Fish Story progress report

Eight days before I leave for Memphis. I have 30 pages in a dedicated notebook, each committed to a different aspect of the work there, from the participant list at Crosstown Arts Tuesday May 7 to a list of what needs to be packed.

I spent most of today tracing the path of the Wolf River. It was in preparation for painting on a 12 yard x 9'  roll of black paper that should arrive tomorrow. I also worked on drawing the metallic shapes of the fish I'll be cutting out and attaching to the paper. It's wondrous to study all the subtle differences between species, to read about their natural history and infer the intelligence in the dead eyes of the trophies held up by fishermen.

Detail of mock up sketch for installation at the Memphis College of Art opening May 10, 2013

I'm stepping up my training for the canoe trek, having strengthened my foot that went out a few weeks ago. I can take more weights with my reps and seem to have more stamina. But I'm considering buying a cheap waterproof camera for the trip in case I capsize.

My singing was coming along until about a week ago, when I did a recording of the song I'll sing at Crosstown.  I've slacked off a bit since then and need to step up my practice time.

The webcast is coming together with the right participants for May 11 and my thinking is beginning to self-organize. I'm thinking about it now as less of a summit than a conversation with whomever is there about observations. I imagine much will change, however between now and then.

Last weekend, I designed some T-shirts for one of the Rockethub gifts, a limited edition of $75. each in either black or white and sold the first one to the artist Deborah Kotaka. I'm finding it difficult to keep priming the pump to raise money while creating the work but this was fun to do.

http://www.rockethub.com/projects/20146-fish-story#description-tab

My assistant, Daisy Morton has been following up our contacts in Memphis, to be sure I let everyone know what we're up to and we all have a chance to connect and share our thinking about the region. I'm looking forward to the entire experience.