Comedic Re leaf

Ok, sorry to be so macrabe' yesterday. One of the most influential people in my life, an old friend and ex-business partner is dying. Not sick, but dying. He and his wonderful wife were to arrive in a couple of weeks to spend the summer with us, as several times before.
We got news that he is too weak to travel, and that he has a few weeks on the short, the end of the year
on the long side. I know he is in his 80's. I know he has led an incredibly full life. I knew he was in his final chapter. But I did not know how deep he was in my heart. I did not know how much he has influenced my work. I did not realize how much of me is him and me of him.

Meanwhile, here are some old sketches that fall forward the kind of inflatable sculptures I am cultivating, and the king of ornament that the honorable WNF, or Henly Swerthing, would want me to be.

Heartbreak

I suppose the upside to having your heart broken 
is that it proves that you still have one, 
and that it still can be broken.

And it will grow back again. 
with this scar, 
another part of your mosaic.

Flag Renderings

Working on flag designs for the Amphitheatre. Each flag will be 5 feet wide and 20 feet tall. 16 flags in all. Digital transfer - sublimation dye on to fabric. The top sketch is 6 flags wide, the second 7. it should be fun to see them all fly as a single (big) picture. Click on to see detail.

Ah, Vegas....

Only in Vegas


A blurry shot of a short Elvis with a member of Kiss talking shop while on a break on the strip in Las Vegas. Surrounded by Americans. Who didn't notice.

Another note, I practically closed down security at the Las Vegas airport when the jacket Terry tailored  for me (including l.e.d. lights and battery packs....) went through the x-ray. It was actually the light bulb samples  we got at the trade show that triggered the bag to be opened, but when they saw hand stitching on the lining of a jacket and wires coming out, all of a sudden there were a lot of official people stopping by and speaking in hushed tones and using a lot of letters as we saw all the lines in front of us shut down. They were all very nice people and handled by electric jacket with grace. So Terry's fashions are at least being photographed by some very important people! We were swabbed, frisked, ask a million questions and sent on our way. The guy in front of us had a huge steak knife "he uses to fix his car" and that seemed somehow reasonable. They kept the knife.

Hong Kong 1997

Jayne,
Remember that night, March 1997 after installing the Dragon in Little Shanghai - North Point, you and Ann were desperate to go to the Hotel for a few hours of sleep - certainly not rest - it was like 4am -  BUT the gaurds were not going to let you out of the building, because you didn't have your photo pass with you and they were being sticklers.
You decided to "make a break for it" and escape through the parking garage with the gaurds running after you,  to grab a cab to wisk you back to the "relative" comforts of the 4 star hotel that played the same techno pop song in the elevator for the 3 years we worked there.

Mosaic


The floor of my office as I draft platonic (and archemedial) solids for the mosaic floor at the Museum of Outdoor Arts' indoor gallery at the Englewood Civic Center. We are installing a permanent "Cabinet of Curiosities" section of the Museum. It will open April 10th.
Eeeeek on to another deadline!