This 16″ Termesphere overlaps the six senses over the six vanishing points. Trees take the shape of faces who’s ears, eyes, mouths etc. overlap the vanishing points. It makes the point that the environments are only possible to understand if our senses are doing their job.

I thought it would make an interesting subject.  The building the coffee shop is in is one of the oldest buildings in  Spearfish SD.  I started this sphere by taking pictures of people at the tables without them knowing I was doing it.   I didn’t want people posing for me. I played with this technique years ago when I was going to Otis Art Institute in Los Angles.  I would walk around MacArthur Park pointing and shooting without bringing my camera to my eye.   It caught people being themselves. This worked very well at Common Grounds too.  Then I brought the sphere into Common Grounds to do all the drawing and much of the painting.   If I have a chance, I like to create Termespheres in the actual environments.  I found a windowed corner where I could see the whole scene to do my drawing and painting on the sphere.   I also enjoyed talking to people explaining the process.  Most were amazed how long it took to create this piece from beginning to end.   After it was finished, I hung it in Common Grounds.  It is exciting to see the reactions of the natives and visitors to it.  It will probably be there another month.  If you are in Spearfish, stop by and let me know what you think.

This piece was enlarged to eight foot tall for the Little Wound High School in Kyle South Dakota with the help of the High School Art Department students. The original is 17″ tall and about 15″ across.

This double hexagon pyramid was painted in 1999 and is owned by the artist Dick Termes. Crazy Horses’ design is found in the teepee close to the fire. This piece has also been produced as a black and white poster.

“The sphere teaches us things the flat surface doesn’t.” I learned that all the trees around me reflect straight to a point on the bottom of the ball. I also learned that all the motion in the water that one sees comes from concentric circles echoing out from the point on the bottom of the ball. It also is a beautiful scene.

The ghost image of Mr. Adams is shown looking in the window and Mary Adams is standing in the dining room. It is as though you are standing in the living room and turning in a circle seeing everything around you as well as above and below you.