creative thoughts

FOR SALE  $140.00  — i love this gathering.   it’s theme is BARK…   i did this gathering in colorado – and four of the pieces in the “ladder” are bark from trees around the buena vista area… and the fifth piece is a smashed bottle cap with a dog’s head on it.   get it?   BARK.   

the lower bark  is an especially nice piece – the wood stick disinigrates and leaves a great  “hollow bark shell” .   and the pine bark with the round hole in it is nice also…..

= and here’s that dog bottle cap.  i picked it up around the recycle center in buena vista.    this is a GREAT place to find “treasures”.     always remember – one man’s recycle — is another artists treasure.

this is a fun way for me to pass the time away…  little sheep  made from wire and wool roving

gathering #13 is FOR SALE – $140.        i gathered #13 in uptown marion on my way from the chocolate shop to witte’s end coffee house for a chai tea.    the date of the gathering was:  08.15.09.     email me if you are interested in more details.   i am selling my gatherings for $140.00     my brother – a cabinet maker – made me the box frames out of maple.   

my favorite section of this gathering is piece of broken iron work and the smashed guiness bottle cap .

i made gathering #36 (SOLD)  for my friend, leslie.   she did the “first gathering” at her grandparents farm – and then she sent her treasures to me so that i could assemble them onto a “ladder”.   leslie is truly the ONLY person that i would do this for – because i love her dearly AND because she appreciates a rusty nail as much as i appreciate a rusty nail.  in fact – this gathering has THREE rusty nails.  

isn’t this a WONDERFUL piece of wire / nail and white string in the yellow jar lid?    leslie pulled it from the rafters of her grandparents basement – it must be full of many memories.

i gave gathering #36 to leslie today – and because i knew how important these little bits of her past were —- i also knew she would cry.    and that’s okay.   

and because she knew that “selling my creations”  is harder for me than giving them away… she bought it so that i would learn from the experience.   thanks, leslie – for helping me on this “sharing journey”.

i make these types of moblies  from found objects.    they are BIG – and heavy (this one is about three feet long…)    right now, these mobiles aren’t for sale – but i hope to make some in the near future – KNOWING that i will be selling them.  when i showed my art at an exhibit at the LOWE arts and environmental center in marion – THIS mobile was the most “i WANT that” piece of art that i showed.   

i was looking for some other pictures this morning on the computer and i found this one of me making “the man” at the cabin last year.    i didn’t plan on him being so big – he was suppose to “climb the fireplace wall”.  but, THAT didn’t work so he holds a place of honor looking down from a wall in the living room.    colorado is one of the best places for me to create – away from chocolate and without interruption (except for an occasional mountain climb or ATV ride)

gathering #20 – FOR SALE  $140.00   = when i do a gathering – i record the date on the plastic bag that i ALWAYS carry with me – and the location of the gathering.    then i bring my treasures home and “assemble them” on the “ladders”.   

i did this gathering on third street – across the street from CSPS in cedar rapids during the new bohemia music festival.   these little pieces – left behind –  are a peek at the floods that happened in june 2008.  

this triangle of green flooring was the first piece that caught my attention.   notice the tiny square nails?   

i wrapped this gathering up for someone yesterday – SOLD.   i did this gathering on walks in colorado.   my favorite part is the little dream catcher that i wove into one of the ladder openings – oh, and the “little critter jaw bone”. 

gathering #23 FOR SALE = $140.00   ….  i “gathered” number 23 at a rest stop in nebraska on the way to colorado.    the twisted wire was near a dumpster — and it took all my “sane energy” to not open the lid to peek inside.        

my favorite “treasure” is the smashed bottle cap that is painted “curb yellow”.    how fortunate for me that they don’t sweep the parking area before they paint the curbs.   this pictures shows the detail of how the pieces are attached to the “ladder”.    enjoy.   

10 are DONE – and this one is SOLD.   i am selling my “gatherings” for $140.   the “gatherings” are “treasures” that i pick up on walks that could include sticks, leaves or dead insects but mostly includes “treasures usually defined as JUNK that the street sweeper missed.”   )   

 you can email me if you are interested in a “gathering”.     i will be posting more – and include details. 

This wire is called “Huffman’s Ladder Wire” by collectors. ref. Hagemeier 437B.   This wire features an Orlando Huffman patent, dated December 9, 1890.  This wire features two parallel line wires placed 2-1/4″ apart.   Barbs are two pointed made by wrapping barbing wireonce around each line wire.   Line wires and barbing wires are rolled flat to prevent barb slippage.