DESIGN EDITOR’S PICKS
MAKING ARTWORK OUT OF AN ANTHILL
DSD 60
Nature is God’s canvas. Sunrise, sunset, a lush forest, the open prairie, a field of wild flowers, the list of beautiful scenic artworks goes on and on for anyone interested enough to enjoy.
For Cindy and David Gleason
nature, and the many wonders it has to offer, is a fascinating adventure waiting to happen as well as an excuse to hike, camp and fish. “As a family, we have always loved spending time outdoors together and admir- ing everything God’s earth has to offer,” says Cindy. It was this love of nature, along with a fortuitous, if not completely incidental, stum- bling upon a YouTube video, that led the couple on an artistic journey that now brings some of nature’s art into any art lover’s home.
“I stumbled upon an old video of a professor casting
an anthill,” remembers David. “The opportunity to preserve and exhibit such beautiful mas- terpieces for everyone to ad- mire just fit everything we were looking for … an opportunity to do something together as a family in the great outdoors.” After a series of trial and
error experiments, the Gleasons have perfected a method for pouring molten aluminum into anthills, then retrieving and mounting them into incredible abstract works of art that rival anything sculpted by human hands. Once the couple locates an area “good” for anthills, they move their portable kiln, which David built, to the area and prepare to melt the alumi- num, which is poured directly into the hill. After an hour, or longer, when the aluminum cools and hardens, the couple begins the long, laborious process of digging the hill out
and cleaning it to prepare it for mounting.
Depending on the complex- ity and size of the anthill, the process can take anywhere from two to six hours to dig out and another equal amount of time to clean. Currently, they cast fire and harvester anthills. The fire ants produce a very dense, twisting clump of tunnels, many often bump right up against each other or wrap around large debris, such as tree roots and rocks. The harvester ants pro- duce an elongated, chambered structure, which the Gleasons fondly feel resemble futuristic or alien home complexes. “Because of the structure of the harvester ant tunnels, you basically have to treat them as an archaeological dig in order to keep as much of the anthill intact as possible,” says Cindy. “While the harvester pieces are much harder to dig, they are
much easier to clean, which is completely the opposite of the fire ant pieces. The fire ant hills require much more effort to remove the dirt and debris from the densely clustered tunnel maze.” Working with nature is not without its risks. Between the handling of the molten aluminum, which liquefies at 1200 degrees, and the angry ants that they come in contact with, the Gleasons must wear protective clothing and be prepared for any circumstance. “It is Cindy’s job to make sure neither I nor the grass catch on fire!” says David. Nature is a wonderful source of inspiration for artists, and for the Gleasons it produces work that is every bit as beautiful as something found in an art gallery.
G7artworks.com, 214-908-2869
Photographs courtesy of G7artworks
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196