It's Worth the Risk Parking

Alison Starr

It was on one of those cold rainy days that we are having so many of, when I turned the corner and saw the sign for Mokah Coffee Bar and Mokah Art Gallery. Cold, wet, needing hot coffee and a good dose of art I ambled inside.

No Parking Any Time is the title of the group show that is up through March 6th. Kathy Lova, Alison Starr and Du Chau have filled this surprisingly will put together gallery space with sculptures and wall installations that are derived from found objects.

Du Chau

Each artists is working with a source material that is commonly found in our everyday environment, such as sticks, stuffed animals or plastic shopping bags. These base materials have been transformed through various processes to become something new but still recognizable.

Kathy Lovas

This juxtaposition creates a wide variety of tactile sensations and narratives. Du Chau's porcelain tree branches convey nature's beauty and it's fragileness. Kathy Lovas' plastic rapped bunnies expose the scary interior of what we consider to be cute and cuddly. Alison Starr uses her sewing skills to transform pounds of plastic shopping bags into beautiful icons of mass consumerism.

So even though the card says No Parking Any Time, ignore that. Grab a hot cup of Joe and spend some time in the gallery.

Make Space: Installation/Open House at La Reunion TX 2010

Brad Ford Smith

It was a beautiful blue sky, puffy cloud day, perfect for the Make Space: installation event at La Reunion TX. I got up there early to do a few finishing bits to my sculpture and clean up around the site. Then I spent the rest of the day talking to people, petting dogs, and enjoying the sun shine.

Below are photos of some of the sculptures made by the other artists for this years event. If the names are high lighted they link to the artist's web site.

Anne Albagli

David Blood and Oliver Bradley

Scott Horn

Nicole Horn

Kevin Obregon

Unfortunately I did not get a photo of Sandra Groomer's installation, but there should be some posted at the La Reunion TX site soon.

Privet Sculpture Project Construction Day 3

All the arches are in place, 12 in all, spanning 40 feet. Sadly, the photographs really don't capture it very well at all.

I'll be out there early on Saturday, Open House 2-4 to add a few elements around the main arch.

These are the flying buttresses that were added for stability. The privet when freshly cut is very bendable. Only a few branches broke during construction. As the wood dries is becomes harder and more apt to brake and split. Over all the structure is very stable. I am expecting the wood to weather very well over it's year long existence. The bailing wire might be an issue with rust, so I'll beef that up on Saturday.

Privet Sculpture Project Construction Day 2

Despite the cold and rain, things are progressing. 4 1/2 of the 7 arches are in place. They need to be tweaked and fattened up a bit. I am also adding some side arches at the gate opening for stability.

The bundles are tied together with bailing wire, which was donated to the project by Susan Giller, an artist that is known to create strange bunny people with wire.

Privet does not have stickers in the normal definition of the word. What it has are numerous pointy bits along the branches that are the stubs of old dead twigs. These twigs can be very sharp.

A few days working at SculptCAD

I have been working with the Free Form program for a couple of days now, mostly focusing on making the duck that is part of the tutorial, but I have learned enough to generate this first 3 D model of my sculpture "Chicken Neck Johnson" for the SculptCAD Rapid Artists project. It still needs a lot of work before it is ready to be put through the 3 D printer.

At the End of the First Day of Construction on the Privet Sculpture Project

At the end of the first day of construction I learned that not all privet can be used the same. If the branch has any elbows it won't bend smoothly. The long shoots that grow straight up in one season are ideal for the ridged bundled arches that the PSP requires.

First Stake in the Ground for the Privet Sculpture Project

The structure will be staked to the ground using thick privet branches. It will be interesting to see what condition they are in after a year in the dirt. The dirt at this location is on about 10" deep then you hit lime stone, which is the reason this area is called Chalk Hill. The photo also shows some of the long privet branches that have been harvested to create the arched structure.