19 of 52 'WHITE CLAD'

'WHITE CLAD' (24 L x 19 W x 6" D) week of December 21st

18 of 52 'CONTINENTAL'

'CONTINENTAL' (6 1/4 L x 12 1/2 W x 2 1/2" D) week of December 14th

17 of 52 'CATALINA'

'CATALINA' (35 L x 25 W x 10"D) week of December 7th

16 of 52 'EASY'

'EASY' (15 3/4 L x 13 3/4 W x 3 D") week of November 30th

For when the going gets tough.

'Easy' is made primarily of a found object. I always liked this end cap off an old time steamer press. I liked the color, shape but mostly the ‘easy’ stamp. I mounted the cap onto a slab of wood, which is coated over in thick coat resin with a stripe of latex paint across the top.

I feature Julie just made me aware of is if you click on the actual picture you'll get the full deal. I don't know what is more amazing. How great you can view the pictures or my never realizing this?

Thanks for checking in and take it easy!

15 of 52 'ANTHUM'

'ANTHUM' (35 ½ L x 30 W x 8 ½ D”) week of November 23rd

I remember Terry Gross doing an interview with Neil Young and asking him about writing music. From that interview I took away a small bit which really resonated with me, Young said, “I only try to write when I feel like writing, but if I feel like writing I don’t care what else is going on…. I will write. If an idea comes to me out of nowhere I look at it as a gift, not a distraction. Everything else in the room is a distraction. In that way I am committed to the muse, I roll with the muse.”

Essentially, that stuff isn’t always around. It comes and it goes so if you’ve got it, make hay while the sun is shining. Those moments and times are special and I do believe they are absolutely gifts.

'Anthem', is composed of milled utility cedar, juniper, diamond plated sheet steel which is spray-painted enamel.

14 of 52 'TANGERINE BURRITO 2'

'TANGERINE BURRITO 2' (21 L x 18 1/2 W x 7 1/2"D) week of November 16th

I used to think if you didn’t pick out a color from the vast array of sample cards at the paint store within two minutes your eyes would get desensitized, you’d end up spending half the day in the paint shop and spend a bunch of money on sample paints. Inevitably, your paint day would then drag into a paint week if not a paint month. So, when I picked “blue bauble” to paint our kitchen an old school diner blue I was minding my two minute rule. I almost didn’t get the color just because of the name, but I was going with my gut. The test results are in and my gut doesn’t have to live with the color…my eyes do.

‘Tangerine Burrito 2’, is crafted mainly from a couple pieces of powder coated sheet steel. They are recycled from an old art piece which I recently decided to cannibalize for materials. They are tensioned together with hardware and aluminum aircraft cable. This simple piece is set inside a funky old frame compliments of a local thrift store.

13 of 52 'FERUS'

'FERUS' (7 3/4 L x 10 3/4 W x 4" D) week of November 9th

This one is for my Grandmother who thinks I should put a sheet behind the sculptures I photo so people don’t see all the crap in my shop.

“Art is art-as-art, and everything else is everything else”

Ad Reinhardt, ’25 Lines of Words on Art Statement,’ Art International (December 1962)

Ferus is composed of a mini frame which boasts laminate stripped from an old school Steelcase desk. A crafted steel support attaches to the frame which displays the chunk of juniper, I had this piece of juniper floating around forever knowing I'd run across the perfect application for it.

Also, If your looking to get some good music added into your mix Hurtbird is coming out with a new album in a few months. http://www.hurtbirdmusic.com

Thank you for checking in!

12 of 52 'ROCKRACE'

ROCKRACE (23 ¾ L x 20 W x 3 ½ D) week of November 2^nd

Rockrace is set within the fame with supporting wood strips which house a chunk of 1” thick plexi. I countersunk a bunch of holes and dropped little rocks inside the holes. These rocks are special because they came from a pretty incredible place and have been tumbled to shinny perfection. A ¼” top sheet of plexi sandwiches all the rocks in place. Hemlock fir comprises the frame surrounding the plexi, while CVG ply is used to give a Japanese like look to the outer supporting wood strips. Behind the rock stripe is a piece of Cherokee red (Frank would be happy) laminate, to make it fast.

My apologies for the picture, I’ll be reposting a better shot once I get the opportunity. To make up for it I’ll be showcasing an aside piece along with next week’s post. Stay tuned and as always thank you for your interest!

Also, check out some of my talented friend’s sites:

http://www.steveeiden.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdy3BWNW1Fs

11 of 52 ' SECUNDA'

'SECUNDA' (20 3/4 L x 17 3/4 W x 3 1/4”D) week of October 26th

I’ve been spending a lot of time in a particular area just outside of Bend, trying to get my fill of autumn color and last minute exploration in before the snow starts flying at higher elevations. Last week I was roaming around an area which I am fairly familiar with. It was getting dark quickly so I decided to begin my loop back to the truck. I came to a section where I always spend a few minutes scanning for rocks. In this area was an old, partial deer skeleton which, over time, had been reduced to just the spine and a couple ribs. What was strangely odd, if not a bit spooky this particular evening was somebody had broken apart each vertebrae and placed them at the base of every downed tree in the general area. Each vertebra was thoughtfully placed and oriented in such a way that it immediately spoke of ritual. Upon realizing this pattern I got a quick chill up my spine.

What really got my imagination going was as long as i’d been going to this area I’ve never seen a soul and rarely find any evidence of people. In fact, I can normally tell where I had been from week to week by my foot prints. I picked up a few of the vertebrae and took them back to where they belong, thinking this would allow me to control the situation and reclaim my area. As I was about to pick up another vertebra I notice that the only foot prints in the general vicinity where my own from a few days prior. I turned and kept walking away. Even my dog Big was on full alert which had me looking over my shoulder quite a bit.

Secunda is set into a sweet plastic frame and is comprised of CVG fir, laminate and steel posts which support the rocks.

Happy belated Halloween

10 of 52 'VILLAGE SMITHY '

'VILLAGE SMITHY' (28 W x 51 1/2 L x 5 1/2"D) week of October 19th

‘Village Smithy’ is really a further investigation following ‘Orange Nugget.’ I feel like this direction will show itself again before this project is over.

9 of 52 'CLEAN SINK'

'CLEAN SINK': (23 3/4 L x 20 W x 5 1/2" D) week of October 12th

When I work in my shop I have a ritualistic cleaning before I start each project. I sweep, put tools in their place, shop-vac and straighten up until I feel like I have achieved a blank canvas. This process, for me, clears my head and readies it for the task. Throughout my project I will take time every now and then to sweep. Sweeping for me is like looking into a reflecting pool. The motion relaxes me and brings me into clear thought. Depending on how my work session is going I will either do this a lot or never, but usually when the floors are saw dust free and time has passed the potential to redirect my strategy is in full effect or heading there soon.

The end to this ritualistic maintenance arrives when I finally wash my hands. Once that is accomplished my studio session has usually ended. Often, my hands are filthy and they take a couple good lathers to clean. What happens when my hands are extra dirt laden is the lather from the soap captures all the dirt and grease. Exactly what it should do; however, when no more water is running to rinse away the extra huge amount of foam, lather it eventually dissipates and leaves the sink completely coated in the same dirt and grease which was on my hands. My wife Julie thinks I never wash my hands and this is what happens. For this I always get the “you need to wash your hands more often.” Followed by the “you get to wash the sinks and while your at it wash the toilets too.”

8 of 52 'MADERA VIEJA'

'MADERA VIEJA': ( 10 ¾ L x 17 ¾ W x 6” D) week of October 5th

As a kid, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. Because I related volcanoes with dinosaurs…. lava rock was the shit. My childhood buddy, Chad, had a good collection of rocks. A bit of pyrite, some fools gold, petrified wood, the average kid’s big rollers of a rounded collection. I remember his uncle sent him a chunk of lava rock. The idea of this rock and to actually hold this rock was to say the least a transcendental experience. I remember gently palming this basaltic lava and being completely floored by the idea that, this, was around when dinosaurs roamed the earth….simple deductions and assumptions, but all the same I was in awe of this rock. Shortly there after we moved to Bend, OR from El Toro, CA where my ideas about lava rocks shortly turned from lava rock stoke to hoe-hum lets break out the legos.

Since then, my appreciation of the high desert has grown and now jewels like 1000+ year old juniper trees that mark the landscape like prehistoric bones have become my lava rocks. Twisted and contorted, old growth juniper is a direct reflection of the environment it inhabits. Isamu Noguchi always talked about nature being the best artist. I couldn’t agree with anything more.

Madera Vieja is set into a frame that was found in Palm Springs. The background is MDF with laminate. The wood is old growth juniper. The brackets securing the wood are 1/8” flat bar steel.

7 of 52 'SENTINEL'

'SENTINEL' (18L x 15W x 2 ½”D) week of September 28th

Back when I was in college I collaborated on a few art projects with my friend Hunter Caputo. It was my senior year and we had this class, which dealt with sculpture in a public arena. At the time I was taken with Jean Claude Christo and his monumental installations. One project we collaborated on was a massive cardboard wall where Hunter and I worked to procure the materials, permission and concept which yielded a 6’ high wall built from cardboard boxes measuring 36x24x36”. The location we chose for this installation was the PSU park blocks. A city block in Portland rounds out at 200’, which landed us at about 1000’ of cardboard double stacked. We stayed up for two days straight building the wall, repairing the wall and fielding questions and complaints. We started late on Sunday night and by first light Monday we finished construction. It was beautiful. Straight as an arrow and contoured to fit the slight rolling downhill, the installation glowed with the pail purple light of the early morning; giving it something more than the individual parts but charging the whole with character and presence. This memory is the treasure before our works eventual demise 24 hours later.

I remember people’s reactions being intense but remember one interaction in particular, which really set the impetuous for Sentinel. A professor approached me and asked if I was responsible for this mess. I told her I was and started telling her what the whole project was about. Before I got into my sentence she started laying into me with a ferocious spiel about how irresponsible I was and how I was the cause of global warming. I was pretty exhausted at this point and realized she would never accept any other point of view so I checked out. I watched how furious she looked with her red face and waving finger and BLA! BLA! BLA! which came from her all knowing mouth surrounded by ugly lipstick. What the hell am I talking about?

Sentinel is set inside a funky frame which I have no recollection of procuring. Composed mainly of MDF, laminates and hemlock.

6 OF 52 'ORANGE NUGGET'

'ORANGE NUGGET' (8" L x 6 1/2" W x 2" D) week of September 21

I was in LA this past week. Can’t say much else about this one.

Orange Nugget is slammed into a small frame with an orange powder coated sheet steel backing which rests 1/4" behind the 1/8" frosted acrylic top sheet. The old growth juniper section is sunken into the top sheet.

5 of 52 'GRAND TOURING'

'GRAND TOURING' (82 1/2L x 29 W x 3" D) September 14th,2009

I am on vacation currently and will return to fill this section with insight.

Grand Touring is composed from two hollow doors from an old art piece. Both panels are sanded down slightly for an antiqued look. The Racing stripes are painted with oil based enamel paint. All this rests underneath 1/4" of table top resin. I hand sanded the resin's high shine finish to defuse light hitting the surface. This makes it easier to read the depth of the surface without competing with glare. Basically this gives the stripes and the surface beneath the stripes tons of depth.

4 OF 52 'LAKEWOOD BALL'

'LAKEWOOD BALL' (14 3/4 L x 18 W x 4-7"D) week of September 7th

For as long as I can remember there used to be a Denny’s here in town. The building had this late 50’s look with an exaggerated, jettisoning roofline and walls of glass, which faced east so to capture all the morning sun. It was a classic, old school, space-age diner. In my opinion, this building was a historical jewel, a building that talked about the optimism of the time. I watched as Denny’s closed and the building sat vacant for about a year. I had so many great dreams about how that building could be turned into a killer diner by some design savvy, hip foodies. But as luck would have it, Denny’s gets leveled and a piece of shit fast food joint goes up. Now in it’s place stands a monstrosity of a stucco box with some weak architectural embellishments meant to give the impression of a stylish, HEALTHY, higher end dinning establishment. What a sham.

My Grandparents used to love telling the story of when they lived next door to “Denny.” They lived in a nice So-Cal neighborhood, nothing pretentious or over the top by any means. They where blue-collar folks who used their ingenuity and hard work to get their dream. Long story short, Harold (aka Denny) used to live it up. A nice fellow, who’s pool wound from the inside of his house to the outside. A fellow who worked hard and played hard till all hours of the night until my grandfather had to go next door and ask for them to tone it down. I always pushed for more descriptions of “Denny’s” house, the feel, the style, anything to help complete my picture of the space with that pool! I never came away with those details so I’ve latched onto the house in the Peter Sellers movie “The Party,” to complete my image of Denny’s house.

Today, there are loads of cars causing traffic problems because everyone wants to try this novelty of the newest fast food restaurant in town. I like to think they’re lining up to ask how they could have leveled such a great building.

Lakewood Ball is set into the same frame as Summer Cooler, a two for one bargain never to be had again. The body of the piece is MDF with two colors of laminate applied to it’s surfaces. The structure is poplar and teak ply held together with screws and brads. This piece has a different look from every angle.

3 of 52 'TASTY PLASTIC'

'TASTY PLASTIC' (8 5/8 L x 11 1/2 W x 2 3/4" D) week of August 31st

I was in the grocery store yesterday and noticed this kid all jacked up on sugar while running around pretty much unchecked. The only time he stood still was to squeeze green, translucent, liquid candy from a plastic dispenser onto a yellow, opaque sucker. Every time he stopped to reapplied the squeeze candy onto the sucker it reminded me of a biathlete; total focus and efficiency followed by extreme physical exertion. He stopped mid-sprint, administered the squeeze candy with shocking calm and attention, then completely switched into a demon bolting down the isle at full speed until the next high-fructose fix. I later noticed his younger sister who had already finished her chemical treat. She was vigorously trying to suck out the residual liquid candy from the plastic dispenser while on the verge of a melt down. Their mother was thrilled about the great price on cases of Mountain Dew. Whatever happened to just worrying about cavities?

Tasty Plastic’s inter frame is a painted piece of MDF. The top sheet layer is ¼” frosted acrylic which rests ¾” above the colored MDF. This arrangement produces a mild glow when light penetrates the acrylic surface. Above this background is a steel shelf which houses a rock I found at Indian beach and tumbled for four weeks. The rock is easily removable and gives a tangible reward for those who take the time to observe. Thank you for your interest, I am on to the next weeks piece.

2 of 52 'TEA HOUSE'

'TEA HOUSE' ( 14" L x 10 1/2" W x 4" D ) Week of August, 24th

I have a client who comes into my comes into the plant shop who is a complete bonsai fanatic. I totally admire this guy's commitment to his art, which is absolutely what it is. He'll talk for days about these exotic lamborghinis of trees. It is here, when I started to really understand how relaxing these trees can be. Correct me if I am wrong, but I feel as if bonsai have the ability to mentally place you within the landscape while calming the senses and allowing the mind to take a break from the grind; while thinking how nice it must be in that small landscape...with my cooler of ice beers.

The piece of juniper really sets the tone. It's character really takes over, leaving everything else to compliment. At first your eye may go to the red, then to the outer part of the piece but know you'll ultimately need to spend sometime reading the detailed wood element. I've got some trick angles going between the frame and the subject which doesn't translate well in the photo but that is the benefit of seeing this piece in person.

I found this frame at an estate sale in the Mt. Tabor area of Portland. The red background is laminate, the outer frame is teak plywood with bar steel.

Thank you for checking in!

1 of 52 'SUMMER COOLER'

'SUMMER COOLER' (14Lx11Wx8"H) Week of August 17th

At around 4:30 the sun hits directly into my shop. In the summer I always have the garage door up when I am working so coincidently my shop feels like the surface of the sun by 4:45. I was working on this piece and really pushing to not take a break because I was getting excited to see my first piece finished. During my thoughtful pauses my attention kept going to this cooler I have in one of my racks and I kept thinking how great it would be to fill that stupid cooler with ice and cold beer. This got me thinking about summer and all the great things to do during summer. The silver lining here would probably be don't waste time thinking about the things you can be doing. Is this what this piece is about? It depends on if you have cold beer or not.

Summer Cooler is built into a frame I found at a church rummage sale. Mounted into the frame is a light green laminate background with a chunk of old growth juniper. The juniper is suspended above the laminate surface with three aluminum rods. Stay tuned for next weeks post!