Blog
Entry #5
August 15, 1015
It has been
waaaaaaay too long since my last blog entry. Bad Bob! I once heard
someone say “life is something that flies by while we are busy
living it!” I suspect we can all relate to that. When was the
last time you were bored?
Over the past
ten years, the economy where I live has bobbed up and down, between
bad and worse. Although this has been life changing for many people,
including myself, there has also been a positive side to it (for me).
On the positive side, this time of slow (or no) work, has given me
time to focus on forged iron cemetery monuments. These grave markers
(some of which are on my web-page) are designed the way I want them
to be. Where am I going with this?
When designing
architectural ironwork, the projects are site-specific. Because they
are site-specific, they often need to look a certain way. A certain
way? Yes. The homeowner wants a certain look. The architecture,
which is the mother-art-form, dictates a certain look, etc. I am not
complaining. What designing commissioned work has taught me, is how
to be versatile. If it were not for the custom look requirements, I
would probably find a comfortable rut and plant myself in it.
Learning to be flexible and versatile is good.
When creatively
stuck while trying to design something that was site specific and
hard, I would remind myself of what a great artist once told me. She
said “there is no such thing as stale art, only stale artists.”
She went on to say, “unless you want to be a stale artist, step up
to the plate and create some fresh art.” That pretty-well
smothered any whining on my part!!
So, for better
or worse, I am really proud of the cemetery memorials and how they
look. The concepts be metal over stone as illustrated, or the decorative forged metal can be forged bronze, recessed into carved cavities in granite.
Getting back to
the economy. The building trades are now, after 10 years, on the
upswing where I live. I live in a small rural town on an arterial
route. If you go past my blue collar neighborhood (which I love) and
follow the arterial route about 2 miles up onto the river bluffs with
panoramic views, you will find yourself in a different economic
world.
Last summer
more cement trucks went past my house then in the previous 10 or so
years combined. A lot of new construction was going on. Despite my
efforts, I was not a part of those construction projects.
This year is a
horse of a different color. Four huge jobs have been my focus this spring and summer.
Three of these jobs have fallen through but number four is looking very
strong. When looking back at the three that fell through, as much as
I would like to blame circumstances or people, the truth is, selling
these jobs is highly competitive and I need to freshen up my sales
presentation. When selling, you need to be totally on your “A”
game. It is too bad I/we lost
these sales because the homeowners of the 3 projects that fell
through, are now going to receive products of a lessor quality then
I/we would have given them ----- by a long shot. But they are
getting great prices!
Always
demand to see samples when purchasing upscale ironwork. There is no free lunch.
Well anyway, I
am looking forward to telling you about job #4. This will be a large
fence, about 7 feet tall and about 40 feet long. The fence will have
3 tall brick columns dividing the ironwork into four sections. Now
think about this ----
The fence will
be kinetic. Kinetic? Yes, it will be an Art-Fence.
The fence will be classical 18th
century European in appearance. The fence will have 4 distinctive
elements that connect the identity of the fence with the homeowners
lifestyles. Now here comes the fun part. The 4 distinctive elements
will move, being driven by 4 electric motors.
The movement of
these focal points will be so slow, that you will not be able to see the movement, like watching the hour hands on 4 clocks. If a viewer looks at
the fence and has an eye for what it looks like, and then looks back
at the fence 15 minutes later, if the viewer is paying attention, he/she will
ask themselves, wait, I thought the fence looked like ------
This is going
to be completely original and I am really looking forward to building
it.
Now I just need
the green light from the client -----
So far, so good
-----
The joy is in
the journey!
I hope you are
well.
Bob