Butterflies for Mayo Clinic

Sketches were recently approved for the creation of two large butterfly sculpture for the Pediatric Cancer Care Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The butterfly colors will harmonize with the carpet and furniture of the waiting area. The butterfly on the left is an interpretation of a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly and the one on the right is an interpretation of a Gray Comma. Both are found in Minnesota.

I am currently working on the wire forms for these pieces. The process begins with twisting magnet wire with electrician wire twisters and then bending this twisted wire into shape against large sketches drawn on bicycle box panels. When the wire forms are completed, they are removed from the cardboard box panels and the fabric and papers are glued and stitched on. The last stage is the application of a two part surfboard epoxy resin.

Progress Made on Freeway Overpass Art

Last Tuesday I visited a Santa Clara Valley Transit Yard to see the test pours of student pattern designs which will be used on the freeway overpass of Tully and 101 in San Jose. It was very exciting to see the art brought to life at this scale and it will be wonderful to see the final pours done on site at the freeway pedestrian and bike overpass.

In addition to the student patterns on the walls of the overpass, there will be student patterns showcased on the laser cut steel panels on the entry pillars to the bridge. Below are images of one of the three panel designs. The final panels will be powder coated with color. Past postings on this project can be seen here: Student Pattern Reflections on Community and here: Student Patterns for Freeway. 

Some of the digital photo patterns students created were integrated as large window decals for a conceptual bus stop shelter for the 2012 Zero1 Biennial.