A Little Context
We've lived in and around the area where we are now in Oregon for nearly 27 years. Before that, my wife and I resided in Orange County, California, where we were married and had our two boys.
The first place we lived in when we moved up from California was a triplex just a street up from a manmade lake. It's basically a park, sandwiched in between one of the main thoroughfares and another road that takes you to old downtown. It has a pier, where people like to fish off of (the lake gets stocked once a year) and launch paddle boats during the summer.
It has become the home to ducks and geese who like to cross the slower street, come down the walk and then go swimming (why they don't fly in, I'm not sure, and where they come from or return to when they're done, I have no idea, either).
It is also home to an even more unique visitor, a large spray foam duck.
More on that in a second.
Spray Foam Business
For as long as we've been here, up until fairly recent, there has been a spray foam business that primarily specialized in spray foam insulation, but they also have done larger than life foam statues, for lack of a better term.
I know of three in the area, one of them being the duck.
I think it's an amazing art form that I imagine not a whole lot of people are aware of, or are equipped to do. Yet, it can be extremely durable, sit outside and take what Mother Nature dishes out, and look like new with a few paint touchups.
Possums
The possum holding the spray paint hose, along with the young ones swinging on the tree behind it, are all part of their handiwork.
What's interesting about these 'statues' is that they look pretty solid until you touch them—then they feel like foam. I think the possum poses are the most amazing, considering that the large one needs to hold something while the others are hanging from the branches. All of that had to be considered in the process of creating the molds beforehand.
Eagle And Fish
This image is taken on the lot of where the spray foam business had its primary shop. A couple of years ago, they closed down the shop and have been trying to sell the property. Basically, everything has been removed from the two buildings, but this eagle and its prey (my guess it's a salmon or a rainbow trout) remain.
It's not as easy to tell from the image, but the eagle has sustained substantial weathering, from both the rain and the sun. And those are steel drums that it's perched upon. From what I can tell, the main shop was also built from a bunch of drums that were then spray foamed.
Four Food Groups?
Up against the office building of the former spray foam place can be found some more spray foam art. This reminds me of a Frenchmen's picnic lunch, if he likes fish, that is. There's what looks like a bottle of red wine, some swiss cheese (or possibly Brie), and a loaf of French bread.
Bon Appetit.
With the overgrowth surrounding the spray foam food, it's kind of like nature added some lettuce or other form of greens to the mix.
Waverly Duck
The name of the aforementioned park is Waverly, and so I know its largest fowl visitor as the Waverly Duck. It only shows up during the nicest times of the year, and when the paddle boats get going, patrons generally go chase the duck around.
As I was taking the image above, the duck would move, mostly curving to face me and then back, as the water of the lake moved it around. There is no motor—it just floats out there following the currents and the wind.
End Of An Era?
I tried calling the number of the spray foam business, but it's disconnected. They could have moved elsewhere, or gone out of business completely. The website is still up, where it talks about insulating firewalls and cabs on trucks for noise, heat or cold reduction, but the last entry is from April, 2018, and the Facebook page has been deleted.
I guess that means there won't be more of the spray foam critters around. That's too bad. I've enjoyed seeing them over the years as I pass by their different locations. The possums and the duck will probably hang around. The eagle, though, might have to move, if the property ever gets sold.
Images courtesy of Glen Anthony Albrethsen
It is sad to see niche and unique business close down, but I guess it is better than having the "Brand" they created trashed by new owners. Loved the Spray Foam Art, I had never seen that before.
Hey, @bashadow.
I hoped there would be some who hadn't seen spray foam used like this before. Not sure how unique it actually is.
The buildings sit off a road that runs parallel to the freeway, right at an onramp, so it's an odd location. Not sure what might want to go there other than something else that's light industrial. As it is, vandals and taggers have pretty much trashed what's left of the existing structures. I doubt they're worth that much, and the barrel building may have been put together with the idea of being torn down anyway. I know I've never seen anything like it before.
I have seen sculptures made out of a lot of things,but not spray foam. It seems that spray foam would be great for really large projects.
I am still looking at my dictionary to know the meaning of possum
Hey, @adechina.
Well, the name is actually spelled Opossum, and they are animals that can look like huge rats. Their coloring can be different, gray or black and white. We have quite a few of them, along with nutria, which is a similar animal, running around here, but usually you don't see them unless they get ran over (which happens), or your out and about at night. They are kind of similar to raccoons, too, just not as friendly looking.