Maude Kerns - Juxtaposed:Sculpture & Installation

A new show opened at Maude Kerns tonight and as I was going in the back door I got this picture of pottery leaves in the garden near Club Mud.


The exhibit was called "Juxtaposed:Sculpture & Installation," and the wall sculpture, titled "Round Up" was by Jud Turner. [Click Here] to visit Jud's website. It is a treat to see and learn more about this University Educated Artist.


"Cumulus Zepplin" was probably my favorite work by Jud.

To understand his work better read this excerpt from his Artist's Statement:

"Quantum physics tells us that apparently solid objects are comprised of vast empty spaces, populated by tiny particles whose individual relationships create the whole. And that a single particle can exist in two separate places during one moment in time.

I explore such dichotomies in my sculpture. Using welded steel and found objects, I create artwork which embraces opposites -- the tension between humans and nature; the perils of balancing biology and technology; or the combination of ancient fossils with modern machinery. I also engage contradictions by the materials I choose -- human forms which appear solid and realistic, but which were made with a delicate surface of thin wire, allowing the viewer to see through the figure; or by mixing the sense of scale in a piece, using large items alongside tiny pieces."

Jud was a very cordial artist who talked with many of the visitors to the show.



His work "Internal Combustion #2 - Bone Machine" is fascinating incorporating replicas of bones in this work mixed creatively with mechanical parts.


In this piece, "Oleg's Memorial" was made of wood and steel and made me think of the saying "live by the sword and die by the sword."


I liked the piece by Jud Turner more and more and seeing it on my home PC screen I liked it even more. The title is "Spring/Sprang."


This piece, by Andries Fourie was titled "Talking to Mr. Bhengu About Cattle,"was an interesting change of pace. I love the meat grinder included in this sculpture. Andries has a web site blog and you can get there by clicking [Here]


This piece by Andries is titled "Carrion Eaters 1"


Gerrit Van Ness titled scene installation "Campaign Trail" and it made me feel a bit of relief after the long political battle for President of the United States. He also has a great website [Click Here] to see more of his work.

"My love for constructing things began early in life, doing wood carving, pottery, working in house construction and wooden boat building from age seven or eight through high school. Home construction and design work also continued through college.

Skills developed over the years enable me to produce the mixed-media art objects for which I am noted today. Most of my darker-themed work is related to time spent in combat in Vietnam. Drugs, politics, and pop culture are all targets for my most recent work, and these subjects will undoubtedly provide plenty of subject matter well into the future."

Garret Van Ness titled this whimsical piece "Liar, Liar"


My biggest smile came with Garret Van Ness' "You da Bomb"


"Capitol Gumballs" really expresses Garret's fondness for all things political or maybe not.


I really liked the Installation room...


There were designs carefully arranged on the wall and small figures below.


Rakar West did this small sculpture called Alchemy 3 and there were several wonderfully clever and simple.



This is a three artist series.


Patricia Arrera's "December" was the left most installation ...


... followed by Rakar West's "October" and ...


... the rightmost installation was Tina Schrager's "November"


I missed the names associated with the next few pieces but they were very special to see. "Psycho Storage" above even had objects behind the doors...


This cart was very clever and wonderfully put together titled "Museum of Emptiness" again was covered with memorabilia and sayings.


This installation piece of wire and eye hooks was especially impressive in person but very difficult to depict in a small picture version .


I had arrived before the actual opening to try and get some decent pictures and not bother the crowd but as the show opened more and more patrons of Maude Kerns flowed in ...


... like this couple admiring one of the installations...


... and this couple.

There were people starting to flow in as I was preparing to leave.



I really enjoy watching the patrons of the arts and when I get the chance to talk with them I find every one to be great folks with a keen interest in life and living...


... like these two women who said hi and posed for a quick picture and a short chat over M7Ms and a 7-Up.


Just before I left Amey Herman on Violin and Doug Heydon on Guitar and Banjo later started playing and the one piece I heard was perfect for a perfect night with the arts and artists.


On the way home I got to take a picture of the Eugene Fire Department at work while stopped at a traffic light and ...

...talk about a perfect end of the evening a great License plate "K-SMILE" and a better Spare Tire Cover that says "Life is Good." Things in our country are looking up perhaps.

Scrabble Score - No game tonight but I did lose the last unpublished game to Scrabble Queen 321 to 298

Quote of the Day

"In art economy is always beauty."

Henry James quotes (American writer 1843-1916)

The Asian Celebtation at the Eugene Fairgrounds

This weekend was the Asian Celebration at the Eugene Fairgrounds. The morning was Spring like and we just had to get out for the day.


In front of the fairgrounds pavilion was one of Eugene's great street musicians singing and playing a very nice song. I have to add Eugene, Oregon is a festive and festival town. There are fairs happening every weekend and all kinds of cultural activities.


Inside the pavilion there were stage presentations of all kinds. This was one on traditional dress.


This was a Aikido demonstration put on by one of the local martial arts schools.

"Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying (with) life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from injury.

Aikido is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on. This requires very little physical energy, as the aikidōka (aikido practitioner) "leads" the attacker's momentum using entering and turning movements. The techniques are completed with various throws or joint locks. Aikido can be categorized under the general umbrella of grappling arts."

There was a great Orchid table showing some beautiful examples of floral gems.


They were all magnificent ...


... and all shapes and colors ...


I'm not an expert on flowers but I thought these were very photogenic.


This was my personal favorite and a combination of lines and dots.



We were both craving Dim Sum and lo and behold we found Tom's Dim Sum. I really enjoyed the food and could have eaten a second dish.


While ordering the food I got a photograph with my Sony of a photographer taking a picture with his Canon.


These two ladies were putting on a cooking demonstration for a crowd of about 30 people seated in a makeshift Iron Chef set.


Ted Cox was there with his book "The Toledo Incident of 1925" subtitled "Three Days that Made History in Toledo, Oregon." To buy the book [Click Here] for information from the publisher. I didn't talk with Ted but Sharyn took a big interest in the story about how an angry mob expelled Japanese resident workers from an Oregon mill town in 1925 and the precedent setting civil rights trial brought by the Japanese resident workers.


While Sharyn was talking to Ted I took some pictures of this really nice gourd vase by Lei McCornack whose work I had seen at a Maude Kearns exhibit.


This clay work by Hiroshi Ogawa is simply titled "Peach"


Great rug/wall hanging behind the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon table.


Of course, there were several Bonsai Trees, this one is a Juniper.


I kind of liked these glass beads decorated with Origami Figures. They were colorful and creative.

"Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. The most well known form is probably the Japanese paper crane. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper whose sides may be different colors or prints. Contrary to most popular belief, traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo era (1603–1867), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper during the creation of the design."

I really liked the 3-dimensional puzzle booth with this colorful rooster/dragon/whatever ...


... and this Tyrannosaurus Rex climbing the Seattle Sky Tower/Space Needle.

"The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington, and is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over 2.3 million visitors in all for the World Fair. The Space Needle is 605 feet high and 138 feet wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons. When it was completed it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph and earthquakes up to 9.5 magnitude (which would protect the structure against an earthquake as powerful as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake). The tower has 25 lightning rods on its roof to prevent lightning damage."

Sharyn and I both liked this metal sculpture of a little copper duck on a very large egg.


Finally fed and having seen the Asian Celebration we left to go home and digest all the great food and food for thought.

Scrabble Score - No Game Today

Quote of the Day ~

"Now comes the days of brown leaves. They fall from the trees. They flutter on the ground. When the leaves flutter, they are saying little things. I hear them tell of their borning days when they did come into the world as leaves...

Today they told me how they were a part Of the earth and air before their tree borning days. And now, they are going back. In gray days of winter they go back to the earth. But they do not die." ~ Opal Whiteley (see picture below of Opal at 17 years old)