Diamonds in the Rough
Monday, June 13, 2011
I spent the first 3 weeks of May in Richmond, VA, living in an old carriage house and working with Patrick Dougherty at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. The whole process of building the sculpture was captured with time lapse cameras and then edited by Richmond Time Lapse. My band, Election Night, is honored to have the instrumental version of our song Pistons Fire chosen as the soundtrack to the video. Randee Humphrey, the garden's director of education, did a fantastic job spearheading the whole project and Patrick produced an awesome sculpture! The cast of volunteers was a group of hearty, dedicated, tireless people who did a tremendous amount of work and deserve many thanks. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is absolutely breathtaking. If you have a chance stop in, it's right off of I-95.
Labels: Election Night, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Patrick Dougherty, Richmond Time Lapse Richmond VA
Juniperphile
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
phile/file/phile/file... Greenpoint's bounty of endless scrap metal has led to another creation. Sparrow - salon and body work has been greening their storefront with some choice plants and I had the pleasure of building a reclaimed-steel planter box to sit above their main window. I sliced and diced some discarded filing cabinets, found sitting out on a curb, and welded them back together into this planter to house these three junipers. The surface has a gun-bluing patina and is otherwise left to rust to match the rest of the facade. If you need any extra inspiration to "get your hair did," please refer to Wesley Willis's - Cut the Mullet. Check out Sparrow's glowing reviews for both their salon and body work. Photo credits and photoshop doctoring courtesy of Caroline Bach.
Labels: Sparrow salon and body work.
The Bower
Thursday, March 31, 2011
DC Greens has put together an amazing garden and outdoor classroom at the Stoddert Elementary School in Glover Park, DC. Having seen Patrick Dougherty's sculptures, Natural History (Brooklyn Botanic) and Easy Rider (Dumbarton Oaks), they knew they wanted a stick sculpture for the entryway to their Garden. Patrick Dougherty is generally booked for about two years in advance, so offered me the opportunity and honor to stand in and make a sculpture in his place. As with all of these sculptures, it takes a crew, and for every step along the way there was help. From the first day, harvesting material in Maryland, to the last sponsored meal at Whole Foods, there were volunteers eager to lend a hand in every way. Here is a blog for the garden and photos of the construction process of the sculpture. Special thanks to Patrick Dougherty, Sarah Bernardi, Lauren Shweder Biel, and Jim Coleman, for allowing me to take saplings from his woods.
Labels: DC Greens, Patrick Dougherty, Stoddert Elementary
You got a problem, yo I'll solve it....
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
I was presented with a problem: a clutter and a TV/DVD setup that was hard to access. I came up with this new design as a solution. This is the first build I have done where the wood and glass are inset into square tubing versus lying on top. The top level of each shelf is totally flush with the metal frame that supports it.
Three's Company...
In need of a Keyboard case? This one went from trash to treasure. After checking out the store-bought options, this Frankenstein case seemed to be the best route. I found a discarded Peavey bass case and used a Dremel Rotozip to cut away the old foam, form fit for a bass guitar, to now fit the keyboard. I then lined the inside with fabric from Ikea's end-cut bin. Upon first use, the handle broke, so I fixed that too! When I had found it the brass/bolt configuration was already in play, but now it has a glue/tape job on the other side of the handle, and a peg/glue/staple job for the middle of the handle.
I was fortunate to take the course Textiles and Beyond taught by the Icelandic textile-genius, Hildur Bjarnadóttir. We learned all about working in wool and now, 8 years later, I had a relapse. I bought some felting needles and went to town mixing the raw wool fiber into a prefabbed army/navy store black wool scarf.
Labels: CLR, Felting, hildur bjarnadóttir, Keyboard Case, TV Stand, Wool
And nine months later we have a ..... Coffee Table!!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Just finished building a Coffee Table for an eco/green dream house in Portola Valley. After working with Patrick Dougherty in February on a sculpture on the property, I contacted the homeowners with my website and they contacted me back saying they wanted me to build a coffee table for the house! I was then put in touch with BAMO, their interior designer, and the process started.
- Top: Rescued Walnut Tree (saved from chipper at new housing development) finished with Tung Oil thinned with Citrus Oil.
- Base: Reclaimed Angle Iron (taken from a fish tank stand outside a Chinese restaurant, a junked bedbug-less bed-frame, and scrap from the set of The Good Wife) finshed with Raw Linseed Oil and Beeswax.
- BAMO / Interior Design.
- Marcus Sims of Treincarnation / Woodwork.
- ArtWelderAndy / Design and Steelwork.
Labels: Axe Bench, BAMO, PaloTable, Patrick Dougherty, Portola Valley, Treincarnation
Easy Rider at Dumbarton Oaks by Patrick Dougherty
Friday, September 24, 2010
Each time working with Patrick gets better than the last. Dumbarton Oaks has jaw-droppingly-beautiful gardens and Patrick's whirlwind design fit their ellipse garden perfectly. The Volunteers were top notch and Patrick ended up with an awesome sculpture.
Labels: Dumbarton Oaks, Easy Rider, Patrick Dougherty, Washington DC
Posts
