Dance afire sign

Dance afire is a great theatrical fire troop. They invited me to be a safety and to free spin for a show they were putting on at Floydfest. The show was a depression era tale ala "Oh Brother Where are Thou," with political and religious critique and on fire. See http://www.myspace.com/danceafire

Since I was getting a free ticket, free beer and a chance to hang out with great musicians in wonderful Appalachia, I wanted to build Dance afire a really fun sign.

I wanted it to be kinetic and wind driven, provide a classy way to busk, and packable. It should announce when the shows were going on, plus it should be deadly and your should be able to light it on fire. The sign should also go with their steampunk aesthetic. I don't always work in the steampunk oeuvre, but when I do it really clears the crap out of the junk box in a wonderful way.

Aluminum tank painted with alchemical symbols for money. A thinking mans way to busk.

Wind driven.

The symbol on the disc is a DC logo with a flame. The wings fold behind the disk...like a ninja!

Light this wick on fire for night time lighting.

The end of the arm announces the showtime.

It was a great time and a great show. I think everyone liked it and no one was seriously injured by the sign or by the fire. I'll find some pictures of the sign at floydfest and on the streets of DC.

Chef Challenge Trophy

Last year Erin a friend from the Farmer's Market asked me to do a trophy for the chef's challenge. This year I did it again using cedar, railroad spikes and round bar. I wanted to continue with some of the themes I'd been working with and I thought the cedar and RR spikes were a great North Carolina aesthetic. I also needed the cedar piece in order to put "The Champ" in text on the trophy. The lettering was the hardest part.

Frank Stacio, from the State of Things on NPR was the MC. I love his show. It's made me cry on several occasions and I always feel more human and rooted after listening to it. Last year, he interviewed me at the Market and I was unprepared so quickly had to explain why I do what I do. I wasn't to reflective at the time so this helped me focus. Thanks Frank. Plus I had to say the word "dangerMake" out loud.

Billy Cotter from Toast won the competition. I eat at Toast as a special downtown treat, so I like seeing my work there.

The secret ingredient this year was okra. Had I known I would have worked with the okra form. I was thinking more in terms of onions. Frank thought the cedar looked like a hamhock. A valid point, but I was thinking abstracted chefs hat.

It was just a little sculpture and didn't take much time, but I got a great reaction from folks.

I especially loved the chefs smack talking about how they were going to have to make more room on the refrigerator when they won. The chefs made me feel cool and gave me some confidence to plug my bikeracks for the Scrap Exchange program.

Art Bike Racks for Scrap Exchange

I've been interested in fusing sculpture and bike racks for a while now. I had been thinking about building racks with detachable sculptural tops. Oakwood Community House needed something simpler, but in the process I fused the functional forms into sculpture to make something they could use. The OC house is such a great experiment, they inspired me to donate the proceeds from the rack to help the Scrap Exchange. I had wanted to give local businesses I frequent art racks, but it makes more sense to have them give a donation to the Scrap Exchange.

Here is the Oakwood Rack. The next rack will have some similarities, but will lose the central loop.

I wish I had doubled the center loop to give more space for the bikes.
The leaf form is what I'm really interested in .
The bike racks were made from all scrap: drunk driver downed gaurdrail, train parts and water pipes from the neighborhood. It makes sense to use them to fund the Scrap Exchange.

Bottle Tree

The Bottle Tree has been on my porch collecting spirits for a month or two now. I've had no spectral infestations, so I'd say that would be a 100% success ratio. Rob Damman, a great painter who lives in Durham, finally picked it up. I'm glad to know his house will be safer.