THE BLADE : Japan Series

I worked in the studio from 7 till noon, prepared lunch and ate between 12 and 2, returning to work until 7:30, stopping for dinner and returning to the studio until 11 with an hour for drawing in bed before calling it a day. On the evening of May 27th, 1993, I drew the first sketch for THE BLADE. Actually, the first drawing had three blades bordering a bamboo triangle. The original drawing was for a sculpture of larger dimension approximately 25 ft. high, 18 ft. wide and 12 ft. in depth, mounted on a 10 ft. high, 3.5 ft. diameter stone cylinder. A blade support collar of ballbearings capped the top of the cylinder. The blades once connected allow for wind motion. I love both the single and the triple blade concepts and hopefully someday I will be commissioned to construct the Three Blades design. I particularly enjoy the elegant simplicity of the single blade, especially its mounting connection to the cylinder. As I built this piece I could not but reflect on my Japanese experiences visiting the homes and studios of many of Japan's Living Treasures. As I have indicated while writing about some of the other bronzes, most all of my thoughts, attitudes and feeling were conjured by remembering my tour of Japan some four and a half years before. With bamboo in my hands and the bliss of Japan flooding through the medieval walls of my mind, I became a conduit . . . from Then to Now . . . East to West. In the presence of the bamboo, I entered into an amazing dialog by simply addressing: BAMBOO "Here I am, totally drained of distractions, show me what you can do." It did, and is still doing so.

The Blade is now in the private collection of my dear friends Fiorenzo and Kathy Tirinnanzi of Toluca Lake, and rests on a stone column in their garden.