Showing posts with label Patrick Dougherty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patrick Dougherty. Show all posts

Follow-Up to Last Post...
Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Here are links to two articles about the house where I built the "nest-like window seat enclosure" of the previous post.

http://greentechadvocates.com/

http://www.electronichouse.com/

Photos by Gerry Evelyn, from the referenced links.

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Sticking to it...
Saturday, June 23, 2012


With the ongoing support and generosity of Patrick Dougherty I was able to take on this project in the Northeast Kingdom.  The homeowners have taken their house and flipped it inside-out with a creative force second to none.   Elements of nature are found throughout, and I was asked to build a nest-like window seat enclosure in the living room!  With a theme like this it is easy to "go Epcot," but it was truly amazing to see how tastefully and beautifully it was all made into reality.  Derrick and his crew from Brothers Building Company were on the job site, making the process as smooth as can be.  I was fortunate to have two great assistants Caroline Bach and Elliot Jenkins.

 Building a Nest/Pod Window Seat:


















Original sketch. 99% approved, just had to make the entrance larger.



Flat panel cut to make 1/4 cone shape for back inside the window seat. Similar to making the crown for the Zakk Wylde photoshoot with Clay Patrick McBride.



I used a cone calculator, made the cut extra large, clamped and screwed it onto the frame, and then trimmed with a Dremel Mult-Max.



Primed.



Installed



Organizing sticks. A section of nearby land had been trimmed and we were able to grab the precut saplings... doesn't get too much easier than that.



Elliot and I tied the structural limbs in place.





Caroline did the intricate work along the bottom skirt and a simpatico element under the adjacent window bench with a pop-up tv!



Final Photos...


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Nine Times
Thursday, April 5, 2012

In January at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito CA, I built my 9th sculpture with Patrick Dougherty. CLICK HERE FOR THE MUSEUM'S FLICKR PHOTO SET.  The sculpture, Peekaboo Palace, is in the form of serpentine hallways and openings winding around a dome-topped tower.

Patrick had previously built a sculpture at this very location and we incorporated-in some of the living elements from the first sculpture which had rooted themselves and continued to grow after being woven in place.  We watered the base with a hose, it also rained a bit, and we hope that some of the structural sticks from this sculpture will take root as well.  This living material adds to the longevity of the work because it won't rot at the base.  The BADM crew did a great job with upkeep on the last one and it lasted 7 years!  This project was driven by Brianna Cutts, the Director of Vistor Experience and Exhibit Design, who really made everything run as smoothly as can be.  There was also a great group of volunteers to work with during this build, a lot of jaw-droppingly talented local furniture builders and artists.

Here's a link to a particularly striking image taken of Peekaboo Palace; to view it, click the photographer's name --> Aaron Logan <--.

Richmond Time Lapse is doing another video!  Here is the first one segment, hopefully we will see the rest soon!



We also go great press from ABC, check out this scenic location where we were able to live and work for 3 weeks!  Here is there news feed:




I stayed a couple days longer and did some touch up work to the last Sculpture I helped Patrick build in the Bay Area, Out Yonder.  Here is a before/after of that:

Before:
After:

It didn't need much, but it looks a lot tighter around the edges and is more stable now.  The sculpture is on a private residence and, without saying their names, thank you once again for being such amazing hosts.  Great family!  During my stay I was also able to see PaloTable, the coffee table I made for their guest house.  I had never seen it in it's final home:




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Trashiness
Thursday, October 6, 2011



Greenpoint Lodge in Greenpoint, Brooklyn hired me to create a custom trash enclosure. Their three trash bins had been on the loose, distracting from an otherwise smart looking facade. I took this as an opportunity to not only hide the bins, but add to the aesthetic of the yard. The trash enclosure is made primarily of angle-iron steel for the frame and white oak and birch branches to fill in the panels (If you live in the area you might be wondering who pruned your local trees...)


The top opens up for filling the bins and then the front opens out to pull the bins to the curb. I struggled with the design to keep its functionality, but also to maintain a consistent one inch border around each facade. Leaving a gap on the front face was a last minute decision to facilitate quickly disposing of small objects. The swinging doors shown in the sketch got nixed to make it less appealing for pedestrians to use the bins. Also, the final placement was changed to display the unit at a better angle, free up more space in the yard, and move it further away from the sidewalk.

Patrick Dougherty's sculpture clearly influenced the design. I would not have realized the potential that sticks could play in my work without learning how he uses them in his. Weaving organic material into the hard metal frame I was able to soften the harsh nature of the industrialized world.



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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.

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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.

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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.


In general I use discarded materials as much as possible, but this project really pushed every aspect of the build to be as environmentally friendly as possible. I'm most comfortable working in metal, and after hunting high and low for suitable wood I was referred to Marcus Sims of Treincarnation who ended up doing a top notch job. From the samples he sent to BAMO they selected the Walnut Crotch. Due to the tapering nature of the cut to get at the crotch section of the tree I came up with the angular design of the boards to allow them to strech-out lengthwise, but still fill in the whole top section. I can't stress it enough, Marcus did an amazing job.

The basic design was borrowed from the Axe Bench that I made for Stonington SeamWorks. BAMO asked that it be smaller (46"x22") and for the gaps between the wood to be tighter, so it would be more suitable as a coffee table. Countless emails later we worked out all the details and the building commenced. It was a real education finding out how much petroleum has gotten into all the products we use, but there are a few companies out there that are really making a difference and using more natural ingredients.

It was a pleasure working with everyone involved!

Ingredients:
  • 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.
Players:
  • BAMO / Interior Design.
  • Marcus Sims of Treincarnation / Woodwork.
  • ArtWelderAndy / Design and Steelwork.

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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.

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Natural History at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Friday, August 27, 2010



Another great experience working with Patrick Dougherty, this time in my hometown. Struggling for a title we overheard a 5 year old say "This is Natural History" and the name stuck. I just returned from the woods of central Virginia, where we fought ticks, snakes, bees and poison ivy for our precious sticks for the next Sculpture at Dumbarton Oaks. Stay tuned!

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Rebuilding the Summer Palace
Tuesday, April 20, 2010

After a rough winter, things are starting to pop out of the ground at The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is an amazing city and it hosts this fabulous arboretum, full of energetic, hard-working, welcoming characters whose vast knowledge of plants and driven work ethic keep the place looking breathtakingly beautiful.


This past winter PA had record-breaking snow both in feet and in weight. Patrick Dougherty's sculptures are designed to withstand the local weather, be it wind in San-Fran, a torrential rain up the coast, or northern snow. This year's snow in PA was so far above what could be expected in the area that the one-year-old Summer Palace took a premature slumber.

People remarked that it looked "deflated," "sat on," and "melted," but no longer. For the past three weeks I teamed up with the Morris Arboretum and pumped some life into the Summer Palace. We literally pumped it up using an automotive floor jack and then reinforced the weakened areas. For the most part sticks have a memory of the shape in which they dried, and most of them popped back into place. However, although strong, dry sticks are also brittle and some of the main structural limbs had to be replaced.

Knowing that we couldn't bring it all the way back up to its original splendor, we lifted the sculpture as high as it would spring back without causing further damage. It is now aesthetically approachable and safe to explore. Visitors are able to enjoy walking in an around the Summer Palace once again.

Many thanks to the Morris Arboretum and extra thanks to Patrick Dougherty for his initial creation and his personal recommendation for me to work on the reconstruction, Patrice Sutton for spearheading the rebuild, Imogen Anderson for her tireless work, Drew Hawkes and Dan Church for continually being on the scene with a needed extra hand, materials, and supplies.

The top photo is the rebuilt state, the next was taken half-way through the rebuild, the next is the fallen state, then the destructive snow, and the last photo is its first built state.

Press:
Morris Arboretum Blog
and
Chestnut Hill Local





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Work with Patrick Dougherty
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I just returned back to NYC from Portola Valley, CA where I was fortunate enough to work on another Sculpture with Patrick Dougherty. We built 7 huts inspired by Dogon huts from Mali, Africa. This was a private commission by a gracious couple on their property where they are constructing a LEED Platinum home. 5 of us worked for 3 weeks to create the sculpture. Here we are Colby Claycomb, Patrick Dougherty, Romie, me, and Dave Lovejoy.

Back in December I worked with Patrick Dougherty and Romie on this interior sculpture for the North Carolina Museum of Art.













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New York to San Francisco.... and back
Tuesday, March 10, 2009


I just recently returned from San Francisco.  I stayed for 3 weeks and was the assistant to Patrick Dougherty on his sculpture The Upper Crust.  He was hired by the San Francisco Art Commission to build a sculpture outside of City Hall.  This is my third time working with Patrick, and each time has been more exciting than the last.  These sculptures are amazingly rewarding to work on, you are in constant contact with nature in its rawest state.  The sculpture was build using willow woven into the tops of pollarded sycamore trees.  When the Sycamores bloom they will shoot through the scupture.  San Francisco Mike does an amazing service for the city with his sfciviccenter blogspot.  Check out his last entry of the sculpture at http://sfciviccenter.blogspot.com/2009/02/patrick-dougherty-and-upper-crust.html.  San Francisco Mike took the photo I used in this blog entry.

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Back with Sticks
Wednesday, September 24, 2008






Amazingly, I was able to work with Patrick Dougherty again on his latest installation at Wheaton College in Norton, MA. Another totally positive experience! Nothing like working your tail off, feeling good about it, working with amazing people, and jumping out of bed the next day to do it again! Here is the photo gallery from the project. Photos were taken by the slide library and are property of Wheaton College.

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Meanwhile, back at the trailer... - Pink Flamingos
Friday, December 7, 2007


I'm still setting up the shop... In the meantime check out these sites:


http://community.middlebury.edu/~sticks/ -=- I worked for Middlebury College assisting environmental artist Patrick Dougherty (stickwork.net) for the month of Sept. What an amazing experience! The College Museum is a real powerhouse giving unlimited support to the project led by the most gracious, talented, artist/boss you could ever imagine. The result was a community coming together and collaborating on a fanta'stick'ally beautiful work of Art. A special thanks goes out to a special friend, Middlebury's Divaman!!!!, Dr. Francois Clemmons for letting me crash at his pad. His site is https://seguecommunity.middlebury.edu/index.php?action=site&site=clemmons.

http://www.myinitialsare.tk/ -=- Tyler Kremberg is a personality and a half. Check out his site for a humorous take on music, cities, the internet, and anything else you can think of.

http://friendlymixtape.blogspot.com/ -=- Ari continually puts together rock solid mixes. Check out the song Etienne D'Aout by Malajube on the "july '07" mix, it is a dream and a half.

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