Friday, August 05, 2005
Okay, so I know it's been a while...
...but I've been busy. And slack. And all sorts of stuff. But I took a couple of trips recently and got you some more pics. The weekend of July 16, Susan and I went to Panama City and stayed with my friend Mark Bowen. I did some balances on Shell Island. The next week I went to Portland, Oregon to visit my sister and did balances at Mt. St. Helens and on the coast. I'm back. Check it out.
These are on Shell Island off of Panama City Beach in Florida. Look back to see the two balances on the jetty. I knocked over the ones I did on the beach, but kept the others standing. They stood through some really strong winds. I was impressed.
This is the whole gang on Shell Island. They go eight in all. I later di another back on the jetty in the background.
Did this one at Mt. St Helens on July 26. This is at the end of the trail that they would let you walk, at the end of the curve known as The Devil's Elbow. The mountain steamed a lot that day, and the balance, St. Helenstone, paid homage to the forces that flung her so far from her home.
This guy appreciated the balance. Then he went on.
This guy is at Lincoln Beach on the Oregon coast on July 28. It is at the end of the beach, which is accessible at low tide. That means tide pools of starfish and stuff. This stone goes about sixty pounds, and as I balanced it, over my head while balanced on rocks below it, it dawned on me that the stone could break my leg and leave me stranded in a place that would turn ugly in a few hours. Luckily, I didn't have a knife, so I wouldn't have sawed off any body parts to escape.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Spring Fever
has me by the short hairs, and it's yankin'. I know it's seeming like I've abandoned the rocks, but it's not true. The thing is that it's springtime in Atlanta, and that's a glorious thing. I've been indulging in various pasttimes that the gorgeous weather cries for--golf, tennis, biking, and various other enterprises al fresco. In addition, the garden stacks have exhibited remarkable resilience to the elements, and have needed no rebuilding. So please forgive the lapse in posting.
Below is a stack I did at the home of the girl I've been spending a lot of time with. When I finished it, she was disappointed that it wasn't more prominently featured in the landscaping, but I had to tell her of the dangers inherent in the craft, that is, falling stones can destroy cats, dogs, children, and landscaping. I call it Siegelstone, as her name is Susan Siegel.
Below is a stack I did at the home of the girl I've been spending a lot of time with. When I finished it, she was disappointed that it wasn't more prominently featured in the landscaping, but I had to tell her of the dangers inherent in the craft, that is, falling stones can destroy cats, dogs, children, and landscaping. I call it Siegelstone, as her name is Susan Siegel.
The Siegelstone. This baby goes about seven feet high, my tallest to date. It has bigger stones than I usually work with, as well. The top stone is from Sope Creek in Marietta. When I pulled it out of my trunk, Susan said, "What, you just carry rocks around with you?", like it was a weird thing to do or something.
This is the lamp that Dave made for me. Extremely cool but rather cumbersome to move around within a decorating scheme. I just mean it's heavy, really heavy.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
I Know It's Been A While, But...
...I got out to the river yesterday and had a blast. My friend Jennifer went wtih me and turned out to be quite a stacker. She was more entranced with the delicate balances, and did well with them. We were at Sope Creek in Marietta GA. Here's a few shots.
This was the prize stack of the day. It got a lot of attention from passing hikers. As we left, we asked some kids to knock it over on their way out so that it wouldn't harm children or animals.
This was the favorite balance of the day. It was under a large stone in the creek and I pulled it out and it balanced in about two seconds. I call it the Solstice Stone.
This is Jen's first stack. She calls it The Penguin.
A photographer from the local paper showed up and took some action photos of my balancing. They were published in today's paper.
This is Jennifer's first stack. She calls it the Penguin.
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Jennifer and her Rebar Balance. It's on a piece of rebar sticking out of the stream. I was quite impressed, as I had tried to balance another stone on it earlier. I did do a different stone on the rebar after hers fell, however, and redeemed myself.
Jen called this one "Ham Hock in Repose," but like to think of it as "Falling Water."
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Got A Lot Done Today...
...including some stacks. Ran errands all day, and still found time to do a little work in the garden. Here 'ya go.
These were today's first works. On the right is Center Stage Stone. I haven't been doing any really delicate balances lately because they have a tendancy to fall and take down other stacks. I put up the stage so that I could do delicate stuff on the days that there is no rebuilding to do, and to showcase some really cool stones that have been serving border duty around the garden edge for lack of a better spot in the stacks. I think they appreciated their moment in the sun. Literally. They get the last of the day's sun.
Center Stage Stone. I actually put one more on the stage later.
Treehugger Arch. This is the last thing I did today. I may move it soon, even though it's pretty darned solid. I think it just needs a place where it is more easily viewed.
This is a really great looking piece of quartz. The sun is good to it.
I can't resist putting this one up again and again, even though it only lasts about an hour or two when I do.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Don't Pay The Ransom...
...I escaped. I wasn't really kidnapped. I know it's been over a week since I posted, but last week we had monster winds that took down nearly every stack in the garden. I worked every day last week, had jury duty one day, and I had to study a lot for the new job, so I didn't get any stacking done at all. Today was gloriously sunny, though, and I got a lot of work done. All of the stacks are back up except one, which I hope to get to tomorrow. Here's the latest photo collection.
Some of today's new work. Treehugger stack is back up, as are Tabletop Roundies and the rest of the gang. As usual, I moved some stones around the garden to give them a little variety.
A couple little balances with some of the leftovers.
Closeup of the new Treehugger Stack. The quartz on top has a really beautiful deposit of mica in it.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
I May Have Jinxed Myself...
...last night when I wrote of the danger of stacking. Today I went out to stack and started by putting a roundie accent on the new tower. When I did I noticed a slight wobble, and when I bent down and started messing with it to fix it, the two top stones fell on my head. Dang. I took it down to a point and redid it.
This is the second reincarnation of Trifecta Towers. It is now known as Conker Rock.
The Treehugger Stack, aka "Son of Greybar." Dave will understand.
The garden at the end of Friday. Gotta run get ready for work.
Friday, March 04, 2005
I Have My Reasons...
...for not posting lately, mostly lame. Okay, so I met a girl, and that's not lame, in fact it's been wonderful, so I've been out late and not posting. But the weather's been lousy (it even snowed on Tuesday morning) and the winds have been high and it's been cold and well, I've been busy with my new job. So there, deal with it. But here are the most recent.
This is the rebuild of Trifecta Tower. I may have been a little bold in naming that one too soon. We had high wind Monday and Tuesday and it came down. On the plus, it didn't take down Tabletop Roundies (far left and low), but it did go back and take down the one behind it. This one has a savage pitch forward (which you can see in the next shot or two), and features a massive stone (rock D) that I purloined from a constuction site. This was one of those where, during construction, I worried for the safety of my skull as I was crouched and stacked above my head.
The garden as of Thursday afternoon. On the far left is one that I rebuilt Tuesday during the high winds of Monday/Tuesday. I put the big beautiful piece of muddy quartz in there as rock F, as you can see.
A view of Aguirre/Smith Manor with the garden. The garden is nestled beneath a spreading eastern hemlock (I looked it up. It really is a variety of hemock). The tree is gorgeous but farts boughs constantly on the lawn that must be picked up or raked nearly constantly.
View number two of the homestead with garden. I posted this one and the last one just for the girl I've been seeing, so she could see the house. She's not been here yet, though I've been to her home several times. It's great. She has some great stones left over from landscaping and she said I could build a stack in her front yard. It's gonna be great. You'll see it soon enough.
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