Photography | Watercolor

When one thinks of California, images of the beauty of Big Sur, the majesty of the Sierra Mountains, or the golden sand beaches of Southern California often come to mind.  California has so many places of natural beauty.  Yet, our love of California has also had a very negative impact upon the landscape.  For me, nothing epitomizes this more than the freeway; it is an California icon.  Yet, in many ways, their impact upon the landscape is so complete that they create their own environment.  This series attempts to explore the California freeway environment.

 

Sculpture

It takes me many months to sculpt (it is all by hand; no power tools). It is slow and laborious. It resists any attempts at speed. Often, after several hours of work, I stop and wonder if I have made any progress at all. But, if I look closely, it is there. And, with time, I become aware that quite a bit of progress has been made over the measure of months.

This "slowness" of the process fascinates me, and gives me better balance for handling the speed of the modern world at large. After a day rushing around, I come to the stone with the expectation of "getting it done, fast, today, NOW!" But, with the first hit of the chisel, a wave of frustration washes over me as I realize that this isn't going to happen; it won't be completed today... or even tomorrow. But, with a big breath, the slowness starts to seep in and the steady, livable pace of work starts anew.