SMITHER PARK MEMORY WALL - SECTION 5

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"Hummingbirds"

c. 2013-2015

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Designed & Constructed by: John Gregory

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ABOUT THE DESIGN

The hummingbirds are my first experience with tile mosaic and sculpture.   I took advice and encouragement from Dan Phillips to focus on a three-dimensional sculpture.

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My aspiration is to ‘see’ the amazing things we encounter every day, be it a small flower or a hummingbird.   My grandmother Gregory and good friend, Janay, are two people I credit with opening my ideas to this small world.  While I looked at the mountain, they looked at the pebbles.   While I looked at the trees, they looked at the beauty of a leaf.  We encounter amazing details every day, everywhere we look, when we take a moment to find it.   Smither Park holds endless inspiration for me.  The small details and techniques artist put into their work inspires me every time I visit.

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The section of wall where the hummingbirds are, was mostly empty when I started.  I was able to choose a section of the wall that was open to the sky, and arrange the hummingbirds on the top contour for a sense of movement.

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The structure to support the hummingbird wings were brackets that held barbed wire on top a fence.  One of the hummingbird beaks is a fire starter (from my house), and the other is a ring-sizer.  The feathers are reflective glass.  The stems of the flowers are aluminum baseball bats, and the flower blooms are painted aluminum Coca-Cola bottles. 

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I wanted a simple background of blue sky and clouds to make the birds and flowers stand-out.  For fun the clouds have silver-linings and some ‘special tiles’ I made with help from a friend.   I am an Art Car enthusiast – and my car is the Peep Jeep – there are a few ‘peeps’ hiding in this project.