Bob Cassilly - Sculptor/Visionary/Climber

Tribute to Bob Cassilly

(Illustration Friday visitors - Fuel, Scattered and Contraption all rolled into one. Water as fuel, many scattered ideas into one and certainly one giant contraption - just check out the St. Louis City Museum.)

Bob Cassilly created many works of interactive art. All draw the viewer in to the wonder of both the physical and mental human experience associated with each piece. This unique artist passed away recently in the midst of carrying out another gargantuan task. The co-founder and creative spirit behind the St. Louis City Museum set his sights on an even bigger playground. This can be a place where old meets the really old, Cementland.

An abandoned cement factory and warehouse company appears as ruins similar to the Coliseum, the Pyramids and even Stone Henge. These places represent lost worlds whose contemporary purposes began to fade as more time passed. We, as latter day observers, can only guess and conjure up stories about their significance. Even further away from our relatively recent ruins of up to 5000 years ago, stand the ruins of our Pre-Cambrian predecessors. Mr. Cassilly seemed to want to marry these two old concepts with a young suitor, a child-like adventurer. This adventurer being fueled by the simple human desire to be a kid. A kid who kayaks through silos on water pumped in from the mighty Mississippi River.  A kid who braves eel infested moats, scales castle walls and then gleefully throws rocks at would-be invaders. A kid who sees the world as a place to explore. A place to do things they normally would not do. What more symbolic way to pay tribute to all three missions than to explore this organic, concrete jungle along the same pathways that Lewis and Clark traversed on their famed journey in 1803?

Bob Cassilly will be remembered for his talent as a sculptor and his vision as a mold breaker. Visitors throughout St. Louis and other parts of the country can look to his work as a reminder of a person who knew that growing up was optional, not a requirement. Go climbing at Turtle Park in Forest Park, visit the St. Louis Zoo or check out the hippos at NY’s Central Park.  His presence is all around us. I just hope that with his passing, we gain more artists who are brave enough to carve out a new world without waiting around to ask for permission.

Boundaries Broken

Out of smoke and despair, comes hope. Hope that holds vigil over our boundaries to keep us safe.

9/11 Reflection of a Flight Attendant and Broken Boundaries

by Cindy Paul

I wasn’t certain I wanted to watch any of the memorial tributes to 9/11 today. Reliving the feelings would be too painful. I succumbed finally to the History Channel and am glad I did. You see, I was an American flight attendant (formerly TWA) at this time. A few minutes before 8:00 CST that morning, I prided myself in successfully trading out of a weekend trip for one that left Tuesday evening, 9/11/2001. Just a short time later, the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York. A few minutes later, another crashed into the South Tower. My four children, 1 year old triplets and 4 year old child, were happily watching Barney when I got a call to change the channel.

I could not believe my eyes, what just happened? Wow, so many people dead, so many in shock. Was this really happening or was this yet another movie being filmed in NY. I did not know anyone working in the towers but did have plenty of friends flying the skies at this time and one working in Manhattan at the time. So much was unknown and nothing made sense. This was all happening within the boundaries of our country, right here in the United States. I had just picked up a trip set to leave in a few hours. Of course, I would take it, it never occurred to me not to, even after my husband and family members advised against it. Air traffic control made the decision for me when they grounded all air travel.

Later, I listened to a flight attendant friend recount her very different experience. She was departing just a few gates down from one of the targeted planes. As she searched her memory, she recalls seeing faces of the passengers and crew as they waited to board the plane. She boarded hers and one passenger talking on the phone asked about a crash into the WTC. No one knew anything and they took off on time. As they did, apparently, so did the plane carrying all of the faces she had just seen. Very quickly, they were called into the cockpit and told the news. They had to go back into the cabin and walk row by row looking for anyone suspicious. Obviously, I can only imagine how surreal this all must have seemed. We, as flight attendants, are trained for hijackings and other emergencies. Most hijackings occur when the perpetrator wants to go somewhere specific or have a specific demand met. The terrorists knew this and knew that all flight personnel are trained to cooperate. They used this to their advantage to overtake the planes and carry out the suicidal mission.

For weeks, nothing was routine any more for my job at the airline. New security measures fell upon us all. We, eventually, were given self-defense classes. We tried to console nervous passengers. We comforted one another. We learned to spot Air Marshalls on our planes and learned to stay out of their way. We learned that the world we lived in was now one where anyone can change the lives of another in an instant. Selfish people with selfish agendas, filled with jealousy, hatred and fear can now dictate the way you live and enjoy your life.

How dare this extremist group of terrorists invade our country? Who were they to impose their will upon countless numbers of humans who didn’t share their view? I believe God appeals to us all in whatever language or religion we seek him out? These people were not acting through God or for God; they were acting for their own selfish reasons. Granted, so much can be traced to how they are indoctrinated at a young age but there comes a point when we all must think for ourselves, sometimes at a very early age. We all become accountable for our own actions.

This was one of them. Ten years later, I realize that my generation will always remember what they were doing this fateful day, just like the previous generation remembered where they were when JFK was murdered. I hope my children’s generation will not carry on the legacy of witnessing anything this horrific again, but I know life does not work this way.

I commend my fellow Americans for their individual sacrifices both in the air and on the ground ten years ago. I also am grateful that I was not in the air that day so that I may reflect on this today with you. So I do watch the tributes, I do relive the painful feelings. I guess it would actually be more painful to forget.

Asleep Illustration Friday

At least one of them is asleep. This is from a story called "Cloud Cruising." This little boy and his dog Lucky finally prove that a cloud is a as soft as a puppy's ear. It only took 30 rolls of sticky tape, a wobbly ladder, some rope and a lot of patience. This pair's hard work paid off in the end as you can see.

Soaked Illustration Friday

Soaked is certainly a good word to describe the weather lately. This was done on a self imposed time limit to see how creative I could be without being overly critical. I prefer to edit and re-work but I wanted to have more of a loose look. Try it some time, I gave myself about 45 minutes for this. Have fun!

Squash is the Star

If you're interested in food and art, you will enjoy my guest post at http://cooking-varieties.blogspot.com/. Wan cooks up a variety of foods that are colorful and tasty. This is also a chance to make the world a bit smaller.  She lives in Malaysia where the food culture may be different from your own. Try out a recipe, you will probably want to try out more.


Thanks for inviting me Wan.


TFR,


Cindy

Safari - Illustration Friday

This week's word "Safari" kept me singing Jungle Boogie so I felt a little jazzy. This is what came out.

Ridley Pearson Visit - SLCL Author talks

Author Ridley Pearson visited the St. Louis County Library Headquarters a few weeks ago. His talk primarily focused on his Kingdom Keeper Series. The audience enjoyed hearing plans for the next two books. This is published by Disney and takes the loyal readers on mystery trips through the Disney theme parks.

Ridley Pearson writes books for readers of all ages. I found it interesting that on that very day, my husband was reading one of his detective crime novels while my son was beginning the Peter and the Starcatcher series. This is a series he co-wrote with Dave Barry. I will tell you that my son, who until now, read mostly Pokemon or Wimpy Kid books, has already tore through books one and two. In fact, for two days he asked me if I was able to get the 3rd book from the library. It is so popular that I ended up buying the last two, so we have the full set. He signed books one and two for us. One of my daughters is almost caught up to my son. The other two have their favorite authors too.

Thanks to the SLCL and to Ridley Pearson for inviting my whole family into the "joy of reading" club.

TFR,

Cindy