Study in line

It’s really just a cutting (never mind most plants begin as cuttings, seedlings, or air layers…)To many, it’s just a “stick in a pot”.

A nice pot, in this case…A pot made by Rob Addonizio of Taiko Earth.

I’m looking forward to this!

The tree is a ficus microcarpa “tiger bark” or, as some call it, “golden gate” (which I’ve finally found out why they call it golden gate, in this article)

I could call it a “superior” stick in a pot.

It has movement, taper, and a certain gnarly, “je ne sais quoi” quality to it.

And it has branches.

Branches are a plus.

It means we can make something out of it.

Let’s sit down in The Nook, have a drink or two, and see what can happen.

Whatcha drinkin’?

(yes, I need to clean off the bench, I’m interviewing for apprentices right now…..)

This’ll be a wiring exercise. A “study” if you will. A study is an exercise an artist undertakes when preparing for a larger work (hmmmm, what could that suggest?)

Or trying to master a technique, or design.

From the Wikepedia:

“In art, a study is a drawing, sketch or painting done in preparation for a finished piece, or as visual notes. Studies are often used to understand the problems involved in rendering subjects and to plan the elements to be used in finished works, such as light, color, form, perspective and composition”

Since this is an exercise, pay attention, I may not explain everything.

Always start with the larger wire, then work down. There we go.

Every.

Branch.

Wired.

Even Pablo, The Nook’s constant and intrepid carved mask watchdog, approves. (Truth be told, he always has that wooden expression on his face. )

The spider thinks I could be neater, but he’s a web spinning master, and spiders have no sympathy anyway. I don’t have a name for the other wood carving hanging next to the spider. He always looks like he’s suffering from caffeine withdrawal, though. Any suggestions?

Anyway, above, wired with the leaves still in the way.

And below, defoliated, so you can see the branches.

If you zoom in, you can see I followed some serious logical loop-de-loos to arrive at my conclusion (much the way the two major American political parties come to their own platforms do….)

Maybe it’s the whisky (which could explain those political parties as well) but I think it works.

It’s even a little more consistent than what comes out of today’s talking heads.

Next?

Fertilizer, a little top dressing, some pre-emergent herbicide.

The tree is a little more than just a stick in the pot though, like I said, it has a quality to it and is a variety of tiger bark where the base swells amazingly, compared to regular f. microcarpa

The reasons I’m spending time with it and not putting it in a bigger pot to grow it out.

It just looks old too.

What’s next? Maybe a carving post on a commissioned piece (european olive) or work on another commissioned piece, an elm tree that needs some work.

Stay tuned!