue and put a hammer in his hand.

 Cessquatch appears to be burning Katertot.  It looks awesome but I promise it's safe.

 Blue was beating the fool out of some steel leaves and eventually he scraped his finger.  He was tough, though.  He wanted to cry but he sucked it up and posed his finger for this photo instead.

 Soon it was getting late.  Singletary left for a dinner meeting and I helped Sean and Ashley carry their much lighter and much improved sculpture across campus for installation.  They needed some time to put the finishing touches on at the actual site.  Team Coffeesmoke started carrying out their small installation pieces and getting those placed.  Meanwhile Tyler and Travis worked on the last big leaf.

 After 11 hours of hard work and laughter, people were starting to wind down.  Travis was still laughing but Katertot and Cessquatch were dragging a bit.

 The only thing holding Abby up at this point was Caitlin.

 Team Ostentatious was finished now and Team Coffeesmoke only had one more piece to install.  Andrew and Tyler marched the giant leaf to the library with the rest of the team in tow.

Everyone was relieved and ready to go to sleep but we had opted to work through dinner in order to try to get finished earlier.  So after we cleaned up the studio we all headed to Millhouse for some nourishment.  The teams put aside their differences for this group photo before we parted ways for the night.

 On Monday I got my first daylight view of the sculptures.  Team Coffeesmoke's "Where's the Rake" installation blends in with it's environment and transforms a line of real leaves into steel and plastic leaves that grow into the large magnolia leaf against the wall.

 Team Ostentatious' "Fish Sticks" puts three recycled steel fish into a large imaginary reef environment created out of steel, vines and branches.

Voting began on Monday and ended at 5:00 pm on Tuesday.  The people have spoken and their choice for the winner of Sculpture Deathmatch II; War of the Welds is...

TEAM COFFEESMOOOOOOOOOOOOKE!!!!

It's important to note that both of these sculptures are installation pieces and they do not photograph well.  If you're able, go by in person and see these sculptures.  Walk around them and experience them.  I'm very proud of my Minions and their hard work.