Lumen show is now up and had a really nice opening.  The show can be seen at Middlesex County College in the Studio Theater Gallery. 20600 Woodbridge Ave. Edison NJ. The show is open 11 am - 5 pm Mon-Friday Jan 21st thru Feb. 11.
Here are some pictures of my piece "Contained Garden" before I set it up at the show. Now it looks like an overgrown empty lot in the desert. But this gives you an idea of the piece. There should be some pictures from the exhibit up on Asha, the curators website site soon.

We can love trees...

This was a really sad story I saw earlier in the week. Taken from Associated Press

A 240-year-old American elm tree that has graced Yarmouth, Maine, since before the American Revolution will be cut down on Jan. 18, ending  one man's half-century effort to stave off the ravages of Dutch elm disease.

CAPTION

By Steven Senne, AP

The tree, known as "Herbie" would have succumbed in the 1950s if not for the care of Frank Knight, now 101, who calls the 110-foot tall tree "old friend."

  See video above or clickhere.

Over the years, Knight, a former town warden, has nursed Herbie with insecticides and fungicide injections to battle the dreaded disease,  writes David Sharp, of the Associated Press.

But the battle is now lost and the tree will be cut down in two weeks.

"His time has come," Knight tells the AP. "And mine is about due, too."

Just added a new web gallery to my site... for Bodies of Dirt. Though this is an unfinished project in my mind, but  I think there are enough images to warrant a new section.

I also added the images from Platte Clove.

2010... A new year and hopefully a better one.
I finally got some organization into my life and am going to be working on my Contained Garden installation today. Usually I go out foraging for plants in empty lots and roadsides for installations, but since it is Jan 1st...and there has been lots of snow on the ground, I will try to sow some seeds I collected and have gone to Home Depot for plants. I have always been fascinated by the defense mechanisms of plants.  When you have to be rooted to one place, you tend to come up with some violent and imaginative ways to defend yourself (rather than running away) Cacti and succulents are some of the more interesting ones. Their spine configurations resemble something prehistoric and otherworldy.  I will incorporate some of them into my work, and they are a good plant for my cats, since they love to eat any plants I bring home.