Friday, September 30, 2011

Found Art Friday 61

 Welcome to the Department of Homeland Inspiration.
This week's entries all happen to be from the Art Ranger's locale in Monterey County, California.
Above, a sighting on our way to the Monterey Jazz Festival where we sat on the lawn leaning against a fence and listened to Soul  Rebels and Dumstaphunk and ate chicken on a stick.
Once and a while, one person's series of images takes over the whole Found Art Friday. Such is the case when The Ranger loans her camera to a certain 13 year old Noah Lindenthal on a crowded day at The Aquarium.  If you don't ever share your camera, you can forget that it houses a point of view.  What that person thought looked interesting about the surround as opposed to you. 
He took hundreds, so it was hard to pick a few:




And even through the telescope to find a new planet of otters.  Out of what is right here in front of us. Until next time.  Please send your thoughts and images to: FAF@homelandinspiration.org.

Friday, September 23, 2011

output and input

Welcome back or to and from, The Department of Homeland Inspiration.  Today, the Art Ranger is busy turning a big huge new age and not spending time with her computer or arranging fond Found Art Friday photos.

Today's post shows some of the recent projects from studio where she conducts her practice as a professional artist who specializes in three dimensionality.  Lately she has made some practical things to offset her highly illogical tendencies.



The cast concrete and glass counter top will be a better place to brush your teeth when you come to visit.  And you will be able to see if there are any new gray hairs.  Due to just winging it, this is how many pieces of glass were left when the project was done:
We also made a custom box for beekeeping tools using various tools that were neglected and dusty.

 Our favorite tool is the bee brush.

The handle is made from parts of an old gate, plus a bike handle grip.  All training for the next half century of scavenging.  We will keep you posted about other messes currently under construction that aren't nearly so practical.  See you next week.  We would love to see what you've seen or done: FAF@homelandinspiration.org

Friday, September 16, 2011

Found Art Friday 60

Welcome to Found Art Friday at the Department of Homeland Inspiration!
Here is an "official" place to notice that "art" can show up almost anywhere.
What if TGIF were Thank Buddha it's Friday? or thank Allah it's Friday, or thank Anarchy it's Friday?
First off, some offerings from our friend from the neighborhood, Maggie, otherwise known as "Aunt Madge". She's made a business of creating bronze bowls that are castings of pregnant bellies: www.mamasbelly.com  They also make beautiful Tibetan bowl ish sounds. Plus, she's the funniest person in the world. 
Coy being coy
Speaking of freckles, Art Ranger finds connectivity in Sleeping Pig Butt from county fair where we ate Strawberry Shortcake (and wouldn't that be a great name for a pig?)
Two More from Aunt Madge:






junkyard texture
 It is nice to know when Black and White are all that is necessary to tell all that.

Here are two shots dispatched from Mario Lara in San Diego:  The labels say 9-11

 by chance or by design?  Art Ranger then wonders if we have actually turned a corner or forked the road?
Learn more about Mario's vivid art here: http://www.mariolara.us

Enjoy the last official week of summer.  And please do enter the cake walk at the carnival!
(Remember, this is only fun because of you.)  
Next week, Art Ranger will post at 5 a.m. on Friday and begin collecting submissions for the following week. FAF@Homelandinspiration.org

Friday, September 9, 2011

Found Art Friday 59


Welcome back to Found Art Friday, founded on the wonderment of going about our business and happening upon imagery:
from our beekeeper friend, Susan Needleman: 2 bees, one flower

 Now here are 2 from Bonnie Hotz
Let's hear it for Vegan Taxidermy!
 And look who is walking whom.  (Geez I hope she wont need bunion surgery)
And from Robin Brailsford who accidently found a moviestar  barn owl named Mrs. McGillicutty fallen out of her nest.
Art Ranger is going to quit while she's got something here, as this program is super glitchy today. Things disappear and re-arrange. Have yourselves a good week full of heirloom tomatoes or over-sized zuchini.  
Send the fruits of your labors to FAF@homelandinspiration.org.


Wednesday, September 7, 2011

home on the range

Welcome back to The Department of Homeland Inspiration!
Remember when labor day week-end carried that back-to-school poignancy.  New yellow pencil smell in the bedroom shag from sorting the materials and filling the soft vinyl pencilcase,  new without all the graphite dust and spilled shavings yet. Not sleeping due to all the anticipation, looking forward yet slightly dreading the first day.
Parked at a Greek restaurant in the hot hot desert
 Here at The Department of Homeland Inspiration, we collect and sort images reflecting moments of visual epiphany or interest. 

What follows is The Art Ranger's photo essay: whatididonmysummervacation
gleaned from travels home home on the range, California to Colorado and back.  As we each move about our patches of earth, we are ever vigilant for the image,  yet able to be surprised. We cultivate our inclination to tell a stories spawned by images or sets of images. With or without a camera.
Beetlemap #1, North trail. She wore toerunners so had to choose every single step.
 Beetle Picasso: Self Portrait with thought bubble.  Sore tendons.
Opposing sides of circuit box by the icecream store:
Once by car and once by plane, we traversed the vast landscape of western states. Punctuated by eight lanes of shiny Vegas with an awesome 3G signal. 
Pitstop an hour outside Barstow:
During the twenty hour  drive, it was our fate and education to listen to a great portion of the novel, Jane Eyre, with a fifteen year-old boymanchild.  Here are storm pictures he grabbed @ 70 mph while Jane was at the orphan school being disciplined by Mr. Brocklehurst.
Fifteen minutes later, her dear friend Helen Burns perished of "consumption". (From the character description, we noticed that she was totally A.D.D. in 1843)

As Jane Eyre narrativized the "rugged points of her character", her brightly precise language yet wordy words, interwove with text messages, truckstop skittles and burritos in an exit called Beaver, short naps behind Wal-Mart sunglasses, country music songs about other stormy loves, and an Indian Reservation/ fireworks stand.  Just outside "Loves" truckstop, where the gas is always cheap, we pass the sign for "Brown Materials Road" and it's there we find out that the old gypsywoman fortuneteller was really Mr. Rochester.  In Spreckles, along a tree-lined lane, he proposed to her.  For the Art Ranger, the listening experience was anchored by images we passed through.
Favorite Joke heard over the summer: "Americans are afraid that if they raise the debt ceiling, they won't be able to reach to paint over it again." npr, waitwaitdon't tell me

oki doki, THIS FRIDAY: September 9th, The Department of Homeland Inspiration is officially open for business, actively seeing , seeking and sorting images.  Friday, we host the first Found Art Friday since July. 
Did you have any sightings or recitings this summer? Submit images to FAF@homelandinspiration.org and we will collect and lightly curate the contents for your watching and wonderment. Thank you for your continued following or your new arrival.
Sincerely,
The Art Ranger Returned to her desk at school of life