In mid-March 2009, I gave a talk at the National Science Foundation to accompany a newly installed exhibit of my art in the 3rd floor gallery. It was hard to find a theme for the talk, and I struggled - right up to the last day. I had a lot of images - geology, art, travel, and lots of things to say. Finally it all came together with the geology of Kentucky framing the introduction and the final comments.
Who knows what influences a person. Davis McCombs's Ultima Thule is a collection of poetry examining the caves beneath south central Kentucky - but to the west of Lincoln County. Wendell Berry's poems of walking the land certainly speak to the processes which modify the surface of the Earth - those that we all recognize who's roamed the fields. The Springs and The Dance are two particular poems which are process based. So, I started my talk with where I came from - the rocks and landscape where I grew up.
Although I only learned a few years ago that a major fault ran through our farm, it influenced my life - where I played, when I could go to school in winter, the walk up the hill after school....
