Still Polishing Rocks

Yesterday, as it was raining lightly, I arrived at my sister's house, and spent several minutes just looking at many, many wet rocks, large and small which seemed to be waiting for me to examine them with their beautifully lusterous coating of water. They did not disappoint me, any of them. And I am talking about at least a couple of tons. I did bring my Dremel along as well as several sheets of wet-or-dry sandpaper, just in case I was moved by some kind of irresistable inspiration.

I had worked on three small stones the day before, when I had been planning to work on an upcoming presentation- still more than a week and a half away. I did work on that too, but I made time for the little rocks too and I was glad. I simply felt better because of it. I was more in balance. It's certainly not the only way. Walking along the beach will usually do the trick, but slowly shaping and polishing the small and sometimes larger stones will alway make me feel better. I would guess that doing this work might lower blood pressure. I'll have to pass that along. The dust would not be good for those with respiratory problems, but there are ways of dealing with that. Not an insurmountable problem. File under therapeutic activities and circuitous efficiency.

Copyright 2010 Craig Parks All rights reserved.

Back On The Rock Pile

I am working once again on a somewhat large-scale landscaping/hardscaping project. I began with the rocks- small, medium and a few larger ones, did some carefully selected planting and am now back to working with stone again. It is slow going, but very satisfying, in spite of the high temperatures at the work site. There are no real time constraints on this job, so I can take my time. It is my kind of process, where I am allowed to find my way. It is a continuously emergent/responsive variety of creativity. I respond to what was done just previously. There is always a danger of painting yourself into a corner of sorts, but that rarely happens to me. I believe that I am able to alter my course early enough so that that doesn't happen.

I am just taking a break, had some lunch, and am enjoying the air conditioning and of course taking advantage of an opportunity to write. I spent a bit of time reading other people's blogs and then making a couple of changes to Lost and Found in A Kayak... I write and write and write, obviously not so much here, but everywhere else. Writing has become my primary activity. Art of all kinds is still more fundemental, more primally satisfying on the deepest level, but writing seems to now win out in terms of production and attention.

Back to work- Back On the Rock Pile
Cutting steps into the hillside- fitting and sometimes wrestling large, thick pieces of flagstone into place.

Copyright 2010 Craig Parks All rights reserved.

There's always so much to do- so many action items left waiting and waiting. Most of the time I don't really feel bad at all. Now and then I look at the mountain of rocks that cover the platform originally intended for a model and wish that there was more open space instead of clutter as far as the eye can see. Actually it is like a healthy reef, almost every square centimeter of surface is covered with something- raw materials, rocks from the beach or mountains, driftwood, branches of trees, shells, various kinds of art explorations on paper, paint, brushes, chisels, and many other tools. Why is the car battery charger in the living room?

In the last Great Rearrangement (there have been two) the couch was moved into the dining room area off of the kitchen so that I could talk with guests or just comfortably hang there while cooking. If I am elsewhere and working, I sometimes tend to forget about and burn my edible creations. But even that space is closing in. We have to go the the recycling center. For three or fours days we have been saying that we would, tomorrow.

I have cut way back on collecting things. I still do it, but not nearly as much. I just have a lot from before Kia got married. I literally have thousands of small left over beach rocks left over. These were the ones which were good, but not good enough for that particular purpose or were great but didn't fit the parameters of that project. And there are some people who still bring me things and I feel obligated to keep and make use of them. It is part of the Alchemy Fine Art and Design philosophy. When something with potential crosses my path I need to try to make use of it. When that will happen is open, but it is added to the list.

I do have to say that I haven't made the most of my time. I have been vegging quite a bit. It is technically only the second day of my Summer vacation from school/work- my teaching job, but part of what has been building up is a desire to clean up and rearrange things here, so that I can use the space more effectively. The truth is I am drowning in my own treasures and there's not even enough room to work on most of the stuff.

Well, we will see. Perhaps I will report back.

Wood From A Pepper Tree

Some people consider pepper trees to be only a step or two above weeds. I have always liked them- since I was a child. I remember being fascinated by them. The leaves and seed pods are rather delicate while the bark is very rough. Early last summer my son cut two unneeded, tall trunk sections from my sister's back yard. It was to be part of the decorations for my daughter's wedding. It was a beautiful, fun and fulfilling series of events. The prep work and the ceremony itself. Everything took place in the back yard of my son-in-law's parents. Two families really were joined together in a way that they hadn't been. Working together, we got to know each other in a ways we never otherwise would have.

The day after the wedding I was back up there, helping to dismantle much of our handiwork.
When I came time to take down the decorative trees which had formed an arch, I couldn't make myself simply cut up the wood and throw it away. I saved it. I wasn't sure when or how I would use it, but I told myself that I'd like to use it to make some other piece of art or perhaps a decorative object for the kids.

The small trees which had been about twelve feet tall were cut down to a size that would fit in my car and brought home to my vast warehouse and studio complex. (That's an attempt at humor) The vast storage facilities were already full of the thousands of beach rocks and pieces of driftwood which were not used in the wedding, but I found places for the new resources.

Just yesterday I began working on the bark of one small section of the tree. It is about two inches in diameter and approximately five inches long. Earlier I described the bark as rough, but there are endless variations, with some places more smooth, other almost sharp. Some parts were raised, while some were deeply recessed.

I began to very selectively sand, slowly and carefully, "finding my way", in a manner similar to the method described in the Romancing The Stone entry. The piece is not yet finished, but the variations provide a wonderful array of possibilities to sand and smooth or leave untouched. I will send a picture when it is finished.
I promise.

until next time,
and I hope it's not so long
c