"Vertu and Fortuna"

This is the very same image as yesterday's post!

The only difference is this is taken outside in direct sunlight with no flash. How can that be?

How can light play such tricks and expose or hide all the details? I like the colors and feather effect here but this is not as imaginative as the one taken inside my shop. Had this been the only capture it would not have inspired me to continue playing with this medium. So, it was all "luck" that I caught it just right in the shop.

The Romans knew of this kind of luck and measured the mettle of a man by how he responded to it. "Vertu" and "fortuna", virtue and fortune. Fortune was the good luck and bad luck, those things that happen to us by accident, what we find in life and what is thrown upon us.

And Virtue is how we respond to these happenstance. Ralph (I will learn to link soon!) could have taken his inhaler to bed with him and lived out his life as an invalid but instead decided to throw it away and climb mountains! Sherry could crumble and fall apart but chooses dignity

and growth from her experience. Me? I am really lucky and just talking about capturing a piece of stainless steel in the right light, something that ultimately led me into painting and the world of art.

This is "old stuff" done a year or so ago but I wanted to show you some of my copper and stainless steel pieces. This piece became the center of a gate at a local winery. It is powder-coated clear coat and has the feel of silk when touched. The copper and polished steel catch the sun and this can be seen from blocks away! It was a fun experiment and because of it

I built a 16' Entry Gate for a different winery with a lot of copper in it,

five foot panels of copper plate! I have never before or since seen this use of copper with ornamental iron and the local powder coating factory had never clear-coated copper before! This piece is what really inspired me, maybe I could be an artist after all?

The Hands of an Artist

Going back to work is not as simple as it sounded. This is my thumb nail, my big toe nails are gone. What I used to build in a day will njow take me a week. The chemo-therapy that cured my cancer has left a lot of damage in its wake. The neuropathy in my hands will let me work for maybe fifeteen minutes and then I want to cry! At least I sit and give them a break! It is going to take some time, I am at the starting gate, waiting for the sound of the bell.

I thought I would show you some of my "metal art". The assignment for this job was to create an Entry to this garden. Tradition and protective and Big is what I saw so that is what I did. With metal work my "canvas"is often big. This total "piece" is about 30 feet wide and eleven feet tall.
I have so lost the strength to create this kind of art but it is nice to know that I did a lotof it and it will far outlast me! That is what artists want, isn't
it? Immortality!

Cancer Free

Good Morning, today will be a great day! Ralph, and soon I will learn to link to his site, has
inspired me to get back on to this blogging site. I am calling this blog "Cancer Free" because that is what I am! I just finished seven months of chemo-therapy, voodoo medicine, and I am alive!
NOW, what will I do? It is a little like being taken to the edge of Hell and then allowed a second
chance! I'll be re-telling that story a bit on here from time to time, so bare with me if you have heard it before! http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?Art+ID=45020Tab=Blog that will take you to my earlier blog if you care to skip ahead. I'll talk a little about my art here, just a little because that is what I am producing these days. I might talk of politics and our economy because we are all effected by that right now and I find it interesting what we are doing about it. I love my garden and myu shop/studio space and my shop kitty so you will bne hearing about them.
What will keep me going will be your comments! Feel free to tell me I am on the wrong track,
or just that you stopped by! Thanks so much, Jerry