99 Bikeway

    “99 Bikeway" Signage & Trail Logo
This logo was created for a new bikeway in Chico, California. As members of a team
with City of Chico engineers we were invited to develop a logo and visual identity
for the "99 Bikeway."

Bell Pagoda

"Realtime" a sculpture inspired by the bell curve, as a 3 dimensional sculptural
object, the bell curve becomes a visualization of pattern and harmony.  It is sculpted of
bamboo plywood with hand rubbed oil finish, it measures 5 feet x 47" x 47."

The "Bell Pagoda" completed in the summer of 2009 is inspired by the intrinsic beauty
of the bell curve. It comprises nine 8” concentric circle rings divided between tinted
blue ½” safety glass and ½” steel. The sculpture is situated in a community garden at a
housing redevelopment in urban downtown Sacramento. The moving arc of the sun
creates a dynamic shadow of the rings on the ground that changes throughout the day.
The Bell Pagoda stands 16 feet in height and 12 feet in diameter.
Location: Fremont Community Garden, 14th and Q Street, Sacramento, California

Looking up into the top of the “The Bell Pagoda” illustrates the over all symmetry and
geometry linking all the components of the sculpture.  This view highlights the smooth
lines of the heavy steel truss dividing and supporting the concentric glass and steel rings.
There is a constantly shifting visual relationship between the rings as the viewer moves
beneath the sculpture.

The "Bell Pagoda” finial is a10” handblown glass sphere atop four progressively smaller
½” glass disks and capped with a turned brushed aluminum bell form.  Solar powered
blue LED’s illuminate the interior of the glass sphere and cast light into the edge of the
glass disks at night.

“The "Bell Pagoda” has flexible photovoltaic panels attached to the second steel
ring of the sculpture with a battery compartment located at the base of the
sculpture. These photo cells power the LEDs in the sculptures finial.

“The "Bell Pagoda” weighed over 2 tons, the fabrication process reveals the intrinsic
 beauty of raw steel.

“The Bell Pagoda” is loaded and tied to a trailer ready for its final journey from Chico to Sacramento, California.

  The "Bell Pagoda” an assembled pagoda is hoisted into place by a large overhead crane.

Wanders in a Riparian Garden

“Wanders in a Riparian Garden” Sculptures #2 and #3
Completed 2007 A City of Sacramento Public Art Commission
for a neighborhood park in the Natomas area. There are three sculptures,
two are located together and one set individually along the park’s walkway.
These sculptures use light and shadow as the physical part of the artwork
utilizing the environment as it changes throughout the day and year.
The sculptures are arranged like a musical composition of various graphic
elements based on the ecology of riparian habitat. Each sculpture has its
own imagery with some similarity and repetition, forming a dynamic phrase
or patterning that converges into an elegant synchronized form. The
symmetry of the sculptures forms a three part visual symphony.
Each screen measures, 10’ x 7’ x 5”
Location: Regency Community Park, 5500 Honor Parkway,
Sacramento, California

"Wanderers in a Riparian Garden" Sculpture #1
This stand alone sculpture is located 100 yards down the greenbelt path from the other two sculptures.

"Wanderers in a Riparian Garden"
Solo sculpture, an example of the sculptures interplay play of light and shadow.

“Wanders in a Riparian Garden” a full scale pattern was made
for each sculpture insuring correct layout with the fabricator.

"Wanderers in a Riparian Garden"
This is a detailed view of sculpture # 2’s waterjet cutout steel riparian
imagery and shows an example of the porcleinized photographs. In
all, there are ten photos made permanent through a process where
they are high-fired on porcelain enamel steel. The photos were
selected out of our photographic survey of riparian habitat. The
sculpture's steel structure of welded square tubing creates a visual
outline suggestive of the surrounding mountains.

Dancing Trout Fountain

"Dancing Trout” Fountain overview, completed 2003
A City of Chico Public Art Commission the “Dancing Trout”
fountain is inspired by a mythical moment, when six Rainbow Trout
jump in unison to catch flying insects in a sparkling foothill stream.
The concrete surrounding the fountain has impressions of tree leaves
from local Bidwell Park. This fountain offers a cool retreat from summer
heat and is a quiet place for reflection in an urban environment.
Water cascades over the stone edge into the surrounding reflecting pool.

"Dancing Trout" spouting water sit atop granite stone.

"Dancing Trout” Modeling Rainbow Trout
This shows Susan sculpting original jumping trout out of clay.
The fish is based on the Rainbow Trout commonly found in
Northern California foothill streams.

“Dancing Trout” Before Patina
Four of the six dancing trout await their turn to have a
patina applied at the Art Foundry in Berkeley, California.

“Dancing Trout” Setting the Stone
The fountain's base is capped by a 1.5 ton
polished slab of Sierra White granite stone
from the Murphy Quarry located in the
Sierra foothills. It took patience and
precision to set it in place.

Century of Flight

“The Century of Flight”   Walkway & Compass Plaza
 Completed in 2002, the Chico Municipal Airport Parking Lot provided an art opportunity in the form of a 300 foot pedestrian walkway leading directly to the airport terminal building. This airport has a century long history at this location; each decade had one major event symbolized every 30 feet with a sandblasted image in the concrete.  This was a team project with City of Chico Public Works Department.                                 

         “The Century of Flight” Kerns Plaza     
A rock wall with a built in bench, offers a view of the high-fired porcelain enamel plaque legend. This plaque a has photographic image of local boy aviator Thaddeus Kerns and  serves as a guide to the images of historic events that occurred at this airport site. There are 11 recycled airplane propellers installed at various locations along the length of the walkway that were solicited as a donation to the artwork from AERO Union, a local aviation contractor.                                                                                                                              

Porcelinized Steel Legend

            The plaque is mounted on a boulder from the original ranch.

       Sandblasted Helium Balloon Pictured is an example of one of the historic images sandblasted into the stained concrete walkway.