The amazing flowing stonework of Michael Eckerman

Safebreak Wave Wall, Santa Cruz Mountains

It’s not very difficult to see why Michael Eckerman and his stonework is loved by the surfing community, building stone features for many of the great surfers, and even getting featured in The Surfer's Journal back in 2007.

Bored with traditional stonework, Micheal’s creative nature has led him away from traditional design. Attracted by the flowing aspects of tectonic upheavals of lava flows that he observed in his travels, he began forming his own signature style of stonework, a style heavily influenced by these lava flows, as well as the movement of wind and water. 

Safebreak Wave Wall, Santa Cruz Mountains

Hailing from Santa Cruz, California, Michael Eckerman has been forming his own signature style of stonework since the 1970’s.

Forty years of building with stone has allowed him to expand his imagination and develop the free flowing type of stonework that he is known for today.

Michael Eckerman

 Like many ‘stonies’ Michael isn’t quite sure how he got into stonemasonry. There was no apprenticeship as such, although he learned much about what makes stonework strong and the principles of structural integrity while collaborating with an influential  builder from the ’60s and ’70s, called Ken Kern. 

He also recalls one of his first building ventures being a cabin he built with a friend in Quebec back in 69.

Even from the magical entrance to Michael’s home (a fantastic combination of stone and driftwood that seems to flow so naturally and playfully), it is clear that this is a home that lives and breathes art. And not only by Michael’s hand, for here creativity is a family business. Micheal’s wife Karen is an arborist, while his younger son Wes explores his creativity through photography and his older son Ea Eckerman expresses his creativity through both graphic art as well as sculpture. 

Pine Arch with Drift Wood

 

In the article by The Surfer's Journal, Michael tells a bit about the creative process of his work.

M. Eckerman beside his piece ‘Ledbury Tree’

"Each project is different, but the forms come through with a similar telegraphing message: flowing harmony. The stone suggests its form, he says. There’s not a lot of planning in his projects, no detailed drawings, maybe some chalk lines sketched on a wall. A flagstone forms a bench in a barrel. A helix has two platforms on opposite sides of the spiral—one for you, another for your sweetie.

The rock calls for touch. Natural, somehow, that stone should represent water. There’s good workmanship in all of it too: steps built to code, walls built to stand for centuries, ascending fireplaces around which the houses rise. Michael works with materials from the region he’s building in, whether it’s granite in the Sierra or lava rock in Hawaii. “If you knock it around in the surf for a thousand years,” he says of lava rock, “it gets interesting—very smooth, blue in color.”" [From article 'Natural Fit' in The Surfers Journal 2007]

Lebury Arch

In addition to stone, Michael accents much of his work with other materials, like brick, tile, glass, ceramics and metal.

Ceramic & Stone arch wall

Those of you who read my blog regularly will know my passion for creating stone benches. Well, Michael too has built some stone benches, but probably not in the way to which you may be accustomed. Check out this art project he did for the city of Menlo Park, California. Titled ‘Convertibles’

Convertibles

Micheal is currently working on a series of stone dog sculptures. It is interesting to see him use these same flowing stonemasonry techniques in a new more miniature and intricate way.  

Valcor- stone dog w:stacked driftwood

Guard Dog

 Michael has a vast and fantastic portfolio of work, so I suggest you check out his website www.eckermanstudios.com/ if you would like to see more. I have not even mentioned his absolutely stunning fireplaces and chimney stacks, so impressive in fact that they justify a blog post of their very own, which I will post later on in the year.  

Safebreak Wave Wall, Santa Cruz Mountains

 A big thanks to Michael for taking the time to send me the photos and information for this post. If you are interested in seeing the the article 'Natural Fit' from The Surfers Journal, you can purchase a download-able copy of the article from their website here 

Sources 

2010 Artist Bio written by Michael's daughter Rosie.

http://www.eckermanstudios.com/

The Surfers Journal 2007 article 'Natural Fit'

This year for National Tree Week, why not let the trees do some art!!!

So it's National Tree Week again here in Ireland! Last year in my post Grow our own chairs for national tree week, I instructed ye all to go and create some art by growing a chair out of trees. (I have yet to hear from ye how that went). So this year, why not let the trees themselves make some art!

Picture from last years post 'Grow our own chairs for national tree week'

This is precisely what British artist Tim Knowles did back in 2005 when he started his series of art pieces, simply called ‘Tree Drawings’ Tim’s idea was to create a series of drawings produced using drawing implements attached to the tips of tree branches, the wind’s effects on the tree is then recorded on paper.  Like signatures, each drawing reveals the different qualities and characteristics of each tree.

All of his works rely on the logic of cause and effect, as a map of time and a record of actions governed entirely by chance.

 

Tree Drawing - Weeping Willow on circular panel [100 pen] 2005

Above, 100 pens attached to the branches of a Weeping Willow tree draw onto a circular disc 5.1 metres in diameter and made up of 10 segments.

Larch on Easel #1 2006

Scots Pine on Easel #1 2006

Similar projects by Knowles include his Vehicle Motion Drawings, where he constructed an apparatus to capture the motion of a car being driven, all the turns, stops, and starts of the vehicle move the pen over the paper. Another is  his postal projects, which capture the motion of packages sent through the postal system, using both drawings and photography.

Greek Pine on easel #1 2005

I think my favorite work of his is titled ‘Nightwalk - Valley of Rocks’.  

Nightwalks are a series of illuminated walks that Knowles created in the countryside during a new moon (to ensure complete darkness).

One of Tim Knowles contraptions

Over the period of an hour, the artist walked away from the camera while carrying three wide-beam torches fitted with diffusers. The lights are connected to a 12volt battery in a backpack to prolong their life. His path, along a precarious rocky ridge in the darkness, was illuminated and captured using a long-exposure, large-format photograph. The direction in many of his walks are also dictated by the wind by using various contraptions that plot the direction of the wind.

Nightwalk - Valley of Rocks 2008

Photos and info from Tim Knowles website. Be sure to check it out to see more of his amazing work
http://www.timknowles.co.uk

So it's still National Tree Week for a few days and there are still a number of events on this weekend right around the country. To find out what in happening in your area, follow the tree council of Ireland link http://treecouncil.ie/

2011 also happens to be the International Year Of The Forest. You can find out more about this here http://www.un.org/en/events/iyof2011/

Snowdrops, Labyrinths and their effects on Alzheimer's

The other day I was talking about snowdrops and their link to the treatment of Alzheimer's. The little snowdrop has been linked to an important medicine that could help in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Galantamine, a medicine used today to treat Alzheimer's disease, occurs naturally in several members of the amaryllis family (snowdrop; narcissus; daffodil). This important medicine was first discovered in the innocent Snowdrop. 

Snowdrops

Talking about this made me think of the living labyrinth in my parents' garden at Hagal Farm down in West Cork. (You may remember my post about this labyrinth last year.)

Labyrinth at Hagal Farm

 So why did snowdrops make me think of labyrinths, you ask?

More and more hospitals and wellness centres are using labyrinths in the treatment and care of Alzheimer's sufferers. The beauty of a labyrinth (often confused with a maze, which has many paths and dead ends) is that a labyrinth is a single winding path that leads from the entrance to the centre and back out again. All labyrinths are unicursal, meaning they only have one path, which makes them a perfect place for an Alzheimer sufferer to ‘get lost in’. (for more information about labyrinths, check out my previous post about them http://tinyurl.com/gardenlabyrinth)

Labyrinth at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton, Illinois

With Alzheimer’s, the mind begins to short circuit. Performing tasks that once were as natural as breathing becomes a source of frustration. Confusion begins to crush hope. The caregivers for early- to mid-stage Alzheimer's residents know that these misfires aren't going to go away.

Back at home in West Cork a dear friend of our family has been suffering from Alzheimer’s for a number of years now, so I can begin to understand the heart wrenching, problems and difficulties of those who suffer from Alzheimer’s and the family and carers who lovingly look after them. It also gives me huge respect for those who live with Alzheimer's, as well as for their family and carers.

While reading up about this subject I came across a very interesting blog by a man called Chuck Donofrio. Chuck’s blog is called ‘Early onset Alzheimer’s Adventure’

Chuck suffers from Alzheimer’s but as he states on his blog ‘Early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis doesn't stop this "sufferer" from blogging about his day to day observations and feelings.

In one of his posts he writes the following about wanting a labyrinth “One of the most profound meditative experiences available to the lay person, or any other soul desiring a respite from the banality and meaninglessness of our daily round, can be found as near as the closest Labyrinth. The ancient practice of walking the "maze" has captured many a soul, most probably because the physical action of its twists and turns, coinciding with the step and breath of the human in motion, excites, even as it calms.”

The spiritual discipline of the labyrinth involves a "walking meditation" and is a metaphor for the soul's spiritual journey. It quiets the mind and opens the soul to a sense of wholeness and wellness. The tradition of labyrinth walks was recovered in the United States in the early '90s at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and, in recent years, the labyrinth has come to be recognized as an instrument of holistic healing. The Rev. Canon Lauren Artress of Grace Cathedral has used labyrinth walks with groups of children with ADD/ADHD (attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactive disorder) and has discovered that it helps focus and quiet them in a way that cognitive therapies fail to do.

Since many of the labyrinth projects are still new, they haven't completed any long-term studies. But many places have noticed that this ritual provides benefits such as short-term calming, relaxation, and relief from agitation and anxiety in otherwise fragmented lives. The restorative and calming value of the walk can last from two to three hours, or longer.

I also read of another touching story of a couple that walked, hand in hand, through the labyrinth almost daily.  He was suffering from Alzheimer’s, and she was struggling with the confinement, stress, and isolation of being a caregiver.  She noticed that after a few weeks of their routine, he began to regain small skills. 

Another labyrinth that is very appropriate to mention here is this one made from seasonal bulbs (many of them from the amaryllis family that make Galantamine) at Cornell University, New York. I also like the idea of how at the end of the flowering season it just turns back to a lawn, only to reappear the following year.

Bulb Labyrinth Cornell University

See more about this labyrinth here.

Bulb Labyrinth Cornell University

Labyrinths are a fantastic place for anyone to go and relax and I highly recommend finding one and trying it out for yourself. To help you find the closest one to you check out the global labyrinth locator http://labyrinthlocator.com/.

For a list of Labyrinths at Hospitals, Health Care Facilities, Spas and Wellness Centers go to http://www.labyrinthproject.com/hospitals.html

Scorces   

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3830/is_10_50/ai_79355490/pg_2/

http://www.thecabinpath.com/labrynth.html

http://www.medicinenet.com/galantamine/article.htm