great moments in sculpture #8629

One of the great things about steel is that it is a perfect material for outdoor public sculpture.  And one of the great things about outdoor public sculpture is that it can teach students the benefits of civic engagement.  By working with community businesses and groups, students in my sculpture classes can get involved in sharing their talents and abilities with the community by providing artwork in places that need some aesthetic help.  They get to know each potential client and after doing a little research on the location and possible audience, they may even learn some empathy and compassion.  Without doubt, contributing in a positive manner to their community helps them to be better humans.

This semester we had several public art projects going at the same time.  A wonderful lady at the Beckman Mental Health Clinic contacted me and asked if we'd be interested in designing something for one of their entrances.  My advanced sculpture class put together digital public art proposals and submitted them to the administration for approval.  The folks at Beckman liked the ideas so much they decided to choose two sculptures, one for each entrance and they even uprooted some nice landscaping to make room.  Sean and Candice were the lucky ones to have their designs chosen.  I was told that the decisions came down to the designs that looked the best and that had very positive meanings communicated in the artist statements.  

So with the approvals, they got started doing the difficult work of creating large scale outdoor sculptures out of steel.

 That's Sean bending 3/8" steel rods with his bare hands.  Actually, that's Sean with his body trapped between some 3/8" steel rods while trying to bend them with his bare hands.  After I paused to capture the moment, I did help free him from this tight spot.  

 Meanwhile, Ashley was asked to create a proposal for a comic shop in Spartanburg called The Tangled Web.  The store is owned by my brother and he casually asked one day when we were going to make something for him.  I put Ashley on the job and she submitted a proposal for a 3D sign made out of steel.  That's her up there welding the sign together.

 Candice spent weeks leaning over two sheets of steel, first with a plasma torch and then with a grinder.  She cut out ornate butterfly wings, then welded them both to a central body before using her painting skills to finish it up.  And if you're wondering, we had a long discussion in the proposal stage about whether or not it was ok for her to make a butterfly.  While I'm personally not a fan, I explained the proposal was not for me and I was not the audience she needed to consider.  The idea of transformation happened to work quite well for a mental health clinic.

 After about a month and a half of cutting, bending, grinding and painting, we loaded the trailer last Tuesday and began installation.  Sean is a champion hole digger.  He barely broke a sweat digging the 36" hole for the steel anchor.  

 After spending all afternoon installing the two outdoor pieces, we drove to Sparkle City to install Ashley's wall hung sculpture.  Mounting it over the comic shelves was not easy but after a little touch up paint it was finished.  No paint on the carpet, and no paint on the comics.

 I'm not sure why Ashley is holding the hole diggers in this photo.  I'm pretty sure she was playing.  The hole was already finished at this point and the anchor was being bolted on.  Candice and Devin are holding the sculpture in place.

 Here's the whole group after Sean's was finished.  That's Katie (who was not in the class, but she's a really good friend to Sean and Ashley and she knows that sculptors know how to have fun), Devin, Sean, KJ, Ashley, Shawny and Candice left to right.

 When this photo was taken, Tuesday night around 8 pm, Ashley was officially finished with her last sculpture class and was all set to graduate 4 days later.  I think that's her face of relief/happiness/fear of the real world.

 This is Candice being proud of her butterfly.  Candice had never worked with steel before.  In a month and a half she learned to weld, bend steel, use a plasma torch, engineer a permanent sculpture and how to use loud music through headphones to protect her ears from the grinder noise.

And Sean's finished sculpture titled "Reach".  It's interesting to think that every visitor to the clinic will have to walk by this sculpture to get to the entrance.  It's certainly going to get more views than a sculpture in a gallery.

These students did a great job this semester and we've already got a big project ready to start with the spring class in January.  

a dog on the loose and student exhibits

Lander art students have had two exhibits in the last two weeks and they've shown some great work.  But before we get to that...

 I've spent a ton of money in Lowe's the last week or so and while I was waiting for paint mixing one morning, I noticed a chihuahua, off leash, cruising around the store in a hot pink puffy jacket with a white fur collar.  I tend to notice things like that.  After her third lap around the area I realized she was trailing behind the elderly gentleman with the black baseball cap.  He ambled around like he was lost and muttered to people as he passed.  The dog would follow loosely behind and would venture over to other aisles to sniff shoes before trotting to catch up.  I looked around to see if anyone else thought this odd.  No one seemed to notice the free roaming dog in a trendy coat.  No one.  Maybe the dog was trained to alert to blood sugar issues or maybe the dog was better at helping customers than some employees, but I'm pretty sure dogs that wear trendy jackets are not allowed in Lowe's, especially off leash. Now back to our story.

 A fun group of our art students traveled to Italy last summer.  As a part of their study, they were required to create art in response to their trip and put together an exhibit.  The County Bank Gallery at the Arts Center of Greenwood had an opening and the exhibit was held there.  The work was as creative and diverse as the group of students.  That's Mia up there sporting her sculpture shirt.  Mia is the Queen of Sculpture, meaning she's the sculpture studio assistant.  She created three dimensional graffiti letters and mixed in 3D and 2D pieces within the letters.

 That's Oscar, no doubt influenced by the religious works he saw in Rome.  Kayla appears as a vision in the mirror.

 The two large hanging pieces are Caitlin's.

 Emily's wood sculpture was based on a parasol she purchased on the trip.  Photo-bombing provided by Colleen and Haley.

 Cessquatch used her 2D and 3D skills to create this visual memory from an Italian street.

 Different parts of the scene are painted on each window.

 And Ashanta did her own modeling in her photographs.

 After that reception and before the next one, everyone was scrambling to put the finishing touches on their sculptures.  It warms my heart to see the studio this full and to hear it so noisy.

 Last Thursday was the reception for the Annual Juried Student Exhibit.  This year we moved this show to the end of the fall semester to free up more time in the spring semester for the Senior Exhibit.  Our friend Paul Matheny from the SC State Museum was our juror and he selected some great work.  

 All of the media areas were well represented and once again we had a ton of awards to present to our students.

 Tom Pitts always does our awards presentation and this one was special as he's decided to retire after this year.  His sense of humor will be irreplaceable.

 And when he holds court, the students listen intently.

 Our Friends of the Gallery made generous donations and chose a stack of awards to give out.  Tom worked his way through the pile with ease and he never once stepped back and fell off the riser.  That's Abby getting her purchase award for her drawing.

 And that's Tyler getting his Best in Show Award for the cool wood sculpture in the photos above.  He was stunned to win but everyone was pleased with the selection.

 That's Shawny taking a photo that I was photo-bombing.  Poor Ashanta and Cessquatch just wanted a photo and I ruined it.  All three of these ladies will be graduating in May.  They're going to miss me.

All the award winners...let's see if I can get this right...Starting with Tyler on the left, Daisha, Danielle, Erin, Colleen, Brandy, Sean, Ashanta, Mia, Katertot, Ashley, that guy who's name I can't remember because I haven't had him in a class yet, Ashley, Caitlin, Abby, Laura, James, & KJ.

thanksgiving and beach friday

I forget what happened for most of November this year, but the last few days of it were really nice.  

Brother Daniel couldn't run the Gobble Your Giblets 5K this year but he's the kind of brother who gets up early on Thanksgiving anyway just so he can come cheer his brother on and take a photo of him crossing the finish line.  He's a pretty good guy.  That's me in the super-cool white Lander University Sculpture shirt.  I ran hard, almost exploded on the killer hill and made good time, but still got beat by a lot of people.  It was fun.

 After the race, a drove to mom's to shower before the ginormous feast she prepared.  When I got out of my truck the first thing I saw was a large red tailed hawk circling low over the house.  Coincidence?  

Mom cooked again this year for more than 50 people.  And these are McAbee people mostly, with huge appetites.  I scoped out the desserts and piled my turkey and ham lightly so I would have room left for the sweet sampler platter.  We ate, we visited a bit and then we hit the road.

 Half of our Thanksgiving tradition is to feast at mom's with the entire McAbee family.  The other half is to hit the coast and enjoy the beach for the rest of the weekend.  We love the beach any time of year, but I always seem to enjoy it more when it's cold.  The light is great, the wind is brisk and everything is beautiful.  We made good time this year and caught the sunset just after check in.  I couldn't get that photo to load through iCloud....man, that iCloud is temperamental.  We had our usual Thanksgiving restaurant meal and the kids were so excited about being at the beach, they made sure we were up in time to catch the sunrise.

 G is shrinking, the kids are growing and just look at that light.  That blue....certainly worthy of naming your firstborn son, am I right?

 Violet in her happy place.  

 And Blue in his happy place.  It was still early on Beach Friday and it was cold.  Very cold.  But that didn't stop him from getting his pants soaked with sand and water from the knees down.

 Violet wanted to jump in the waves as we do in the summer.  She couldn't understand why we wouldn't be able to in late November.  The great parents we are, we thought we'd be clever and make this a teachable moment.  I led the kids in our swimsuits to the door and we bolted out across the sand to jump in the waves together.  We hit the cold water and of course, the kids didn't think it was nearly as cold as I did.  I made it out to knee deep water before my legs went numb.  We ran back inside to the warm pool area.  The kids had blue lips and their teeth were chattering and they were begging to go back to the ocean again.  So much for that plan.  The image above is when we went back out later and someone talked me into carrying them out into the water again.  I'm a sucker.

 Blue shares my appreciation for silly photos.  I talked him into wrestling with the alligator.

 And this year we tried to top our photo from last year.  Last time we posed him in front of the tree to make it appear he was blowing it over.  This year I jumped up into the tree and G timed it to look like I was being blown with the tree.  Not as good as last year, but still goofy.

 We are quick learners, though.  Last year we suffered through a Christmas program that was far too long for our collective attention spans.  This year we timed it just right so that when we finished our ice cream, we walked out just in time to see Santa arrive to light the Christmas tree at the Market Common.  We hit the book store while the people with patience waited in line to see Santa and when we came out again we walked right up and had our turn.  

Blue jumped right up and started sharing his list of "wants".  Violet wanted nothing to do with the bearded guy.  Eventually I slipped over and held her close to Santa and he leaned over and jolly talked her into almost smiling.  She said nothing, but she didn't scream, so I'm calling it a victory.  

Blue never stopped with his list the entire time.  He was listing things from the time he climbed up until we made him get down.  He seemed to be running out of ideas at the end because as he jumped down I heard him ask Santa for "one of those back massager things".  I asked what he meant and he said that sometimes his back itches where he can't scratch it and he needs something to reach it for him.  I suppose it's the simple things.

And now that Thanksgiving is done, these two are ready for Christmas.  

cashews

My dad loved cashews and pecans.  Mixed nuts were fine, deluxe mixed nuts were better, but a whole container of cashews or pecans was heaven on earth to him.  When we were kids, my brothers and I knew that if there was a can of cashews in the cabinet, we could only sneak a few handfuls or we'd be in trouble.  

It was completely normal for dad to eat a small can of cashews in one or two sittings.  You know the kind of eating where you know you should stop but it just tastes so good?  I'm sure you have a binge food too.  In fact, there's a great story about my dad eating lots of pecans that I'm sure I shouldn't tell on the internets.  You'll have to ask me in person for that one.

Cashews differed from pecans in that pecan trees were native to our yard.  My parents were wise enough to plant several pecan trees many years ago and those trees have been kindly delivering their produce every winter that I can remember.  Mom has giant bags of pecans in her freezers and she is a pro at oven roasting them.  Essentially, pecans were free.  Cashews were pricey.  After all us hungry kids moved out, dad was able to store and eat his cashews in peace.  Mom started buying the double sized cans and placing them on shelves higher than the grand kids could reach.


About a month after my dad died I was at my mom's and we were talking.  Before I left she reached for the unopened can of cashews in the picture above and pushed them toward me.  She told me that she had just bought them before dad went to the hospital and he never got a chance to open them.  She knew I loved them too and wanted me to have them.  To be clear, she intended for me to eat them.  She was very matter-of-fact about it.  Here is a can of cashews, Doug likes cashews, therefore Doug should eat these cashews.

But I can't open them.  

I couldn't open them a year and a half ago and I can't open them now.  I know that's pretty dumb and G and I get cracked up thinking about what my dad would say about it.  He'd tell me to eat them.  He'd tell me to eat them all in one sitting and enjoy every bite.  He'd probably tell me I was an idiot for not eating such a large can of deliciousness before now.  He probably laughs at me every time I look at the can without opening it.  And if the can ever disappears I'll know that he finally found a way to come back and enjoy those cashews.


So maybe I'm just weird.  I don't know if other people would do the same thing, but somehow that can has become important.  Too important to open.  Now that this particular image has become so closely associated with my dad and his passing, I think about cashews differently.  I still eat them, just not this can.  And when I do eat them, I consider my dad and remember his zeal for eating cashews.  I remember sitting in the living room watching TV with him.  I remember his laugh.

As a human, maybe I'm odd.  But for me as an artist, this is how everyday images can become charged with meaning and can become ingredients for drawings and sculptures.  The cashew now has at least two different meanings and since I've noticed that, the image may begin to make an appearance in my sketchbook.  But that can is staying in the cabinet.  Unopened.

a holiday, a shed, a hike and some art

 This semester seems unusually busy.  The days sort of bleed into one another.  It seems like we just started having classes and now it's almost Thanksgiving.  And since I can't keep up, here's some things that happened since the last time I was here...

 We found a Saturday morning to go to Stewart Farms before Halloween.  We did the usual amusements there and then picked out a cool pumpkin.  

 That afternoon we carved the pumpkin and made a cool jack-o-lantern.

 A couple of days later it was Halloween.  That's Robot Blue and Dorothy Ariel from the Wizard of Oz.  (and her little dog too)

 Last Saturday we got to explore a little inside G's grandparent's peach shed.  Lots of cool stuff up there to see.

It's easier to appreciate the beauty of a half bushel basket when you're not carrying it filled with peaches through knee high, dew covered grass in the middle of summer.

 The next day I hiked to the top of Table Rock.  This was an interesting trip.  It was a student led, student planned event at school.  Oddly enough, all the students backed out and the student who was in charge of it and really wanted to go, she got sick the night before and couldn't make it.  But Professor Slagle and his entire family showed up and even brought along a school friend, so we took full advantage of the perfect day and headed up the trail.

 The leaves were very colorful, the air was crisp and cool and you could see for days.

 It had been a very long time since I'd been to the top, so I was thrilled to get this chance to go.

 This is Tyler scaling the summit.  

 It was well worth the drive and the hike.  

 The view from the bottom looking up.  

 Then last Thursday was the opening reception for the 701 CCA South Carolina Biennial 2013 Exhibit.  G and I drove down to Columbia to attend.

 It took all my social skills to walk around for an hour and a half and to try to talk to people.  I enjoyed seeing the work.  That one up there was probably my favorite piece in the show.  It was made by Diana Farfan.

To be honest, we mostly stood around looking at art and watching people.  I thoroughly enjoy watching people interact with my sculptures.  I would love to know what's really going through their minds.