“Magic & Mystery”
K11 – 0439 November 2011
Free standing sculpture with brass, aluminum and steel with powder-coat finish and hand painted color
Overall size: Base – 30″ x 34″ Height – 41″
(sizes are approximate)
“Magic and Mystery” rumbled toward birth in the spring of 2010. The adventure began during the Fred Hall Fishing Show at the Long Beach Convention Center in California. Like the approaching spring of each year, the thought of what could be was filled with promise and hope of an adventure yet to be discovered. Curt “Joe Bob” Blau stopped by my space to share some life and peruse the art I had in the booth. As we danced, Curt asked me if I would be interested in some aluminum dive tanks that had been recalled and removed from service. I would like to think he found my art so overwhelming he could not imagine a better “second life” for the tanks. However, there is a slight chance he just wanted to free up some space at his home! (I’ll go with the first scenario… since it suits my ego better.) Without much ado, fanfare, or a champagne toast, I readily agreed and the rest, as they say, is history.
Where some would see useless dive tanks, I explored the possibility of second chances. There was no doubt that the dive tanks had to be about something under the ocean. It is the only thing that will pay the proper respect to the people who live because dive tanks do their intended tasks. At the same time, I looked back through the pages of my personal novel to see what could be salvaged and reused. I found a rudder from the “Big Izzy” which I had captained for about 10 years off the island of Shikari, a one-ton truck rim from the Ponderosa, some old pipe and the idea for a few fish. I thought, “Great! Now I can make a stew.”
So as the lighting crackled above my head, I gathered my goodies and stepped into my laboratory, shoving the secret passageway door closed behind me…. OK..OK.. No Boris Karloff here! I just turned on the lights in the studio and did my best to make sparks fly. What emerged from the wreckage is “Magic and Mystery”.
Every day is filled with “Magic and Mystery”. It amazes me how, as a group of people, we can fail to embrace all the treasures around us which have nothing to do with the technical advances of science, chemistry, or the latest electronic devices. We are so busy chasing the golden ring we often fail to take time to cherish the golden rays from the soul-warming sun. The “Magic and Mystery” of the world is easy to find and can range from the laughter of a child to the frost of love God shares with us on cold winter mornings. So don’t be afraid to take a moment and look for the “Magic and Mystery” that lies within an arms-length of your life. Who knows…maybe the things you thought you were missing have always been within an arms-length.
