World Fire Sculpture Championship continued (March 6, 2014)

Attached below are photos of the last six teams sculpture right before it was burned.

Russia

Great Britain

France

Sweden

Estonia

Switzerland

World Fire Sculpture Championship continued (February 24, 2014)

I have taken photographs of every team’s sculpture before it was lit and I have video of every team’s sculpture as it was burning. I am currently editing the video into a longer piece about the entire event from my perspective. I am also reformatting all of the photos and getting them more suitable for viewing over the web. Below are the first six teams sculpture as it looked right before it was burned. I will post a photo of each sculpture as it was burning later.

Latvia:

Lithuania:

Australia:

Great Britain

USA:

Finland:

World Fire Sculpture Championship, Riga, Latvia (February 12, 2014)

I am still editing all the video that I captured from my participation in the World Fire Sculpture Championship. I am learning Premiere Pro as I am putting it all together. Nevertheless, I am processing small snippets of the video for public consumption and as teasers for the final film. I have footage from the first meeting, the building of the sculptures, footage of all the sculptures being lit and the final award ceremony that I captured from the stage where the winners were announced. Stay tuned and bear with me as I process this footage.

So for now I have included a link to the first prize winning sculpture created by the Russian team.

More later…

Preparatory Drawings for Fire Sculpture (February 3, 2014)

Someone asked about any preparatory drawings that I made before building the fire sculpture in Riga, Latvia. I told them that I had very many different drawings that had to be completed before and as I was working the sculpture. I attached below the major drawings that I took with me to Riga to help in the building of the structure.

This was the drawing that I gave the friends who allowed me to do a test burn on their property. I gave them this so that they would know what I was talking about.

This was the first working drawing where I figured out the lengths of wood translated from metric to inches and some initial ways of building the tower.

This was an important working drawing that showed me how to build the box around the tower lighter so I could pull it up to the top of the tower.

This was important diagram of how to thread the ‘block and tackle’ that I designed to lift the box up to the top of the tower.

This was my final working drawing after the test burn that had all the final measurements and construction methods for the tower.

World Fire Sculpture Championship (January 24, 2014)

I recently got back from the World Fire Sculpture Championship in Riga, Latvia. I was very lucky to have my proposal printed in the official Riga 2014 European Capital of Culture Programme. I was selected to represnt the USA on the basis of my proposal and resume. I chose Rod Bouc to be my teammate. He is the Deputy Director of the Columbus Museum of Art. There were twelve countries represented. Each team had two members. The countries were: Spain, Latvia, Russia, Lithuania, Australia, Switzerland, Great Britain, Estonia, Finland, France, Sweden and USA.. The sculptures were built on the the banks of the Daugava river which runs through the middle of the city.

Look for  more posts on this amazing experience.

Latest Sketches From My Small Sketchbook (January 12, 2014)

I have a small moleskin sketchbook 3.5 inches by 5.5 inches that I carry along with me whenever I go out on the weekend. These sketches are the latest from that sketchbook. (note: any resemblance to anyone living or dead is coincidental)

The Birth Sketch recreated with Wide Aspect Ratio (January 7, 2014)

Attached below is “The Birth”, sketch that I have expanded into a wide aspect ratio. I like being challenged by this new composition arena. I may or may not turn this image into a vector painting.

Back to another Doodle Sketch in the Brown Sketchbook (December 31, 2013)

Below is my newest doodle sketch that I created as the next page in my brown sketchbook. I have not yet applied the white light source that gives it more dimension.

In fact,I liked working so much in the very wide aspect ration of the scroll that I have decided to expand the space of the work lengthwise and possibly turn it into a vector painting as the final art.This very wide scroll aspect ratio is very interesting to me because it is working a composition in a very unusual way. This very wide ratio lends itself to a linear and sequential reading of the work, but still has to work as a static composition – which intrigues me.

This is the very first piece that I thought of the title as I was creating it and actually kind moved the drawing in that direction. The title is, “The Birth”. I thought that I would post it as it is so far.

Bird Print (December 23, 2013)

If anyone has been following my blog since the beginning – you may remember that the very first entry was a bird print. It was the outline of a bird that flew into a window and was killed but left an outline of its shape. Well it happened again so below I have my second bird print.

Solo Exhibition at the Carnegie Gallery (December 12, 2013)

Friday December 13, 2013 I will be showing an exhibition of my recent works in the Semmens Gallery at the Carnegie Gallery, 1028 Scott Boulevard, Covington, Kentucky 41011. The reception is Friday December 13, 2013 from 5:30 – 9:00. The exhibition runs through February 14, 2014.

My most recent work is a large narrative scroll that is 11 feet by 31 inches and will be exhibited on one wall of the gallery. The title of the piece is,  “Ancient makes a rare appearance motivating a pneumatic Actuator to demagnetize the current between Son and his Destiny”. I have attached a jpeg of the image below.

The exhibit will also display my felted wool sculptures as well as several framed pyrographs. This collection of work obviously shows my practice of working in many different mediums at the same time. I get many different ideas all the time. When I sketch these ideas or process them, I am very conscious of what would be the best media to execute them in. The works would not have the same message if constructed out of any other material.