It Started With Some Pods

The pods that I finally saw

     One of the great things about being an artist (and often disconcerting to those that aren't) is that you see the world in a different way. Not different as in strange, just different. You can go all day and while you note the things around you, suddenly, something will catch your eye! A door, a mailbox, the light against a building or the way the sun reflects off beach sand. Today, more than ever you can capture that moment, as many do, with their cell phones. To the tune of about one billion a year.

     For my latest painting frenzy that trigger was tree pods.

     Now you have to understand we have one tree in our condo common area that has a dark cluster of pods that will start falling around this time of year. About two weeks ago, I noted that they were falling again and looking a bunch that fell together in one cluster suddenly had a kind of artistic epiphany. Now you have to understand I have walked past this tree for 365 days, give or take a few, two and a half years, about 3 to 5 times a day as I walked my dog on what I call our WPP (walk, pee and poop) run. But

Pods in tree

on that day, I look at them, picked them up, cleaned them and grabbing a birdhouse began to consider how I could use them. It was that simple and that hard. You can see them, or any scene and walk right past ignoring them. The hardest part is coming up with a way to use their almost sexy, sensuous form.

     When I was in college I can remember a photography class project. We were not to leave town, we could only go a few miles away from the campus and we had to find things to photograph. So many artists and photographers think only foreign or exotic places are worthy of a photograph. Ansel Adams was one of photographers we discussed. Ignoring the majestic views and mechanizations of Adams, he wanted us to see the beauty, complexity in our own "hood."

     Oklahoma State University had a lovely campus. Most buildings, after the initial few, were designed in the gracious red brick English Georgian style so that even new classrooms and dorms used the red brick and simple lines of that period. The gardens and pond were used for many wedding shots taken by students getting married during and even after graduation. We even had our own 19,000 acre lake! They were off limits. However, it was this exercise that made me very aware that there are many good "shots" around us if we would stop and take the time to look. I got an A for a dramatic cemetery statue shot against the sun.

The project that started it all -
a tree pod birdhouse

     Grabbing a birdhouse I played with my cluster deciding where I could glue pods on. I had four sides and decided that each side of the roof would get some as well. I used one here, two there and finally settling on what went where laid them out and using them as a kind of template drew around each one. Then I added more and more lines until I reached each side's edge. That was the easy part.

     Then noting that deep brown of the shell and the golden seeds that remained in some of them, painted the inside outline gold, that was where the pods would be glued. Radiating from the gold I added a deep brown layer to match the pods, some burnt sienna, pottery red, a very thin line of turquoise, a harvest gold and finally a buttermilk edge to give it depth. Each pod was designed this way and I added painted pods as well.

     It might be a bit too busy though. I added feet to the free standing birdhouse, and bronze colored shiny beads to empty pods to give it a bit of color and bling. It goes against all my previous birdhouses yet I am very proud of it. I feel that I have combined the ordinary products of man with the creations of nature creating, if nothing else, a decorative item that can provoke any number of discussions. I must admit Gaudi and his fantastic, Art Deco, naturalist designs were also an inspiration. I realized in the hours it took to paint this the TV show I had recently seen about his cathedral in Barcalona was an inspiration. Nature rarely uses straight lines so I tried to soften mine.

The next victim - the chest.
Round feet added later
give it a finished look

     Gathering more pods I happened to look at a small two drawer chest sitting on a shelf in my studio gathering dust. Again I could see another design using more pods. This time however, I wanted there to be exposed wood, the light natural look of pine against the dark pods and the colors surrounding them.

     Grabbing the chest I again laid out what pods I had (a friend taller than me grabbed some more off the tree for me) deciding that only the top, front and both sides would be graced with pods. I outlined and numbered each group and decided to use a metallic bronze color this time. I also used only five colors radiating out from the background bronze paint, where the pods wold be glued, allowing plenty of the natural wood to be exposed.

The painted back. Here you can see
the real pods and the painted ones.
It can now fit flush against a well.

     One of the hallmarks of my items, including just about everything I paint, is to finish all sides whether it might be seen or not. My mother-in-law made a comment about this when I first started out. She explained that seen or not, completing, painting all sides of something I did made it seem finished, considered. It showed that I didn't take the easy way out. She was right of course even though it adds much time to each project. Many items may never show the back but I realized maybe if they were they would be used and displayed in such a way that they were "finished."

     So it was in this vein I decided to paint the back of the chest but used only painted pods in case someone wanted it against a wall and didn't want to fuss with pods in the back.

The finished chest

     Again, I used five colors radiating out from the bronze back where the pods would be glued starting with deep brown, a sliver of Vermillion, then burnt umber, clay red, and harvest gold.

     Once you determine what you are going to do, its easy to do but it IS tedious and time consuming. I have listened to one audio book and started another with this project. However, to me, at least, it is a lovely chest and certainly one that nobody else would ever have. I realized that even if I were to do five, despite the use of the pods, the colors of paint, each one would have it's own feel, its own look. Combining the straight lines of man, with the variety of curves in nature is rewarding in itself.

     I hope that showing you my process, gathering things that might be around us, you too will find and use found items in such an artistic way, creating something unique and indisputably your own!

     

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!