Happy Customer!

Chris Noel is my designer art hero. I genuinely admire what he's accomplished in his budding career as a fine artist and his opinion truly matters to me. Although I sometimes wonder if he's just being polite (he'll tell you what he really thinks, but he's also a very nice guy), it delights me to no end that he seems to really like what I'm doing with my "art."

As I was packing up my work at the close of the Private Arts show last Saturday, Chris reminded me how much he liked Fossil, one of my pieces in the show. Though I have grown to really love that particular piece, I really had no idea what would happen with it once I took it home. Most likely, it would end up in my garage since it isn't exactly one of the family's favorites, so the idea of trading it for one of Chris' works was something I couldn't pass up. Chris was delighted to take it home with him — despite the risk of getting a hernia — and reports that his wife really likes it too (whew!). What did I get in return? Still deciding, but I'll let you know when I do.

See more of Chris' work at www.postconsumerrealism.com.

Found, Part III

Found this two-part wood piece a couple weeks ago while camping with my son's Cub Scout pack at Pohick Bay Park. After camping, he and I went fishing along the Potomac and I found some great pieces of weathered wood, including this cool thing. It's more wood than rust, but it's still pretty sweet.

Found, Part II

Ever since the positive reception my rebar and concrete sculpture Fossil got at the Private Arts show opening in March, I've been on the lookout for more pieces like it. They're not very common so I wasn't expecting to find anything for a while, if ever. Imagine my excitement (yes, excitement) when I hit the jackpot not once but TWICE this past weekend.

The first came on Saturday at Lake Fairfax Park near our house in Reston. After dropping my son off for his fishing class, I went for a hike around the park and found a baby turtle, an entire deer skeleton, and a juicy piece of rebar and concrete just lying in the woods near a gravel road. I showed the turtle to my son and we relocated him to a safer spot, decided to pass on the deer skull (still a bit meaty), but went back in the car to pick up the rust. Pretty productive for a drizzly Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday, we spent a nice afternoon at the Workhouse Arts Center (more on that later) in Lorton then headed north to DC for dinner at Comet Ping Pong. After some great pizza and ping pong with the family, we left for home, passing through the fancy-schmancy neighborhood of Chevy Chase. The road at that point was really narrow (three lanes squeezed into the space of two normal lanes) and the houses were huge so I was alternating between watching the cars next to us, marveling at the houses, and scanning the sides of the road for anything of interest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the tell-tale shape of broken concrete with a speck of orange that usually means rebar and my pulse quickened. I turned right at the next street and got the expected "Dad, where are we going?" from the back seats. I could feel my wife Susan's eyes rolling in her head when I said that I had "spotted something." Thankfully, there were no further questions as I pulled over, jumped out of the car, and lugged my heavy prize back to the car.

One of the best parts about this "art" that I do is the unexpected finds that happen every day. You never know when you're going to stumble across something really great and it makes every car ride or walk around the neighborhood a treasure hunt.

Found, Part I

I first saw this piece driving home from hanging work at the Private Arts show in Alexandria in March. I was still being cautious about lifting too much with my surgically-repaired back so regretfully left it beside the side of Lee Highway where it was resting against a sign. Last week, I found myself in the neighborhood again and decided not to let it slip my grasp. It's about 20" across and super-heavy, but well worth the effort of schlepping it back to the car at 10:00 at night.