Three leaves and three flowers. Won't have to water this plant. 

It is almost May and time for my favorite rainlilies to magically appear. 

The work goes on.

Working on "Hybrid Vigor II" the steel sunflower sculpture. Mosiac mom is about to work her magic on the center piece. Leaves and stem still need to be created and added. That will not be as weighty as the first half of this project.

Finally bought a new surf rod on ebay Sunday. Had been following this particular rod for 6 months and ended up buying the last one for the price I wanted. It should be here this week. Back to the casting range and back to the shoulder pain. Does everything I do have to hurt?

Everything is cool at work. The greenhouse is in good shape and the tissue culture research is getting exciting.

Did some stretching excercises this morning. Got lazy in that area of my life and am starting to pay the price. Must make it a priority. especially if I hope to create "Hybrid Vigor III.

Construction stage of Hybrid Vigor II. 

I got distracted...

Yesterday (Monday) seemed like a normal day. Got dressed, had coffee and was ready for the drive to work in the greenbean. Packed up and headed out the door and noticed what a beautiful cool day it was. Suddenly visions of August with its over supply of heat and humidiy filled the carport. Oh hell, forget work, I have a sculpture to finish.

Ten hours later the steel sunflower sculpture was done (46" across and 40 lb) and ready for mosiac mom to install the center. This is a mixed media project remember.

Dut to ever increasing back and leg pain, the sunflower sculpture was mounted on a frame on a large wheelbarrow for the trip to the mosaic studio. It is time to make some other engineering moves to lessen stress on certain body parts. The first will be to make a permanent stand to hold the flowers while being welded. My bench is too small and does not allow for good viewing necessary to properly align the petals, etc. Some sort of pulley system is also needed to help budge these things. I must make them big now since in a few years everything will have to be downsized due to the limits of age. But for now - BIGGER is BETTER, or should that be HUGER is BETTER.

Photos tomorrow - unless I get distracted. I have to go medicate myself now.

When is big big enough.

Working on the next steel flower sculpture masterpiece. This one is going to be my version of a sunflower. It should be cool since the center is going to be mosaiced by the famous Mosaic Mom - our first coauthored piece. Coauthoring works great in the academic world where you can take credit for a brilliant paper or blame the other guy for a not so great paper. Actually this may not be such a great idea since I live with the coauthor.

However, there seems to be a little, or big, problem developing. The flower never seems big enough until it cannot be carried without inducing severe back pain. Little 6-inch flowers just do not cut it around here anymore. In the current thought pattern a sculptured flower must be a least 3 and a half feet in diameter, and weight must be at least 40 lbs or higher. Sort of like fishing where we only want to talk about the big ones. By the way, I did catch 6 (the limit) pompano and several other creatures the other day in the surf.

Back to art - how this monster will turn out is yet to be determined since a visit to the steel supply house in necessary next week. Until then there are several back exercises that need to be completed. Art can be pain.

Pompano, Yeah! All in a day's work. 

"Hybrid Vigor I".  

"Hybrid Vigor I" set in a field of phlox. 

My work is done and just begun.

Spent most of the weekend working on sculptures. Finished a steel flower sculpture appropriately named "Hybrid Vigor I" and set it out in the field. Who would have guessed? Never in a thousnd years would I have predicted this. The flower had been started over a year ago and was almost tossed a few times. Large it is. This finished flower just feels good and looks stately in the phlox field. It will be great to see it everyday (it has only been 1 day). Sort of like a man's best friend that doesn't need any care. Not sure where its final home will be but it is designed to be easy to move - except for the weight that is.

Art is something really new for plantdaddy. There is a certain intensity involved, mainly due to the rush to finish and see the final product. Must slow down and enjoy the process as much as the product. However, since there is 17 acres to fill around here one must keep at least some of the intensity going.

Three flowers on one pulley. 

Flower Power....

Made my first sculpture of the year. Spent the whole day working in the shop. Not the greatest art work ever but it was the greatest fun. Have to start somewhere. This art stuff is real intense. Guess it is due to the new thought pattern. Not like playling in the greenhouse that is for sure. However, the body pain is the same.

The real whopper piece will be finished soon. It is great and should be on display tomorrow. Somehow it looks like big may be better. Now I know from where mindescape gets her large scale project ideas.

Food for thought: steel is heavy, hard and burns after it is cut or welded. Wish I could remember that.

Sculptural mode and wind.

For several months there has been enough talk about sculptures and now it is time to put out or shut up. So this weekend something is going to get made. Don’t know what, but it will involve flowers in one way or another. Gee, I am already the victim of artists’ block and haven’t started yet. Oh well….

Of course if the tsunami winds don’t let up it may not happen. Nasty breezes. At the moment there is too much wind to fish, walk or weld outside. Grrrrrrrrr.

Got a new office chair at work. It seemed easier to put the greenbean together than that chair. My back still hurts but at least it is finished. Must be pretty good as my fanny hasn’t left it since. Did I mention the winds today????

A buddy at work gave me a large-fruited jalapeño pepper plant. There will be some fried potatoes with peppers and onions this weekend along with some barbequed sausages. Mosaic Mom will not have to be her normal culinary genius for the next few days. She will like that.

Happy Pothos plant in my research house. 

Back to Normal.

It was a busy April so far. Got busy, got sick, got better, had party, went to Oregon with mom, got really sick, took pills, felt better, came home, got diarrhea, got better, came back to work yesterday, had annual evaluation today, passed with flying colors.

It is now possible to relax and start blogging again. Hope to get some fishing in during the next month as have missed the best part of the season so far. Got some free pepper plants today for the garden. Just love those jalapeño peppers.

Next goal is to start some serious steel sculpture work. All of the tools for steel working are in good condition and ready to go. Plan to focus on making unique flowering plants out of steel. Afterall, plants is all I really know. After this weekend there should be some photos to share. Happy spring and summer to everyone.