When I make my funky yard art it will seem as if I am playing, wasting time, or pursuing an odd obsession.

All of this may be true, but beyond that this is my work.

Nice ambiguity in the English grammar here, of course. Both meanings are good. My new screening panel is not a work of art or even a creation that I am especially proud of. It will soon be a fine privacy screen built from (mostly free) stuff, and I will enjoy the eccentric nature of this “fence” panel, and the visual balance I am creating here.

But my real intention with the above statement is to say that doing this is not mere play, or a way to waste time. I am doing the work I need to do in order to make art. This outdoor shaping, building and assembling serves to energize me, enhance my creativity, and train me to see and make on a larger scale and in three dimensions.

My seemingly casual assemblies of found objects and scrap often do serve useful purposes; they keep out deer, screen & anchor  my trash cans, etc. But the work is as much about building my aesthetic, stimulating my creativity, and keeping me happily engrossed in making art!