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.

Yes, I'm Crazy

I've really only paid attention to a few of my near-by rock sculptures during these frigid winter months.  And, of course, the one I most dearly love continues to be a problem.  It's the Wynnewood Train Station, again. 
Anyone who knows me knows I hate the cold weather.  A winter vacation to Vail, Colorado might as well be a punishment for bad behavior.  (In which case you would find me in Vail quite frequently.)  And if any kind benefactor out there would like to see rock sculptures in Hawaii, I'm readily available, and will be happy to make sculptures out of grains of sand.
This morning the sculpture was half down.  "OK" I think.  Five minutes of effort to put it back up.  However. it's 14 degrees F.  Well, I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid, so I put on my gloves rather than do it bare handed.  I figured I could spit on the rocks and they'd freeze together wherever I placed them.  I know you all went "Yew", but not to worry.  The spit froze before I could put one rock on top of another.

After 15 minutes and one occasion where the rocks fell down on my head, I was finished.  I took off my gloves and just managed to turn on the camera with my frozen, numb fingers.  Depressing the button to take the photo was almost impossible with the burning pain in my pointer finger, but I did it and then ran for the car.  The resultant sculpture is nice, but considering the "big" snow storm headed our way for Wednesday into Thursday, it's not likely to last long.  Just another day showing how all artists suffer to bring their works to life.

Gone But Not Forgotten

                                     

These creations were constructed, but taken down and removed from the sites by the displeased owners or gardeners.  I have no regrets about having made them.  Nor do I hold any animosity toward these Neanderthals for their lack of imagination or appreciation of the artistry involved.  (Yeah, right.)  After all, they still live, if only in these photos.  And now they'll live forever on the internet. 
I won't mention the locations (which were pretty damn good) because I'm not about to give them any publicity.  But I'd sure like to have my rocks back.

Fun in the Snow - Or Lack of Same

Winter isn't really the time of year that makes for good rock sculptures.  Of course, I should be living in Santa Fe, New Mexico where I would be much happier, and would see considerably less snow.  The weather report calls for more snow this Tuesday into Wednesday.  So, today's efforts were just for the hell of it - and that I'm that obsessive compulsive.
Unfortunately, the sculpture at the Wynnewood train station had fallen down.  Damn, I liked what I had re-built there.  Sure, I can re-make it like it was, however, it's 25 degrees F and the snow has covered all the rocks so I can't find them.  When I do find them, they're frozen to the ground and come loose with frozen earth stuck to them.  Even with gloves on my hands, my fingers freeze in minutes.  Thus, I limit my imagination and go for speed.  The result isn't too bad.  (Hey, remember, 25 degrees F!)

Enough snow had melted at the Gin Za Restaurant for me to do a quick re-build there.  Took a before picture and an after picture.  This one really was just a piling on of rocks, as my fingers were not about to co-operate on any intricate, architectural designs.  Does it look like it's leaning to the left?  Well, it is.  You got a problem wid dat?  Don't sweat it.  It won't be up by next weekend.  Should it ever warm up for a little while, I'll re-invent it into something nicer.

And It Snowed, Too.

A blizzard is never a good thing for delicately balanced rock sculptures.  Add snow and 50 mile an hour wind gusts, and you get a disaster.  Though I enjoyed watching the snow stream horizontally by my window, I knew there would be a long period of re-construction in my future.  The storm departed this area leaving eleven inches of snow with even deeper drifts.
My forecast proved correct when I went past the Wynnewood train station.  Both the sculptures were down.  A nice person had put some of the rocks from the smaller sculpture against the wood backdrop of its location.  I re-built the sculpture from the rocks that were there.  It's a temporary one till the snow melts and I can find the rest of the rocks that constitute this sculpture.
The large sculpture at the Wynnewood Station is the one I like the most.  I kicked the snow with my feet and dug with my bare hands to find the rocks.  Since the previous sculpture was not as big a "Wow" as it had been in the past, I made a greater effort to produce a more imaginative piece.  I like it better, and it did get a positive comment from the AMTRAK engineer whose train had stopped for passengers while I was working.
I was surprised to find the sculpture at The Hamper Shop was totally obliterated.  Actually, I was pleasantly surprised, as I had never really liked that sculpture.  Its saving feature was its durability.  I re-built it into something that has more pizazz, but will need work to get greater stability.  Two ladies leaving The Hamper Shop stopped to tell me how much they enjoy the sculpture.  It's always nice to get that positive re-enforcement.  I usually go about thinking that few people even realize these sculptures exist.

I've included a photo of the snowbank at the Gin Za Japanese restaurant.  Somewhere under that pile of snow there may or may not exist a rock sculpture.  It's another example of Schrodinger's theory about the cat in the box.  I'm thinking it's still alive.  (The sculpture and the cat.)

Yeah, It's cold.

I always check my sculptures at the Wynnewood train station when I go to Wawa for my coffee fix.  The fierce winds we've had apparently blew them down.  usually, I take a hiatus from re-building during the winter, but this morning wasn't going to mark it's start.
Soooo, it's 26 degrees F.  I'm out there with no gloves, balancing these freezing rocks on top of each other till my finger tips turn numb.  Nothing wants to stay up, and the only saving grace is that it's Christmas morning, so no one is out except some die-hard joggers.  We looked at each other - they thinking I'm crazy and me thinking they're crazy.  Truth is we're all right.

Finally, got both sculptures up to par (for winter), but I couldn't take any photographs.  The little button on my camera is so small I couldn't get my numb finger to depress it.  Only thing to do was to drive on to Wawa, get my coffee and return later with warm hands to photograph my endeavors.

With 5 to 10 inches of snow called for tomorrow into Monday, I expect these will look quite different than they do today.

                                                                                                                                                                                         

I Make Rock Sculptures

Gardening has always been a favorite past-time of mine.  Unfortunately, my yard is blessed with a plethora of rocks.  I couldn't just throw them into the neighbors yard.  They never appreciated the leaves and twigs I'd throw over the fence in Autumn, so I threw them under the Dogwood tree in the far corner of the yard.
The mess under there grew to the point that I started to put rocks on top of rocks - my idea of a rock garden.  But, then I started to realize that it would be more attractive to place the rocks so they looked interesting and attractive.  Thus, I started making rock sculptures.
Since I liked the sculptures so much, I thought it would be nice to share them with the world in which I live. Three years ago I began building them at the Oak Hill Condos in Penn Valley, PA.  The condo association left them up, and the residents would comment on how much they enjoyed seeing them.  That's all I needed to hear to start me thinking that this would be fun to do in other locations to provide some local, free public art.
From Bala Cynwyd to Radnor to Media I'd build my sculptures.  I'd put them up, and wait to see if the people who owned the sites left them up.  Some did and others didn't.  Just no accounting for some people's lack of taste. 
While re-building the one in front of The Hamper Shop on Montgomery Ave. in Narberth, a jogger stopped and asked if I was the person responsible for all the area rock sculptures.  When I said "yes" he said he was a writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and wondered if they could do a story on me.  Well, who am I to deny the world this significant revelation, so I said "OK".
Here's where you can go to see the article: www.philly.com/philly/home/20101029_Rock_sculptures_piling_up_around_Main_Line_are_dentist_s_hobby.html
This article brought a phone call from the Main Line Times.  They were hoping to "break" the story of the mystery rock sculptures, too.  Here's where you can go to see their article:
http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2011/03/14/main_line_times/news/doc4d7e4934143c1801762790.txt

I'm still waiting for CNN and Wolf Blitzer to come calling, but am not holding my breath.  It's winter now and if you live anywhere near me, you're freezing cold.  It's not the ideal weather to be going out to build rock sculptures, though yesterday I was out in Radnor doing just that.  Here are photos of these newest works.