About the Author
People often ask, “Are you the guy who makes the art?” Suppose I am. Scattered around Boxerwood and other places are mostly wood art projects usually made from found, salvaged, scrap, gifted materials. I started making abstract art projects years ago with materials gathered while working with a small construction crew. There’s an amazing amount of waste, scrap, and leftovers from construction. Rather than logically planned out or from a blueprint construction, art can be made differently. Practical and imaginative come together; who knows what gets created.
Some of the first outdoor art works I called: Stealth Art. A friend gave me a book, Abandonment Art. There were pictures and stories of people doing just what I was doing. Part of that art movement was--likely still is--the painted rocks seen all round with messages, quotes, playful images and colors left for people to find, collect, move around. I thought this was a good way to help cultivate imaginative thinking, promote gift giving, practice art as offering. I am still grateful finding one of those painted rocks in an unusual location.
I’m an outdoor person, hiking, biking, camping, floating, hammock in trees, Master Naturalist training, Boxerwood volunteering. Any reason to get me outdoors, observing, collecting materials, cultivating imagination, is appreciated. Something that caught my attention years ago were the twisting, long branches often found under our impressive sycamore trees. Cutting into the wood I found it easy to work with, interesting grain, free for the hauling. Later after watching the sycamore break down quickly outdoors, I also found a limitation of this organic material. Observing outdoor art weather, become insect habitat, lose color, rust, is part of the experimental part of the art. Some of these simple-looking artworks might have four of five different types of wood, even wood I don’t recognize. The construction is often possible because of modern tools, glues, connectors now abundant and reasonably priced. It is in a way a golden age for artists.
Another memory is years ago hiking the Appalachian Trail. Passing through a beautiful forest in Vermont, I entered a farm and noticed a metal sculpture hanging from a rustic barn. The forest and art might complement each other in good ways, I thought. Maybe from that time on I felt a need to cultivate a love of nature along with joy of human creations. So no surprise I was drawn to Boxerwood with its unusual collection of plants, trees, gardens, art works, classes, performances, and teaching staff.