It Ain't Heavy, Richie's Lifting It

Back to Penn at Radnor and Radnor Park where the sculptures were once again knocked down.  Can't wait for summer vacation, and the disappearance of all the kids that knock these down.  ( Were'nt they taken during the Rapture?)  Well, it gave Richie the opportunity to build some rock sculptures (with a little help from his Jedi Master). 

My back has been as bad as the Twilight Zone.  Doing my stretching excercises morning and night with only a modicum of success.  I was really happy to have Richie lift those heavy rocks.  Ah, yes, I remember those wonderful days of being a teenager.  Well, not really, since those years were decades ago, and I spent most of the time hybernating in my room wondering how to ask girls out on a date.  (No, I don't need your help now.  My wife would want to go along on the date - to criticize every thing I did.) 

Which leads me to next week.  We're going to Nigara Falls on the Lake.  So the rock sculptures will have to survive on their own, or not.  Give my back a rest.  They do let you swim below the Falls, right?

Ephemeral

They may be rock sculptures, but they don't stay up long.  I'm only showing you the one at City Ave. & Conshohocken State Road.  Guess it just fell over.  Like the one in Radnor Park and Penn Medicine at Radnor and the small one at the Wynnewood Train Station.  Amazing how unstable these sculptures are.  Even cementing them to the ground and cementing the rocks to each other doesn't keep them intact.  But I have dogged persistence.  I return again and again and again, etc.. etc., etc. and restore them.  (Madness?  Of course.) 

The City Ave. sculpture that Richie and I spent so much time making secure with wedges and cement, I rebuilt rapidly with no cement.  Geh gesind.  The cop who was parked in the deserted station's lot didn't even get out of his car to check on me.  He probably said to himself, "Oh, it's just that mad, rock sculpture guy, again". 

Well, there're two photos of the Radnor Park finished sculptures, one old (last week) and the one I did today, in the middle of the day in this horrendous heat and humidity (mad I tell you, mad!). 

I also checked out the sculpture at the abandoned gas station on Belmont Ave.  It was pretty much intact, even though the construction people had made a side walk in front of it.  I spent most of my time weeding the area around it so people could see it.  Two nice folk stopped and told me how much they like the sculptures.  Bless them, as I was thinking that this was truly a waste of time (as well as making me mad).

Well, the pitiful sculpture at the Montgomery Ave. island is gone.  If you missed it, you didn't miss much.  I knew the Bala Cynwyd Civic Assoc. would re-claim that plot, and didn't put a great effort into making a grand display.  The small flower garden looks quite nice (though it would certainly look better with a rock sculpture smack in the middle of it, heh,heh). 

Oy, Does My Back Hurt!

Thank you to Dr. Peter Wolf for the fine granite blocks he so kindly donated to my efforts to build rock sculptures throughout the known universe.  The fact that he just wants them off his property has no significance to the generosity of the donation.  (Hey, he did go to the trouble to seek me out and to lift them suckers into my car.)  And, damn, but those suckers are heavy.  They could be used for the definition of the word "heavy".
I used the granite blocks twice today.  This morning I went out to the City Ave./Conshohocken State Road sculpture and re-built it with the granite to make it bigger.  (Don't care what people may say, bigger IS better.)  And, as you can see in the picture, the sculpture certainly does look better.  I've also been trying to weed and maintain this little island of shrubbery.  People stop to ask what I plan to do with the property, like I own the place.  Then, look at me like I have two heads when I tell them that I just do this for the hell of it (or like a good neighbor).

In the afternoon, Richie and I got together and built a rock sculpture in his parents backyard.  (Did I mention those granite blocks were heavy?)  Used three of the granite blocks in the sculpture, along with several of my stash of rocks.  Richie was very helpful in both the lifting and the creativity of the sculpture.  Deana and Rob, Richie's parents, commented on how his senior project was the hit of his class.  Who knew that this would be such a big deal?  If only there were financial rewards, I could retire, hire a crew of young people and direct them in building rock sculptures.  Yo, I can dream, can't I?

Anyway, the results of our efforts needed to wait for Deana and Rob's approval.  They were out getting a lesson in how to use their I-Phones.  So, a second visit will be needed to mortar the smaller rocks into place.  However, I think Richie and I did a great job and have no doubt his parents will agree.

Return to Radnor

Finally, yes, finally got back to my sculptures in Radnor.  The two at route 320 and route 30 are still in pristine condition.  Apparently no one goes into that area except the gardners, and they have been gracious enough to leave the sculptures as is.  (They fear the hex of the chupacabra, as well they should.) 
Naturally, the ones at Penn at Radnor and The Radnor Park were totally destroyed.  Thanks to the person at Radnor Park who tried to stack the rocks together again.  I also have to mention that I found the note left under the rocks from some fans who expressed how much they liked the sculptures.  I appreciate these comments because sometimes I need the boost to continue re-building sculptures that were obviously destroyed by others.  (Sic 'em chupacabra!)

Today, I went out with a hombre joven, Richie Weker, an 18 year-old doing his senior paper on the world renowned rock sculpturer, Ed Basner.  Ah, another wasted youth, who conned his teacher into accepting this as a worthwhile school assignment.  Yours and my tax-payer money at work.  He did, however, provide me with much appreciated assistance, and showed a decent eye for the esthetics of the sculpture.  Unfortunately, next weekend is the prom, so we won't be able build rock sculptures together.  Kid's gotta get his priorities straight.  Really, the Prom over building rock sculptures?   

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.