All American

"All American" is a piece created to remind ALL AMERICANS that we are privileged to be given the liberty of freedom, no matter our race, gender, sexuality and ability, because of the men and women soldiers who've served in past wars and current wars for US.


Bach with his Memorial Holiday piece called 'All American'
(Also in the background is mosaic art by Dr. Joel Cooper, "Africa - 1968")

 

"All American" in honor of Memorial Day

Keep Back 10 Feet Guardian Angel

 

this angel sculpture was found in san diego, believe it our not, at sax 5th avenue outlet ... she was found simple without the bouquet and sign.

 

she is now holding a bouquet of flowers made from an alert light that was used at the los alamos national laboratory (in new mexico), also note the colorful wiring at the end of the bouquet.

 

the danger sign was part of an exhibition at the oakland proarts (the proarts artist invited visitors to take what they wanted off the exhibit...this is what bach took.)  the danger sign completed this piece, a work in progress that lasted about 6 years!  she is done now, with her sandy complexion needing regular maintenance.

 

the bouquet also lights up at night, of course ... bach's signature.

 

bach likes to think that his garden art is a target for thieves, so he created this piece.

 

i like the piece because it reminds me how vulnerable we become when we leave our homes.  we leave home in a car, bike, or walking, not thinking of the possible dangers that may come upon us ... i like to believe that god assigns his guardian angels to watch over and protect us from all those dangers, and that an angel is protecting our home while away.

 

bless us all that our daily journey is protected from danger, and that we have a home to safely come home to.

 

 

 

 

 

keep back 10 feet ... guardian angel on duty, protecting our home

keep back 10 feet ... guardian angel on duty 24/7

 

 

Happy Mother's Day!

happy mother's day to all mothers around the world!  mothers, you are all special every day of the year, not just today.  because you are a mother, the world is a better place.

this is bach's rendition of mother mary holding baby jesus, so holy, that she is constantly on the phone with god.

Mother Mary on the phone with God, while holding Baby Jesus.

On the Phone with God

'on the phone with god' is bach's creation expressing his gratitude after reading 'a psalm of life', poem written by henry wadsworth longfellow.

grateful that he can express his artistic work through reclaimed, recycled, repurposed and upcycled material, and his yearning to be useful and creative, bach has accepted the designation "artist".

knowing that phone booths are no longer useful, and sitting around in junk and recycling yards, or just being useless where they were once useful, bach's creative juices to build 'on the phone with god' came alive.  using his signature garden plant theme, and his liking of the new pope, the final blessings of the saint francis statue sealed the piece, and thus earned the title 'on the phone with god'.

 

A Psalm of Life

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solenm main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait. 

st francis on the phone with god in the middle of the day

st francis on the phone with god late at night

st francis on the phone with god early in the morning

AT&T

while on an early morning routine dog walk on the shoreline park in alameda, near the alameda ferry, bach spotted this beautiful drift wood, that turned out to be an old utility pole.  can you see the rusted pegs that were once used for workers to step on so they can climb the pole?  i imagined that this utility pole floated across the bay, from san francisco, having traveled at least a couple miles to make it to alameda eventually.  

now it lays in our nottingham drive backyard, reclaimed to be garden art.  there's so much texture in this piece, with its colorful dead and live organisms. 

reclaimed material is simply wonderful, a form of reincarnation.  this utility pole supported the electrical and telephone cable lines that provided electricity and telephone connection to a community, for a long period of time.  its now serving as another life being art. i think of the utilities we take for granted, and how civilization accepts the better and denies the worst, but forgets to truly appreciate the sources and resources that are provided.

Utility pole drifted and then found on the Alameda shores off the San Francisco Bay