Re-engergized!

Lot's has gone on and my energy is peaking again.  Just got back from a 3 week trip to Europe that I am beginning to organize through photos and thoughts... more to come on that.

Friday I was one of the lucky thousands of visitors to Grand Rapids, MI with the purpose of seeing art for the 2010 ArtPrize competition.  Today is the last day.   It is well worth the visit.  Art along the water, inside buildings, outside buildings, in restaurants, etc.  Over 1,000 works of art are everywhere and it represents such diversity.  I'll say it again, it is well worth taking the time to go today if you haven't been already.  I spent 5 hours walking around and still did not see it all.

All of this is giving me the excitement to start my cathedral again.  While in sculpture class quite a few years back I started a 5' x 8' glass and steel cathedral.  To make a long story short, it would dissapoint me at different times in my life when I needed a place to go and feel peace, serenity, or just have private time in a place that I felt close to my God.  That got the ball rolling.  I had no idea it would take the  amount of time it is taking to get the cathedral done.  Needless to say, after traveling through London, France, Barcelona, Florence, Rome and Venice, that inspiration has kicked in - in a very big way.  I am working on it again.  I'll be posting the progress on my blog and try not to think about the hours it will take to get it done.  But, this is being done for my benefit and I don't have to put a price on it.  And, all cathedrals I have seen have taken years, and often are in a constant state of work.

Today's Photo:  The doors to my cathedral.  They have been cut with a hand saw out of steel, sanded, sandblasted and heat treated for color.  My original plan was to cut them with a plasma cutter.  The steel I was using was too thin and it was causing the steel to warp.  So, what I thought would take a day or two, took me many days and hours to do by hand.  OK The photo will have to come later.  Techinical difficulties... my computer is not recognizing my internet card.  But, I don't want it to stop my momentum so here goes my blog update without a photo.  Later this afternoon, working on my flying buttresses.

Pat Deere

Links:  ArtPrize, Grand Rapdis, MI