ISSUE 8 â—¦ by Heidi Horchler
 
 

Unearthing Hidden Gems | 3.13.20
 

In January’s issue, I highlighted a rock on which I’d written “Keep moving forward.” It was something I made on impulse, a gift made with one of the many rocks I’ve collected. I pick up rocks wherever we go, whether it’s a hunting trip in the mountains, a bit of R & R at the beach, or walking around the neighborhood. I’ve always like rocks and my high school and college geology courses were some of my favorite classes. (I even briefly considered switching my major at one point). Arizona is a wonderland for rock hounds due to the fact that the rocks aren’t covered by loamy topsoil to dig up, but you can easily walk around and pick them up without much fuss.

Writing on that rock reminded me of a successful project I made while at Scottsdale Community College. Mary Meyer, my professor for 3D Design (a required course for art majors) is a sculptor by trade and assigned us a project to make an art installation. We had permission for the assignment to use the common areas around the art building.

As part of the assignment, we studied installation artists and chose one on which to do a report. Two of the artists that inspired me were Andy Goldsworthy, a British sculptor and photographer best known for his ephemeral land art; and Lee Jae Hyo, a Korean sculptor who takes rigid items like trees trunks and nails and somehow makes them appear soft and supple.

For my piece, I chose a circular planter between the art and math buildings. The tree was off-center and besides some bunch grass, it was filled with weeds and random dead plants. I cleared out the detritus and went on a rock quest. I was able to source most of them from around campus with the help of my wheel barrow brought from home.

My neighbor let me raid his scrap collection and I found four old rusty hinges and some pipe cross sections. I used these and with the compass on my phone, I arranged the hinges in positions of North, South, East and West. Then I arranged the rocks by color and size in tangent circles, lining the largest stones around the perimeter.

While I was pleased with the arrangement, there seemed to be something missing. I’ve always been one for details and I like giving people a reason to step in and take a closer look. With that in mind, and the temptation of a plethora of smooth stones on which to write, I proceeded to adorn the large outer stones with uplifting quotes and phrases.

The project surprised me by how well it was received by my class as well as other students around campus. Some of them chose to participate by adding their own messages, and once while I was in the process of arranging the stones, I returned to find someone had made one of my circles into a smiley face.

I was very flattered when Mary let me know that the piece fit so well into its environment that the administrators had decided to let it stay. This was the first time a project like this was allowed to remain as a permanent fixture on campus. Well, semi-permanent, anyways. It remained for about 4 years. I would visit it whenever I stopped by campus and it had eventually gotten so knocked around and overgrown that one day when I went, it was gone. Such is the nature of ephemeral art.

 

When I made this one as a gift, it reminded me of how much fun I had the first time. So I decided to make a bunch of them for my upcoming marketplace show. I’ll be participating in an all-handmade vendor event this month. I’ve been working hard to prepare, and I’ll let you know how it goes!
 
 

Artists that have inspired me this month:
 

Erik Abel

This art just hits my sweet spot for color, geometry, nature, and style. Plus, a lot of it is inspired by Hawaii, so hey let’s gooo!!

Helen Dardik paints with a perfect blend of whimsical, playful, folk-ish, and colorful. She posts videos of her painting to Instagram, and I could watch them all day.

 

Just for fun
 

I’ve always loved small versions of regular sized containers. Weird but I guess I’m not the only one. I recently made my grandma’s tiramisu recipe for my Bestie’s B-day. The recipe calls for rum, so I picked up this teeny tiny bottle of Kraken Black Spiced Rum. It was perfect — and check out the bottle!

What’s your favorite miniature thing?

My Grandma Mary Ann was part Irish, and also on the short side. I got her this pin one year for St. Patrick’s Day and saw it online recently. I sure do miss her, but I’m glad she imbued me with a love for being Irish!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
 

This month’s project:

Art It Up with Nature
 

Announcements

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xo,

Heidi

P.S. As always, feel free to ask questions. Reach out through any of the social links on my website (below) or email me at heidhorch@gmail.com.