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"You’re only as good as your research"; these first three images show my research, and next three directly below show my results, and the three major Components to my show.
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My wife Kellie and I spend one week a year in Fort Morgan Alabama, and are documenting this tiny sliver of land on the eastern edge of Mobile Bay battle to survive from being washed into the Gulf of Mexico.
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My other research imagery comes from Grande Isle La, only 35 nautical miles due south of my New Orleans home, but a 3 hour drive by car. 14 years ago you could drive your car out on this Barrier Island's Beaches, which are now in the Gulf of Mexico…
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Above, I am with Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and Bloomberg Chairmen Less Fetwick, as one of my River Delta “carved photos” was donated to NYC in Oct. 06.
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Most, if not all of my work is experimental, and I have developed techniques to make these Glass Sea Oats stand like "rows of corn" up to 80 inches tall.
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I have been weaving glass for 20 years, above is a small study of net weaving. Fired in stages or overlapping sections, the completed nets could span out to be 20+ feet wide...
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I rely on satellite imagery and aerial photography as subject matter to make my heavily textured glass plates. The Atchafalaya River above is close to my home; a fresh water and sediment diversion program began here in 1985 to create new Wetlands. AT
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I use aerial photos like this one of the Wax River, as models to hand carve or render my river delta or wetland images into a dry plaster bed on the floor of my architectural glass kilns.
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Once I have a basic outline formed, I lay a single layer of ¼ float or window glass on the dry plaster bed. This action pushes or forces the plaster into carved channels creating detailed wetland imagery.
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The glass is removed and the dry plaster bed is adjusted or re-carved several times until I satisfied with the composition. 2 layers of ¼ thick window glass are then fired to 1600f to make the textured plate.
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The amber color comes from the silver stains found in my "secret-form... casting plaster.
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The glass and paster are easily seperated when cooled to room tmpurature.
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The glass is now heavily textured and similar to a topographical map. The raised or carved “wetlands” protrude into or above the plate, rendering the satellite imagery in 3-dimensions.
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William Henry Fox Talbot and others invented cyanotype photography in 19th century, but quickly left it behind as the science of reproducing imagery made this and similar techniques impractical.
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“One man’s trash, in another man’s treasure”, and I now use the disadvantages the “science” of photography found in these techniques, to produce imagery or “carved photographs” directly from my textured glass plates.
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Cyanotypes, the Van Dyke Brown Process, and Gum Bi-chromate techniques all may require UV light sources and long exposure times, but give me the freedom to make large-scale prints directly from my glass plates. Once dried this paper is UV light sensative
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To create imagery, I block sunlight with tempera paints worked onto and into textured glass channels and groves from exposing the U.V. light sensitive paper directly below. This photo shows my carved and painted glass plate, as it exposes a paper print
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Most of my techniques come from years of experimentation in glass printmaking, and my quest to render 2-d imagery off of 3-d plates. This may technically be photography, but I still approach these images like a printmaker carving wood blocks for prints.
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Above is a detail photo of the painted glass plate.
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Above is the completed and rinsed cyanotype photo.
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The edges of the glass plate are polished, and holes are drilled to directly mount it above the corresponding paper print. For this exhibition I plan to make 6- 30 inch wide by 70 inch wall hangings, and one large one 70 inches wide by 126 inches tall.
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As seen in the scale model above, viewers will walk between freestanding mixed media Sculptures of Glass Sea Oats. Large piles of sand will be used to not only help to support the glass, but to also keep the public a safe distance away.
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I have developed kiln-casting techniques, which allow me to re-use my never hardened silver stained plaster, to make glass “sea oats” similar to this photo above, up to 72 inches long, and have them in an out of a kiln in less than 12 hours…
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Will not share too many trade secrets, but under this sand is grid of steel tubes, welded inside a steel tray. The bottom of each glass stalk slides inside these tubes, and is safely supporting by interlocking glass and by the weight of the sand.
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Notice the tops of these sea oats, my new casting technique allows me to fuse, or attached the glass oats or seeds to both sides of the stalk. As this was just my second attempt, I am sure to improve and refine these shapes over time.
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The photo above shows my glass sea oats in the dry casting plaster prior to firing. Notice the green/clear glass color, this will change once fired to a yellow gold, or blue green from the silver stains in the casting plaster.
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These construction techniques make installation easy, and like arranging flowers in a vase, the glass stalks or strips can be adjusted to fit these sculptures into any sized room or galley space. The sand is also easy moved with a wet/dry or shop vacuum
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I would utilize my woven and slumped glass techniques, to represent draped shrimps similar to this photo above.
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As seen in this photo, my woven glass nets would be suspended from the ceilings and walls by steel armatures and copper cables.
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Glass weavings would be heated and slumped from cables as seen above. Depending on the gallery space or room size, segments of weavings would be overlapped and suspended from steel armatures to make “Glass Shrimp Nets” up to 20 feet wide.
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Hurricane Katrina taught me not to take for granted what can so easily be lost. In the time it took for you to read this, the land in the photo above was lost. Please forward this page to any persons or organizations that could help me produce this show
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