Our Declining Woodlands

The decline of our native woodlands is thought to had been caused by invasive chemicals or direct persecution. Recent research has revealed that while chemicals and topsoil removal are harmful in actuality, our remaining woodlands are rapidly declining due to soil-based processes.
Clear cutting the forest protects fertile soil; overgrazing of the remaining native vegetation by out-of-control populations of hoofed ruminants while water storage shifts from within the ground to surface reservoirs has profoundly impacted below-ground decomposer communities. This action has led to fewer ground-dwelling invertebrate prey and reduced numbers of insectivores. This hypothesis is congruent with previous findings, explaining ground-foraging insectivores' susceptibility to changing land-use, the sensitivity of native woodlands to the stress of drought, and the decreased resilience of our remaining woods due to lower ground litter and greater sensitivity to eutrophication.

IOW: Walking catfish, kudzu, oriental bittersweet, and DDT, while destructive, are not the sole cause of our declining native woodlands. McMansions, deer, and draining of groundwater negatively affect the soils fungi and bacteria lead to the eventual decline in the population of anything above ground, from worms and insects to turtles and larger animals. Additionally, we are killing our insect populations, including the honeybees, in part because we insist on raking up every single leaf that falls each autumn and draining chemical and sewage waste from our land into our water. The chemical waste causes explosive growth of some water plants, killing terrestrial and aquatic life due to a lack of oxygen.

What does this have to do with a plaited copper baskets?
Nothing? Well, almost nothing.

The woodland surrounding my home has served as the inspiration for a body of work I have been actively pursuing since the late 1980s.
The colors of the oxygen-deprived water adjacent to the remnant of a near-by stream is a patchwork of magnificent cerulean blues and chromate greens. Dead trees moistened by the summer's morning rain stand starkly black against the leafless background of the cobalt blue sky. Sienna, umber, and grey stumps remain, roots firmly planted, their age defining rings a time point of Delaunay marks and lines. The golden swirl of Dutchman's pipe set against the afflicted, azo-yellow foliage of a black walnut sapling grabs my attention.

These scenes filled with the imperfections of disease, decay and disregard for the environment provide a robustly compelling visual essay, not one good for the planet's health but strangely beautiful none the less. These images have guided my work for decades.

Blackwater Bulb No8

Blackwater Wild Life refuge on Marylands Eastern shore is most famously known as the temporary home to migrating waterfowl who travel the Atlantic Flyway. The sanctuary, a mix of tidal wetlands, open fields, and mixed forest provides abundant opportunities to experience the unusual landscape and birds. The name blackwater comes is a tribute to the water's deep red-brown color, the result of the tannin that is deposited from nearby peat bogs. Over the years I have taken 100's of photographs and drawn an equal number of sketches recording the ever-changing landscape employing those as the basis of muchof my work. Recycled materials, woven copper, chemical patina, polychrome 10.75” x 8.5" x 8.5"
Blackwater Hydria No.5

My wife and I visit the Blackwater Wild Life refuge hoping to glimpse the visiting waterfowl and resident eagles. The sanctuary a mix of marsh, woodland, open water, and ever-changing landmasses provides many opportunities to record the expansive landscape of ever-changing shrub islands, inlets, and open water. I originally believed that Blck water was a native American name but later discovered that the source of the name blackwater comes from the water's deep red-brown color, the result of the tannin in the nearby peat bogs. 17" x 14.5” x 14”
Walled Garden-Stagnant Spring on Beaverbrook

Recycled materials, woven copper, chemical patina, polychrome 36" x 36" x 1.5"
Sycamore.jpg

Recycled materials, woven copper, chemical patina, polychrome 110” x 51” x 2”
River Birch No.1

Recycled materials, woven copper, chemical patina, polychrome 10” x 10.5” x 8”
Seckel Pear

When I was in high school, I walked by a seckel pear tree every day as I walked to and from the bus stop. It was on the right side of the road, up a slight incline, huge, its bark striated with fungus, grey, scared, arthritically gnarled, pitted. The pears were never even close to perfect, but each year I looked forward to that time in spring when I could harvest one of the slightly under-ripe pears as my afternoon snack. Recycled materials, woven copper, turned wood substructure, chemical patina, polychrome 7” x 9" x 7”
False Growth Rings-Timepoint Spring.

Occasionally a plant will exhibit a false growth ring. This is an annual ring that does not reflect an entire season’s growth or that does not extend entirely around the plant's circumference. False annual rings are the result of unusual climatic conditions such as especially harsh, dry or cold winters. Recycled materials, woven copper, chemical patina, polychrome 24” x 36” x 2”
Annual Rings-Timepoints Summer

Growth rings mark the degree of growth added in a single season to a woody plant. Growth rings tell the story of the plant's lifetime. When it was well fed; when it had sufficient water; when lightning struck the plant or a brush fire scorch its bark; how old the plant is and what history it witnessed can all be read in the annual growth Recycled materials, copper, chemical patina, polychrome 24” x 36” x 2”
Blackwater No.3

My wife and I periodically visit the Blackwater Wild Life refuge to catch a glimpse of the visiting waterfowl and the resident eagles that call the sanctuary home. The sanctuary is a mix of marsh, woodland, open water, and ever-changing landmasses that provide interest and opportunity to record with photographs and sketches the landscape, birds, and mammals that call the refuge home The name blackwater comes from the water's deep red-brown color, the result of the tannin in the nearby peat boggy soil staining the water as it drains into the marshland. Plaited copper, bronze rim. Multiple applications of chemical patinas. Polychrome. 9.75" x 13.5" x 14"
Bole No.3

I never cut trees stump down to the ground, choosing instead to leave a bole of 5' or more to remain. Boles mature more slowly than wood of similar girth left to decay on the ground, and a bole provides a handy home for insects, birds, mammals, and a convenient seat when I want to rest in the woodland. This plaited copper bole began life as dusty, red-orange copper. The patina continually changing the color evolves guided by the metal's interactions with the environment. Recycled material, copper, chemical patina, polychrome 20" x 14" x15"

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