The Beginning...

Spring is in the air here in the Philadelphia area as proven by the lovely green coating of pollen on my car today! The sneezing and itching may yet inspire a new piece of work but in the meantime I’m working hard on my Wrecking Ball series. 

I was first inspired to do a series based on wrecking balls and other implements of destruction a few years ago while watching a wrecking ball take a big swing at the old sports and concert venue, The Spectrum, in Philly.  I had a lot of anticipation for the first swing.  I had imagined that the ball would hit the building and there would be an enormous shudder on the ground as the forged steel ball hit the old building with an ear-deafening blow.  I pictured a cloud of dust arising and  bricks and chunks of concrete exploding inward as the giant ball accelerated through the wall.

And then....poof...the ball hit the wall and not much of anything exciting happened. My dreams of the first swing knocking out a large part of the wall disintegrated the way I had thought the building would. I began to picture the ball as a big soft pillow instead of a 12,000lb hunk of steel.   Spheres, balls and round shapes were already a part of my art vernacular so it seemed like a tiny leap into making my ceramic scuptures larger and following the wrecking ball to see where I would end up. If you want to follow my journey with me, check back here occacionally for some photos and information about my own work.

In the meantime, I’d like to share some work that inspires me. Let me know what you think.