Green Is The New Black

I'm sure you've noticed that Green is the new Big Thing. I don't mean that this is some lame-o trend that will hopefully go away soon (see the Atkins Diet), but just that everyone seems to be spouting buzz words and phrases like Organic, Biodegradable, Carbon Neutral, Sustainability, Locavore, Plastic Bag Ban, etc.

You may even have recently begun to do things differently yourself. Things that are better for the environment, like kicking the plastic bottle habit, bringing your own canvas bags to the grocery store, or buying certified organic foods. Or perhaps you've been doing that for years and finally the rest of the country is catching up to you. Whatever, this is a good change.

I have been trying to make changes in my life, too. In the last year I have been becoming more Informed. Which is a good and a bad thing in my opinion. The good thing is having knowledge about important environmental issues that I was previously unaware of but the bad is just how dang complicated that makes things.

See, I've come to realize that I am suffering from The Guilt of Humanity (I just made that up). Now that I know that pretty much everything that the human race does messes up the planet in some way I am starting to feel like no matter what I do it's not enough to make up for that.

For instance, I read the book Cradle to Cradle and learned that while recycling my plastic bottles for the past umpteen years is a good thing all it's really doing is slowing down that piece of plastic's eventual trip to the landfill. Because when plastic is recycled it's actually being downgraded into a product that will eventual become unusable and then where does it go? So in effect we are just delaying it's eventual cradle-to-grave cycle. Urgh. So, what I gotta completely give up plastic?

And how about An Inconvenient Truth? I saw that movie and now I feel like a jerk for owning much less driving my car! But I have to drive my car to certain places, it's unavoidable.

I also recently read The Omnivore's Dilemma. In that, and other books I've read on the topic of food, I learned that just because that package of beef is labeled Certified Organic doesn't necessarily mean that the cow actually spent much or any time at pasture. Certification only requires farmers to provide the cattle access. Same goes for free-range chickens. So, now I gotta go to the actual farm and make sure these things are happening before I feel okay about eating the product? Urgh. Too much work. It's easier just to not eat meat at all. Then you know for sure.

Further thoughts on the topic of food. What's best, certified organic, local, sustainable, all of the above? What if when my local farmer grows hothouse tomatoes that expends more energy than having tomatoes grown in Mexico shipped to the United States? Should I be more concerned with eating locally or with the energy it takes to get that tomato to my plate?

These are tough choices and they are just a few. I try to do the right thing but it feels like it's not enough. I try to avoid plastic bags but I still drink water out of plastic water bottles. Sometimes I even throw the bottle in the trash. I bike to the studio and gym in the summer but I also drive a car that gets terrible gas mileage. Plus, I drive too fast.

I buy certified organic or non-pesticide produce from my local farmers but I still use Miracle Grow on my flowers. I don't compost, though I easily could. I also use poison to get ride of moles and gophers. And I'll cop to the fact that I have Round Up in my garden shed (though I haven't used it in more than a year).

Not all of my cleaning and bath supplies are biodegradable. I don't turn off the water when I shampoo my hair. I wear clothing made of synthetic fibers manufactured in Indonesia or the like. I throw batteries in the garbage. I burn wood in my fireplace. I wear shoes with rubber soles!

I am a Menace to the Planet!

And I am sure there are plenty more offenses I don't even know about...Yet. It seems like it was better when I ignorantly went about my life not giving much thought to the consequences of my actions to the Planet, to the Environment. Now I know better and I feel guilty. It's hard to always do the right thing. Life, Culture, Society, Industry just make it so darn easy to do the wrong thing.

But I'll keep trying.

Favorite Quote of the Day:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. -- Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma

The Sioux Falls Adventure

Got back from Sioux Falls Sunday afternoon and I have to say, despite the cold, wind and rain, we had a really good time. Don't get me wrong, though. It was quite a relief to come home to temperatures in the 80s and sunny skies. Anyway, here is how we spent the weekend.

We left early Friday morning and got to the hotel in Sioux Falls around 3pm. That gave just enough time to walk downtown a bit before coming back and getting ready for the reception that night. Specifically, I wanted to see my sculpture, of course. So, we headed right to it, just a couple of blocks from the hotel. It's not where it was originally intended to be installed. But that's okay. I actually think that this changed location is a good fit for the piece. It's in a planter about four feet up and it blends in pretty well with the surrounding buildings.


Over all I am pleased with how it looks. I was so afraid that it would look like, I don't know, some amateur piece of crap. But, you know what, it looks really good.

There are some other really nice sculptures that make up Sculpture Walk and we had a chance to see some before walking back to the hotel. A lot of them are just not my style but, you know, to each his or her own. Besides, it's what the people like; I'm talking about mostly realistic bronzes. Nothing at all like the art that I make. Let's just say I don't have any expectations that I'm going to win the People's Choice Award.

We enjoyed the reception that night. There was live music and appetizers (though not one hot item was without meat so we were pretty hungry). And there was a slide presentation and introduction of all of the participating artists. That was very nice.

When we had checked into the hotel I was given a special Sculpture Walk shirt that was embroidered with the Sculpture Walk logo and the word "artist" on the front. We, the artists, were encouraged to wear them as much as possible over the weekend so that people could identify us. It is a collared, button-down, long sleeve outdoorsy kind of top. And the women's are Orange. Yes, Orange. But not a bad orange, it's got a hint of red in it. It's not that the shirt is dorky, it's just not quite my style.

But Eric convinced me to wear it to the reception. I'm glad I did as it made it very noticeable that I was one of the artists and consequently I got asked, along with a few others, by the local television station to do an interview for a special segment they will air about the Sculpture Walk. So, hey, I'm gonna be on T.V. Hopefully not looking like a dork in my orange "artist" shirt.

Afterwards, Eric and I managed to find an Ethiopian restaurant that is located about ten blocks off the main drag so we could get something vegetarian. They had two vegetarian items on the menu and they were both great. The whole meal was exactly what we wanted. We were the only people in the restaurant. A little bit too "exotic" for the fine folks of South Dakota, I think. Then we walked back to downtown to see what was happening. Fortunately it did not rain at all that night.

All in all, the downtown is fairly nice with a some restaurants and bars and coffee shops, etc. Nothing great but pleasant. We had a nice time after dinner having a beer at a lounge in town and talking with some fellow artists. One of whom I actually know from Marble. That was pretty cool.

Saturday we spent all day exploring town. Mostly in the rain. It is fair to say that it was quite a blustery day. But we could not let that stop us from checking things out as we were leaving the next morning. First we walked to Falls Park. That is just such a pretty park. Even in the rain, and maybe especially because of the rain (the pink quartzite is very pretty wet). I bet, though, that it's much better there when it's warm and sunny. And at night they light up the falls and there is even a laser show in the summertime. Cool. Here's some photos of the falls. Pretty awesome.






We walked around until our pants were soaked and then we took the trolley (thank god for that) back to the hotel to change and look for a place to eat. The rest of the day we spent walking all around. We even did some geocaching. We wore ourselves out! We went back to Falls Park later in the afternoon because there was going to be a Cinco de Mayo parade and festivities at the park. But it was cancelled due to the weather which was a shame because it didn't rain much in the afternoon although it was quite grey and windy. That was okay, though. Gave us a chance to find some caches at the park without having tons of people around making it difficult to be "stealth".

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo we had dinner at this restaurant that only makes enchiladas (four on the menu that night) and chips and salsa and guacamole (weekends only). Very decent food and really yummy sangria but I have never had an enchilada made with flour tortillas before. I'm not sold on that. I like the authenticity of corn, what can I say. But it's cool. We were in South Dakota after all. This Tex-Mex style is probably all they ever have.

Before we knew it our little visit to Sioux Falls was over and we flew home Sunday morning. Boy what a hassle getting home though. There were some unexpected delays in Denver and then again when we landed in San Francisco. But we made it finally. It was nice to see Jasmine and feel the warmth and sunshine of California again.

On the whole, I am very glad that I am a part of this year's Sculpture Walk. It feels good to have my art out in the public. And Sioux Falls is not a bad little town at all. If you are ever in the area, you should check it out.

Shameless Plug of the Day: Vote for my sculpture, Progression Structure #8, for the People's Choice Award.

Beginning May 15th, when the Sculpture Walk 2007 website is launched, you can vote on-line. The People's Choice sculpture is purchased by the city of Sioux Falls and remains on permanent display. Wouldn't it be nice if my sculpture didn't come back to California? So, Vote Early and Often. Well, don't really on the Often part. "Ballot Stuffing" is strictly forbidden. Thanks for your support!

A Couple of Things

So, I was thinking about what I wrote yesterday and something occurred to me. Perhaps I am the only one who sees the Nature Art that I find as perfection. Maybe to others it looks like a piece of junk metal or a chunk of washed-up shell. What if I am the only one who sees these things as beautiful? And maybe my "job" as an artist is to take the beauty that I find and turn it into my own art so that I might share with others what I see in Nature. I am thinking that I shouldn't fret so much about making art this way. Ha! We all know I just shouldn't fret so much! It's a good goal, anyway.

By the way, Eric and I fly out early tomorrow morning for Sioux Falls. I meant to mention that yesterday. The opening reception for Sculpture Walk is tomorrow night and then we'll have all day Saturday to walk around downtown and look at all the other sculptures. I'll also get a chance to document my piece as it is installed. To tell the truth, I'm pretty excited. This is my first piece of public art, aside from what I did at Franconia. My sculpture is going to be seen by a lot of people. Kinda cool. Also, I think Sioux Falls is going to be a pretty decent town to visit. At least I hope so. I will report how the weekend goes when I get back.

Sad Bird Nest Update of the Day: The eggs are gone.

A couple of days ago I was on the front porch getting the mail and it looked like the nest had been abandoned. There was a little bit of nest debris on the ground, too. I haven't seen the momma bird all week and we checked this morning and the eggs are gone. I am afraid that some blue jays got the eggs. Total bummer. Nature - what are you going to do?

Being Sisyphus

Thought I'd start this post off with a pretty picture. This is Sayulita, Mexico. Lovely little fishing village. Ah, what memories. Okay, Kitty, come back. Vacation's over. Time to start thinking about the Real World. And, no not that lame-ass MTV show that went tits up about the time Puck showed up.

I have been thinking, though. A lot lately. Thinking about what I really want to be doing next in regards to my art-making. And I have come to realize that what I really, really want to do is spend some quality time stone carving. But there is a problem with this idea - I don't have adequate space in which to do that. Yeah, sure, I've got my little area in the back yard but that is not ideal for two reasons. One, Eric works at home and the noise would definitely be an issue, especially if he's on a conference call. And two, I get really distracted working at home and have found, in the past, that trying to carve stone there just doesn't work for me. I need a separate space where I can totally devote my presence to stone carving.

I cannot do that in my current studio so there is definitely a problem with this new direction. I am starting to realize, actually, that I can do barely anything in my studio right now. I can't work on the tree there anymore - it out grew the space. And I don't really have any other art projects going on that would be appropriate to do there. So, what am I gonna do? I need to try and find a different studio. But here in Marin, not so easy. Especially a space where I can do the messy type of work that I love so much. Cost is an issue, despite my job at the winery.

Oh how I wish I could go for the whole summer to Marble, Colorado and carve there. I would get so much work done. Unfortunately, because of my job at the winery I can only go for one session this year. Way too short an amount of time. **Sigh** See, I need the job at the winery in order to be able to afford the trip to Colorado. You see the Catch-22-ness of the situation.

So, what has gotten me to want to devote all my time to stone carving, you ask. Well, it's because of Nature. Back in the spring of 2006 while I was a Resident Artist at the Mendocino Art Center I discovered Glass Beach in Fort Bragg and was enthralled by the pieces of man-made debris that I found there. I loved that over time this trash had been transformed by Nature into what I considered to be amazing pieces of art.

I loved those little pieces of transformed debris so much that I used some of them as inspiration for two marble pieces that I carved last summer - Glass Beach 1 and Glass Beach 2. I really loved the marble sculptures I made but the truth is the pieces of metal that inspired them, the Art that Nature made, was truly perfect. I can only strive to make art that incredible.

I found some more pieces of Nature Art recently. When we were in Mexico. One morning Eric and I decided to walk along the coast from Carrizitos to Patzcuero, a pretty adventurous trek I might add because there was plenty of rock climbing and wave dodging. This was our starting point, Playa de Carrizitos.


I don't know how long of a stretch it was but it took a couple of hours. I found some of the most amazing shells along the way. Better and bigger then any I have ever found anywhere else. And I also found some sea worn pieces of shell that had become, to me, these incredible little sculptures. I couldn't believe it. They are absolutely perfect. Really, just beautiful.

And I knew then when I found them that these were going to be the inspiration for the marble sculpture I create this year in Colorado. Monday I pined these pieces of worn shell onto little chunks of marble "bases". And now I have these miniature sculptures. Again, like last year, I am totally cribbing from Nature. But what can I say, I copy from the best. Here's the thing though, I could never, ever make any sculpture, any work of art, as perfect and as amazing as what Nature has done all on its own. It just would never work. I wouldn't even try which is why I don't attempt to copy the pieces I've found, I just use them as starting points.

You know the story of Sisyphus? In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished for eternity by the gods by having to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he reached the top of the hill, the rock always escaped him and he had to begin again. This way of working feels like a Sisyphean Task.

Here's what I mean. I have for so long been awed and inspired by the mysteries of the Universe, our Complex World. The forces of Nature are a part of the Underlying System that guides everything. And the more I observe Nature, the more perfect I feel that it is. These "sculptures" that I find, this Nature Art, is part of this perfection.

And so that gets me thinking. What am I trying to achieve here? What Nature has made is perfect, why I am trying to even partially recreate what Nature has already done? I just set myself up for failure when I try that. That makes me feel like Sisyphus. Always trying to achieve this unachievable goal. Do other artists do this, too? Is that why painters try to capture sunsets and reflections on water and moments in time? Because they are striving to make what Nature has already done?

Now painting I can understand. A lot of times the beauty of Nature is ephemeral. With painting you can capture an instant, a feeling, and have it last forever. Assuming, of course, that your painting even comes close to capturing that perfection, which probably only the Masters can even come remotely close to doing. But I've got these little "sculptures" that I've collected and they are physical, they are forever. Why am I trying to create something new based on them? They are perfect just as they are. Nature, over time (longer than my life-time) makes these pieces of Art and then I find them and that's it. What more can be done? What can I possibly do to improve upon what Nature has already achieved?

Maybe I should just display these little sculptures and let the work speak for itself. Why do I even try to make something that could never possibly come close to being as beautiful as the original? And why I am spending so much time trying to understand the Universe through my art in the first place? All that stuff I made for Permutations, what did I learn anyway?

I learned that I still don't understand the Universe or the Underlying System, and I am still no closer to feeling Order of any kind at all. And really, did I honestly think that making a bunch of sculptures using "magic number sets" was going to result in some kind of Rosetta Stone that was the key to unlock the secrets of the Universe? Though, don't get me wrong, it was fun trying.

But here I am, in possession of some amazing Nature Art and all I can think about is how can I use them to create my own work in stone. They are so inspiring that I am compelled to try. I can't help myself. I am Sisyphus.

Bottle Cap Tree Update of the Day: The tree as of 3/30/07