Donald’s Whittling and Scrimshandering Soiree

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Pippa Murray, Donald Fortescue and John Randolph, a-whittlin’ at the Headlands

Craving both a mental vacation and physical challenge, I decided to embark on an impromptu four day bike trip down the coast, eqipped with the barest possible essentials of food, clothing and shelter. My destination would be the Headlands Center for the Arts near the Golden Gate Bridge, about seventy or so winding miles down the Pacific Coast Highway from the wowhaus compound. My friend Donald Fortescue had invited me to participate in a ‘Whittling and Scrimshandering Soiree’ in honor of Herman Melville’s birthday, as a kick-off to his residency at the Headlands.

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detail from Donald’s invitation

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cycling past Bolinas Lagoon en route to the Headlands, about halfway there

Making the journey on bicycle proved to be great mental preparation for an afternoon of sitting, chatting and whittling among a crew of mostly familiar faces, all accomplished makers who have had some influence on Donald’s career as an artist (and vice versa). Choosing from Donald’s selection of carving knives and blocks of wood, we arranged ourselves in a circle in the ample, naturally lit Project Room and let our hands do the thinking while we told stories, laughed, snacked on gingery treats and tea, and took turns plucking Donald’s banjo.

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Yvonne Mouser’s stools were perfectly suited to an afternoon of whittling

I’m confident we all found inspiration in the primal simplicity of sharp steel on buttery wood, a respite from the complexity that typifies our project-related daily routines.

To read more about the Whittling Soiree and to follow Donald’s project at the Headlands, please click here.

To see the Headlands’ photostream of the day, please click here.

To see Russell Baldon’s documentation, please click here.

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Yvonne Mouser’s ‘Bucket Stool’

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sunset at the Headlands



Tales from the Whale Tail

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We layered the texture over coats of flat grey paint to see the contrast.

As Ene and I near completion on this phase of our Fluke sculpture, having spent the week fairing the form and applying a texture to the entire surface before molds are made prior to bronze casting, I realize how much I love working on public sculpture in this medium and at this scale. ‘Fluke’ is our third public project in bronze, but the first at a monumental scale. I’m finding the process requires a combination of everything I’ve learned from making ‘social sculptures’ and other temporary, conceptual projects, as well as from my work in furniture, architecture and design, but the outcome is so much more robust.

Because this project is so very public (and so collaborative), from its inception to its fabrication to its final installation and use, Ene and I have had a chance to put the diversity of skills we’ve honed over the years to the test. The sculpture simultaneously needs to satisfy the demands of the client (NOAA and the City of Santa Cruz), the foundry, the audience (mostly children), the wowhaus reputation, and something more like posterity. It’s been quite an education, and I’m paying particularly close attention to the entire process as we ready for more similar projects in the offing.

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Tree Consciousness

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One of my few surviving drawings of trees from first and second grade

My fascination with trees and wood dates from early childhood, when I would spend hours staring at trees in different seasons and trying to draw them as accurately as I was able, carefully mapping every branch, leaf or blossom. I remember getting lost in the process, losing track of the actual tree in front of me and having to make up branching patterns, overwhelmed at the endless variety of mature, deciduous trees like white oak. ??????? ??? ??? I remember thinking how my decisions to make new branches looked a lot like the tree’s ‘decisions’, which got me thinking about whether or not trees had consciousness. I’m still not sure about this, but try my best to think about the shape of the tree when working with its wood, making decisions with which I know the tree would agree.

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A giant eucalyptus I discovered on an island near the mouth of the Russian River

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Fluke Assembly

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Enrico and I clamp Fluke’s base while Piero drives wooden dowels to pin it together

Ene and I spent the past few days preparing the foam parts of our Fluke sculpture for assembly. After priming the surfaces with latex paint, skim coating the open cells with joint compound and sanding them smooth, we applied a texture in plaster, modeled by hand over the entire surface of the whale tail. With the help of Piero Mussi, owner and founder of Artworks Foundry in Berkeley, and his friend Enrico, we assembled the sculpture for the first time. Enrico and I held the parts in place while Piero pounded wooden dowels to pin them together. Next week we’ll put finishing touches on the assembled form, texture the seams, and disassemble the parts for the foundry to make molds for a wax positive to be cast in bronze.

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Assembling Fluke in Artwork Foundry’s gigantic fabrication facility in Richmond


Coincidences of High Summer

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It’s been a bumper year for wild plums, and our few trees, bent to capacity with ripe fruit, have been feeding the birds, raccoons and a solitary bobcat, who harvests from our rooftop at night. We’re eating our share as well, and Ene has already prepared a few gallons of ‘plum brandy’ that should be ready for Christmas.

hay bales

On or way to the beach we pass the Pozzi Ranch, some of Straus Creamery‘s grazing meadows, and several smaller family farms, all of who have been cutting hay over the past few weeks. Just as the grasses turn gold, they’re cut into rows where they sit for a week or so before being baled. I love the haphazard architecture of the bales as they cure before being collected and loaded into barns. The ride to the beach smells of sweet cut grass drying in the sun. presteme ivermectina crema para que sirve

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Salmon Creek and the Russian River are still feeding the Pacific at high tides, so the surrounding beaches are loaded with driftwood. ivermectin and eliquis This year I’ve discovered some surprisingly sophisticated structures built of driftwood. I’m not sure if it’s due to an abundance of good material after later than usual rains, or to an increase in leisure and anxiety given the current joblessness crisis. ivermectina comprar españa

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Fluke Progress

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Ene applies a scratch coat of plaster to a section of our Fluke sculpture

We’ve begun to apply a surface texture to the foam sections comprising our Fluke Project, featuring a life-size sculptural interpretation of a humpback whale tail, to be cast in bronze and permanently installed at the NOAA Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center in Santa Cruz. The foam sections were cut to full scale by CNC routers from a 3D scan of my 1/6 scale model, which I had carved in wood. Once each section has been textured, we will join them together to texture the seams before a final disassembly to make molds for casting in bronze.

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The foam sections will be textured separately then joined together to align the seams.

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Detail of a sample surface texture in plaster

I’ve been experimenting with how to make a texture reminiscent of whale skin that is smooth enough to the touch, but rough enough to make a seamless visual transition when the individual, cast sections are welded together in bronze. In reality, a whale’s skin is variably rough and smooth, hairy in places, with barnacles, scars and tears, but where it is smooth it has a finely undulating surface not unlike a pool of deep water with subsurface, undulating currents. I’ve found I can approximate the randomly bumpy smoothness by spraying the thin coat of plaster with compressed air as it sets up. I can also embed tacks and other obstructions to replicate barnacles, removing some to leave rough patches. As the plaster continues to set, it can be variously burnished, splattered and combed with fine brushes, depending upon the form’s analagous action in the water.

“There is, one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seems to speak of some hidden soul beneath.” (from Moby Dick)


Hancock Shaker Village

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I especially love the simple tools the Shakers made, like this dust pan.

We took a jog off course on our recent East Coast college tour to visit the Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Mass. This was my first visit, though I made frequent excursions to the Shaker Museum in Old Chatham, NY when I apprenticed with George Smith in the Hudson River Valley. The two of us would make a pilgrimage for inspiration whenever we needed a load of timber from a nearby sawmill, and the Shakers have been a huge influence ever since. ivermectin for cattle pour on ????? ??? 777 ??? 103 This time I was looking for inspiration as I convert one of our outbuildings into a dedicated shop to produce the Deep Deck longboard, and continue to put finishing touches on the interior of our house. mix ivermectin with tapeworm med? ???? ???????

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Chair-assembly workshop

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Bedroom for visiting laborers

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House for visiting laborers

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Water-powered woodshop

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I love the pre-Victorian era Shaker use of color

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The ingenious round barn, designed to prevent carriages from needing to turn around.

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