Trains Of Thought

The Haunted Track (3 views)
mixed media
10x3.25x4.25

Occasionally, I dabble in sculpture. The Haunted Track is a sculpture that I completed earlier this year and will be in the Trains of Thought show at the work.detroit gallery from January 7th to February 4th, 2011. The theme or topic of this show are trains as a concept, as a symbol and/or a system of transportation. I haven't had the opportunity to display my work, especially my sculptures, in a gallery setting much since most of my time is spent with doing freelance illustration work, so it's nice to have a piece in this show. My last gallery appearance was a couple of pieces at the Detroit Artists Market back in 2008 and before that, a show in Iceland in 2007.

This piece does have a story, a personal one that I haven't shared with too many people because it probably would anger a few members of my family since this deals with the death of my grandfather. But, those people who would be offended wouldn't come to this blog anyways, so I'm not too worried about that.

A few years ago, I was reading an article in a sculpture magazine about Honore Daumier, who at that time, I did not know that he was a pretty good sculptor, as well as an expert in drawing and painting. Anyways, he was doing these small caricatures of legislators, royalty and politicians and it landed him in plenty of trouble. These notables that he chose as subject matter were so offended by these sculptures, they had him thrown in jail. That story, as interesting as it was, inspired me to do some small caricatures of people that I know, mainly family and friends. I had done a pencil sketch of my grandmother that I thought captured her likeness, so I used that as my first piece (and only one to date).

Even though I don't think that I captured her likeness with the exaggerated  and ghost-like features, I do feel that I captured the personality of her later years. When I solved the problem of making this part of a larger story, I took some wood from a weathered white picket fence that we used to have in the backyard and screwed a piece of model railroad track that used to belong to my grandfather onto that. Even the metal hanger at the top was from his workshop, so I thought that it was great that I could use something from his life in the piece.

Without getting too much into detail, I've always felt that my grandmother hastened my grandfather's departure from this world and that her negative words about him since have always seemed almost as if she was a ghost haunting his own personal railroad. He spent a long time with those tracks and she has spent a lot time trying to dismantle what he built. My thoughts on this ebb and flow like the tide, but I think that this captured my overall feeling on the matter, and that's what matters. But, this is just one man's opinion...

Anyways, as one can see, this is a very personal piece, another journal entry of a slice of a life, so I hope that it is well received.