Ring Around the Red Dog

Just under the cold weather wire, Ring Around the Red Dog is installed!

This September, Rachel Sager invited me to be the second contributor to the Red Dog Wall at The Ruins Project in Whitsett PA. Here’s the gauntlet she threw down:

What a treat to work with this gorgeous native stone. First I chopped it up to see what quantity of tesserae I’d have to work with, then decided on a spiral design because a) I could simply coil a line of andamento until the last tessera was used up, and b) a spiral seemed the perfect metaphor for The Ruins.

The spiral seemed apt because of its endlessly continuous nature: the beginning point is clearly visible but the endpoint is in no hurry to arrive. Always out of sight beyond the next curve...

The tesserae of the spiral represent the individual mosaic installations at the Ruins - and their stories - that spool out from a central starting point (Rachel’s guiding vision).

The tiny - barely discernible except at close range - "tattoos" are the multitude of storytellers, story subjects, makers, collaborators, meal-bringers, workers, tourists, admirers, researchers and students engaged and inspired by The Ruins whose skills and energies expand Rachel’s to make its grand scope possible.

Ring Around the Red Dog, roughly 8” dia.

Dotted India ink “tattoos” of energy in the spaces between the lines.

I’m honored to have been invited contribute a red dog homage to The Ruins. Long may they stand to inspire and educate.

To learn more about the history and vision of The Ruins, click here: https://ruins.sagermosaics.com/