Back to the Oak Hill Condo

This location is where I first started placing my rogue rock sculptures, and why I continued to build them.  Not only did the condo allow the sculptures to stay, but the residents who saw me building them always expressed their joy at seeing them.  Today Jaye Berman came by walking her dog, a minature French poodle, and stopped to ask if I was the person responsible the building all the sculptures.  "Yep, ya got me", says I.  "Well, thank you", says she, "I really enjoy seeing them".
 I enjoy seeing them - up and intact, but not a one at the Oak Hill was that way.  So, the afternoon was spent ressurecting the fallen sculptures into new rock sculptures.  Knowing that we're going to get rain, gusty winds and thunderstorms this weekend, I tried to mortar the sculptures as best I could to weather the weather.

They're all starting to look like sailing ships to me.  I'm planning to concentrate on going in a different direction with my up-coming ventures. (Yes, there will be more to come.  Try to brace yourself.)  Hopefully, I'll have a temporary helper in the future.  More about him to come, if and when it occurs.  Meanwhile, here's the Oak Hill Condos as of today.

Signs and Bricks

The Wynnewood Train Station thought that no one knew it's name.  To rectify the matter Septa erected thirteen red, white and blue signs (YES, 13!!) at the station.  Naturally, they felt one sign would look especially good blocking my rock sculpture.  And, indeed, they not only blocked the view of my sculpture, but flattened it to the good earth from which I had built it.  Dismaying to say the least.

Even more disturbing was the sight (and site) of many small orange flags crossing through my (yes, it's mine) plot of ground where I place the rock sculpture.  Have these Septa guys no eye for beauty and imagination?  Are they such cretins that all they saw was a pile of rocks?  Well, no problem!  I just moved my sculpture further up the slope and to the side so it is now more visible than ever.  As I didn't have my camera at the time, I had to construct a totally new sculpture, rather than re-make what was there.  Don't know yet whether this one is a "keeper" or I'll go back to the previous design which I really liked.

To put up these thirteen (13) signs, which are securely planted in cement, the workmen removed the bricks from the platform.  They conveniently left these bricks sitting loosely around the sign posts.  Naturally, some ignorant low-life used one of these lovely Latrobe bricks to destroy my smaller rock sculpture at the station.  I weeded the area, rebuilt the sculpture (I am so persistent), and put the brick up by a sign post. 

You know, with all those signs, I wonder if they would ever notice if one went missing?

Caught in the Act

Decided to return to the rock sculpture at Conshohocken State Road & City Avenue to see if it was still intact.  Lo and behold it was still standing.  But there was a police wagon parked in the vacant gas station lot only 50 feet away from my site.  Well, "What the hell", I thought as I pulled around him and opened my trunk.  The plot needed the dandelions and trash removed, and now looked like a good time to do it.  Of course, as I did the clean-up, I also re-modeled the sculpture and cemented the smaller stones.  The police left (to go after more important law-breakers), yet someone was wildly honking at me.  I turned to see my sister and her husband laughing and pointing at me.  Caught me in the act of creation.  It made me realize that this sculpture is located in the most travelled location of any of my sculptures.  Is no place safe from my rogue, public art?

If that's my most public location, then this sculpture below is my most secluded location.  It's near the Ardmore Train Station, and really just visible to train riders unless you go way down the track in the Wynnewood direction.  I need to go back and cement it because it does seem to get whacked frequently from miscreants that sneak down there to drink and get high.  Guess they just don't appreciate fine art.

My Muse

I want to first thank Katie Pfeiffer who mentioned me in her blog www.katiepfeiffer.blogspot.com having seen and enjoyed my rock sculptures, but not even knowing who or why they were there.  Until she wrote about me and showed photos of the sculptures, I thought of myself as just some rogue rock artist going out to enjoy some artistic expression.  I actually thought no one was even noticing these creations, and was frankly pleased I hadn't been arrested yet.  Katie is a true artist, very talented and well worth a visit to her site.
This morning was only supposed to be a visit to the Bala Cynwyd Library and a stop to drop off a couple of heavy base rocks for a future sculpture.  However, the island at Montgomery Ave. & Old Lancaster Ave. is on the way.  Last Autumn's sculpture had fallen down during the winter (of course).  Since there is a large, expensive sign at the island saying that the Merion-Cynwyd Civic Assoc. takes care of the plot, I know my rocks would not be long there with Spring on the way.  I couldn't leave with my rocks without trying to make the area look a little better than I found it.  Thus, I used the Home Depot stock garden blocks topped by one of my rocks as a small effort toward making the place nicer till the civic assoc. gets their act together.  Should that not happen, then they may find an even nicer sculpture in the locale, and I'll take over the gardening maintenance.

After the stop at the library (and forgetting the author's name - Patricia Cornwell - of the series I wanted to start reading) I got another Michael Connelly novel, and travelled on to Conshohocken State Rd. & City Ave.  I've had my eye on this abandoned gas station for a while and planned to quickly drop off two rocks and be on my way to Wawa.  To my surprise I found that the small island I'd chosen already had some pretty nice rocks on it.  And since I was there, and the rocks were there.....   It's nothing great, but it'll serve as a good test as to whether or not people will leave the sculpture alone or not.

The Re-building Period

The time after winter is always a tough time for me.  I have to visit rock sculptures that had fallen from the winter storms, and figure out just how I want them to look now.  Some I had already re-built were also visited by friendly youngsters who knocked down the sculpture leaving the tree limb on top of the rubble to remind me how much easier it is to destroy than create.  Thus, the Wynnewood Train Station has a whole new look.
The long, low sculpture is in my driveway.  It's really part of my inventory that evolved into a dragon (or whatever you think it is).  All those pine needles in front of it pushed me to start my Spring clean-up.  This endeavor will last throughout the Spring and Summer.  Meanwhile, the dragon is easy to care for and keeps the rabbits away from my impatiens.

I returned to the large sculpture at the deserted gas station at the intersection of Belmont Ave. and Rock Hill Road.  It was a mess.  I had no idea how to restore it, having forgotten how I managed to make the long base needed to support the upper structure.  A state trooper passed by giving me "the eye", and sending me into fourth gear.  The result looks really nice.  But will it last?

Japan Destroyed By Huge Earthquake - Main Line Times Interviews Me

On the same day that Japan is devastated by the largest earthquake to ever hit it, Pete Bannon of the Main line Times does a video interview of me working on my rock sculptures.  One must look at life in the proper perspective.  This interview had been planned for months, while the earthquake, and it's after-effect tsunami, only occurred hours ago.  So, Pete and I went with the bigger story.
Let me first say how stressed I get by being in front of a camera.  I feel like I'm in a tsunami, and function like an illiterate at Harvard.  Pete was very good and helped me to remember my name and why we were at the Wynnewood Train Station.  He assured me that our news story would garner as much press, if not more, than the Japan earthquake.  Hey, he's the official news media, don't they always tell the truth?  (We can debate that at another time.)
We started out with the big sculpture at the train station, as part of it had fallen down.  Yes. the earthquake was that big.  No, of course, it wasn't, but the storm that had come through yesterday was a corker.  So I'm out there re-building the rock sculpture still rattled by Pete's presence, the camera and the questions.  Forget multi-tasking, I'm lucky that I don't knock the whole thing down and have to start from scratch.
I finally get something up, and took Pete to the Ginza Restaurant to touch-up that one.  While he's filming me do my rock magic, a car pulls in and the lady driving stops me to ask if I'm "the one" who does the rock sculptures.  Bless you Julia Weekes for praising my work and saving me from having to answer more of Pete's questions.  Where did you say you wanted me to send your check?  No, honestly, she just appeared out of the tsunami to help me make this an awesome video.

Pete had finally had enough, and drove over to the gas station, while I went on the the Hamper Shop.  I felt it needed an up-grade from what I had previously done.  Pete came over from the gas station and shot a few more photos.  He didn't stay to see the final result which was a shame because it was the best of the day.  http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2011/03/14/main_line_times/news/doc4d7e4934143c1801762790.txt

Spring, Where Art Thou?

Before & after picture of Wynnewood Train Station rock sculpture.  Someone tried to re-build from Mother Nature's fury of the winter storms.  They get an "E" for effort and an "E" for esthetics.  I didn't use any mortar, as another storm is due in soon.  I only did this to fulfill my need to make a sculpture that didn't look like a pile of poop.