Reflections

In my past post titled Are You A Starving Artist? Art In The Times of Change. In the articles I talked about how our art, and the use of our art must change.  I examined four stories. The Second story talked about infringement of copyright and how artists were using it to their advantage instead of freaking out. How?  That is a question I ask myself regularly. I’m intrigued with how artists are doing this.  I’m inspired by it and so I found this TED video that I thought depicts this quite well. How YouTube thinks about copyright by Margaret Gould Stewart

Leave it to artists to take devastation and create art.  I’m proud to be an artist when I see something like this.  Not only are they wonderful pieces of art it is a way to encourage more tourism for our beloved Galveston. I can’t wait to see these. If anyone finds a map of where all of these are please forward me the link.

A little bit of information before the art:

On September 1, 2008 the Houston, Texas area received a blow from a Hurricane called Ike.  The amount of devastation that happened in this area went pretty much unreported over the United States. As wiki says (… It also became the largest search-and-rescue operation in U.S. history) I know it was not covered at great extent because the week after the hurricane I was traveling up to deliver the Dick Hathaway memorial by car from Houston, Texas to Montpelier, Vermont. ( The link is my documentation of that sculpture as well as the travels as we delivered it.  My September 2008 posts talk a bit also mention this trip along with our preparations for this hurricane. ) 

My traveling companion and I would check back home and on the internet to find out as much as we could about Houston, and our beloved Galveston.  [ I’ll add this personal observation. Many people who did hear about the hurricane  said, “Why didn’t those people leave?”  For those not in a hurricane area I must tell you NO ONE realized the type of storm surge that was attached to this category 2 hurricane.  For us a cat 2 is really not that big of a deal, but there was a storm surge of a category 5. I believe this storm and the devastation that was caused by it really caused those powers at be to think about the way they categorize these storms.

On to the art: Tree Stump Carvings In Galveston

What follows came into my inbox and I though I would share it.  Photos are by Carlos Antonio Rios.  It looks like this might be from an original article in the Chronicle By Lana Berkowitz.  lana.berkowitz@chron.com.

Thank you Lana for sending this around.  I definitely will be going to Galveston and checking these out. I have not asked permission to use this article , and hope there is no copyright infringement here, since it is distributed through e mail by a reputable source, I figure it is all right. If there are any problems please let me know and I will delete it.

Information provided through e-mail

The toad? The Tin Man? The Dalmatian?

It’s hard to choose a favorite among the tree sculptures that are carving a new beginning for Galveston Island .
The transformation of tree skeletons that were reminders of Hurricane Ike’s 2008 devastation is another sign of the island’s recovery. And tourists love the chain-saw and chisel artwork.

More than 20 tree-stump sculptures can be viewed from sidewalks and streets, and more are joining the list as commissions are completed. Many of the carvings are by Galveston artist Earl Jones, Houston artist Jim Phillips and Dayle Lewis of Richmond , Ind.

The artists have plenty of potential work. About 40,000 of the island’s trees died after they were swamped by storm waters. Contractors cut down the dead trees and left the stumps, which are becoming dogs, angels, dolphins, toads, mermaids and more.

Here’s a list of Galveston Island Tree Sculptures visible from the street, according to www.cityofgalveston.org: Need a map?  download or print one of these Galvestohttps://galvestonislandguide.com/galveston-tree-sculptures/n maps to mark these works of art.

Geisha, 1717 Ball
Mermaid holding clam shell, 1428 Church
Large pelican, 1609 Post Office
Wildlife tree inside the castle playground at Schreiber Park, 83rd Street near Airport
Dalmatian and a fireplug at City Hall outside Central Fire Station, 823 25th
Toad, 1615 Ball
Angel cradling bunny, 511 17th
Sister angels, 1717 Ball
Squirrel with acorn, 1302 Ball
Tin Man from theWizard of Oz, 1702 Winnie
Monument to Galveston’s trees, 1028 Winnie
Yellow Lab, 1820 Winnie (inside chain-link fence)

Hand clutching diploma at Wright-Cuney Park, 718 41st
Two herons, 1316 Ball
Great Dane, 1228 Sealy (facing 13th)

Other tree sculptures in Galveston:
Wildlife totem pole, 1302 Ball
Dolphin, 828 Ball (facing Ninth)
Dolphin, eel and dorado, 1302 Ball
Owl, 1302 Ball
Pod of dolphins and mermaid, 902 Ball
Birds of Galveston, 1620 Sealy
Pelican sitting on piling, 1618 Church
Pelicans, 628 14th (behind the Mosquito Café)

If you would like a sculpture done from your tree stump.
I was able to track down the website of Jim phillips. Check out his work and give him a call.

If there are any other carvers that want me to list their web sites please feel free to contact me.

Map of the area
Here is a map of the locations of these tree stumps.

Other Articles on this subject

In Galveston, Dead trees see new life as art by Harvey Rice Houston Chronicle Aug 24, 2009

Fire Hydrant Emblem

Dolphins and Sea Nymph- Glaveston, Texas

Galveston Dead tree sculptures

In Galveston, Texas, new Life for Dead trees This appears to be an interview with Donna Leibbert who starts  a citizen led tree committee.

I have been preoccupied with putting up http://www.digitalsculpting.net and fixing problems which end up being bugs and causing me to pull my hair out.  But…. It is coming along or I am learning.  I remembered I had this picture and I wanted to use it on the web so I’m going to post it here.

If you get a chance check out the podcast player on the new site. So thrilled. I really need one of those for the other podcast.

Now to get the podcast registered with iTunes and get number two up. The one with Robert Michael Smith.

Gin at 9:00 am? Just show up and see what happens.

I have, for a long time, wondered at and marveled at the creative process. I love listening to others discuss and discover the process, the nuances. If I could study any part of the human psyche it would be the creative process, and all that surrounds it. In fact I have. It is a hobby of mine. Helping others come to terms with their creativity and encouraging others in their creative journey is something that I have enjoyed doing through lectures and workshop. Today I happened upon Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray Love” on a TED video. I loved hearing her talk about the angst. I loved her quote about “just showing up.” Because often we as artists are so afraid of failure, we just don’t show up. Heck if you don’t try you won’t do.

I encourage each of you to show up and know you have done your part.

My good friend posted this today. I have not seen him in a very long time, though it is good to see his face on facebook regularly. Charles Hively one of the most creative people I know, and a friendship I will cherish my entire life. Quoted Roosevelt.

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. “

Amen.

Thanks Charles, I needed to hear that today.

I failed to post about the Upside Down Christmas Party. There were quite a few different groups of people but there was much fun had by all. Christina Sizemore- My daughter showed her artwork, and you know there is always sculpture in my studio, along with my God’s Word Collectible series. Plus the loft was opened up for 3d people to show their work. Though all they really did was come upstairs and eat cookies. My favorite part of the evening.. the fire pit that my family bought me and we broke in and singing with friends.

And of course as many of you know we ask you all to help decorate our tree with something on your person, in your car or found. Here are some new ones. ( the watch is from a soldier. I can’t believe he put his watch on the tree. He is home on leave and headed back soon.)

I think we will have to have another one next year.

I was wondering what is the composite of the bronze that my pieces are cast in. My foundry says.

They use everdur bronze.

Alloy number 8 7 3

95% copper
4 silicone
1% manganese
developed during the second world war for the navy.

Prior to that something called 85-5-5 -5 was used, but it is not used now because it does not hold up with acid rain etc. It consisted of
85 copper
5 percent zinc
5 percent tin
5 percent lead

A video about an interactive robto of Albert Einstein from Hanson Robotics Texas I would like to remind you that the Facial Action Coding system mentioned in this article is from the research of Psychologist Paul Eckman.

I studied emotion as it pertains to art, and sculpture as my undergraduate study. It is good to see this man’s work being used and recognized. If you watch the show Lie to Me then you might also be familiar with the work of Paul Eckman.

So cool to see all of this come together. Also check out the link to Hanson Robotics in Texas.