The Big Blue Bug; a climbing sculpture

With any big expenditure of art related energy, the feeling that I've neglecting my family follows. Several things I promised my daughter; a pirate ship, a tree house and a chicken coop. The pirate ship was easy, 45 minutes with cardboard a razor and glue gun and I had a credible vessel. Fi festooned it with 100 sticker and sailed it into the stormy seas of her
imagination to befriend squid and dolphins.

The pirate ship is nice, because it's biodegradable once she moves on.

The tree house called for an unusual solution (Yeah I specialize in unusual solutions.) We don't have great climbing trees. Fi's not much of a climber. I wanted to build something a little physically challenging to her and her friends, but not permanently attached to a tree. The Big Blue Bug shape formed after a series of drawings. It's essentially a leaning ladder with a scarab like shape (possibly a tick). It's made from salvaged water pipes. The ladder on the rounder part can support multi-tiers of tree house slats. These will be attached to trees on special tree collars. The mandibles at the top would catch the tree. The pipes allow me to run a safety rope through the

mandibles, but it's self supporting. It's legs will be anchored into the ground.

I welded, tested and painted it blue at the space. I built the structure flat then used the wall and the entry sign of the space to bend the entire structure into a curled form. The curling was interesting and suggested a second life as a rocking-hammock hybrid. (Mental note: That really would be a natural evolution, rocking in two directions.)

Once the deck is in place, the blue arc could seem like a sail. and could definitely support a tent.

B-3 puts a climber into the lower branches of the white pine. Big Fun! A tree climbing tree-house. The "house"part to follow.

"I'm a Tree Fairy" Eeep! Success.