Some days just start out a bit unusual. Fiona and I headed out for our walk this morning only to find a poor dead Wallaby (it would have stood about 600mm high when standing) on the roadside at the top of our property. It had been hit and killed bay a car during the night and someone 'kindly' dragged it off the road and deposited it on our front lawn (grass and weeds really). This was the first Wallaby we had seen in our area so it was pretty sad for it and us.
Given it was a cold morning we decided to quadruple bag the body and bin it in preparation for rubbish collection early in the week.
Further into our walk we met up with Joe who had a bucket of Buffalo horns he had collected in the Northern Territory some 30 years ago. He thought I might be able to do something artistic with them - and if not then dispose of them. Not everyday you carry home a bucket of Buffalo horns before breakfast. Most likely I will cut them up and use some sections of polished horn.
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| Barry Smith © Buffalo horns |
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| Barry Smith © Bucket of Buffalo horns!!!! |
Yesterday was very windy and cold here so Fiona and I spent the morning reorganising the shed and moving the printing presses across as part of the move to turn it into a teaching and print studio. Today has been delightful - cold but no wind and beautiful sunshine. So after the unusual start to the day I managed to do more work on
Flow - one of the new pieces I'm working on for Clovelly.
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| Barry Smith © Flow slowly developing. |
As you can see
Flow is taking shape - and not dissimiliar to the
sketch at the bottom of the previous post on it . And the wood looks beautiful with a bit of oil.
Looking good, Baz - shame about the wallaby.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the buffalo horns, having aquired a camel bone bag whilst away, xoxoxo
I like flow very much, I can picture the rain hitting it and water pooling... Is the channel down small enough for the surface tension of the water to keep small amount suspended in it? Or will the water flow freely downwards? I hope you get to take some photos of this sculpture in bad weather too!
ReplyDeleteSad about the wallaby. We have wild wallabies in the UK to! Whipsnade Zoo just north of London has had escapees over the years and now there are wild wallabies on the chalk downs nearby. Or at least there was when I was a kid...
Sad news about the wallaby, Barry. But the bucket of buffalo horns - wow! Equally as good as flea marketing, I would say!
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful piece of wood - such a gorgeous colour, nothing like the wood in our forests. Looking forwad to seeing this piece progress.
Thank you for your kind words regarding the Altered Bits zine publication.
Wow! Buffalo horns from a friend. That's fantastic. Can't wait to see what becomes of them.
ReplyDeletedear me ... it's always sad to see a roadkill ... poor little guy ...
ReplyDeletethe buffalo horns look pretty gorgeous tho ... that was 30 years ago? they don't biodegrade do they?? cool!! that reminds me ... i'll leave you a link to this horn artist i met over at deviant art ... he carves on horns and they are divine!!
flow is looking good! the red wood almost look like clay you know ... beautiful!!
here's his link .. http://bonecarverpm.deviantart.com/gallery/30796529
this link takes you straight to his horn gallery. enjoy :)
Shame about the wallaby. Wildlife and suburban roads are mutually exclusive. It will have cost the driver, not only in angst, but probably damage reapairs.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it wasn't all bad. What a treasure trove to carry home from your walk! I look forward to these receiving a reincarnation in your work.
Love Flow ~ That is going to be a really beautiful piece. I can see a slow trickle of water already. My husband pays a pretty penny for buffalo horn and would love to turn those into knife handles. Polished they could really be turned into something unique, which I'm sure you have no lack of imagination to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteN,R, S, J, LT, JM & SZQ - thanks for checking out the horns & comments about the Wallaby.
ReplyDeleteN- have you found your camel bone bag - be good to check it out. R - the channel down the front slope of Flow is about 10-15 deep and 15mm wide - so it mainly will guide the flow of water. But I will leave it in the weather to see how it works and let you know. S- maybe a bit more like flea bitten horns - they have a few borer holes - I had never thought that possible but they really are only compressed hair. You are welcome re comments you should be recognised for your unique work. J& JM - bit of challenge now for me to come up with something? LT - thanks for the link - I don't think I will be that skilled. Ass I indicated to S - if you look closely you can see some borer holes. SZQ - if only there was a way for me to get timber and horn across to you guys - Joe offered me two other massive horns - I said no at this stage. Go well all and create well. B
Barry, seeing as your work is so connected to found and revitalized materials, and also to the natural world and landscape around you, I do believe the spirits of both the wallaby and the buffalo have found perfect resting places and will make their way into your future creations.
ReplyDeleteFlow looks amazing!
And congratulations on the opening and sales of your shrines!
Hello, Barry.
ReplyDeleteYour heartwarming poetry and works fascinates everyone feeling.
Thank you for your kindness.
Have a good weekend.
Greetings.
ruma
I love this excellent composition beautiful play of light and shadow with horns.
ReplyDeleteTT - - correct - I often will some spirits into my work; I love that Flow is so simple and will be good to check in the rain. We haven't been back to the Club - need to check over the weekend to see if we sold any more or it may have only been opening night burst.
ReplyDeleteR & L - thanks - interesting that both of you look at the photos of the horns as a photo in its own right - because you have the eyes of photographers. Go well. B
Hope you checked to see if the wallaby was female and if it had an in pouch joey. Really important to check all road kill for youngster
ReplyDeleteG - twas a male - good to care and check these things. Go well. B
ReplyDelete