"It is...What it Is..." was not only technically difficult to create, but also creatively challenging as well. Standing at almost 8 ft tall, this kinetic wind sculpture was conceived with its installation in a natural wooded environment in mind. This piece took a couple of months to complete and was finished in the Fall of 2013. Unlike most of Ballew's animal series pieces, "It is...What it Is..." is merely that. The artist states, "I have always been drawn to spherical objects and circles as they have no beginning and no end. Orbs have a quiet strength to them, and to me as they represent unity, perpetual motion, balance, and personify the unyielding laws of nature."
Constructed out of nearly 800 8" diameter rings which were purchased at a local scrap yard in Marion NC, the most challenging part was figuring out how to create a perfect Orb shape...then to balance it in order to spin. Betty's father, Robert Ballew was instrumental in helping her figure out the geometry. Once the overall shape was created and attached to a mechanism to help propel it, she then added the other elements. Similarly to her other sculptures, she used items from her past such as her Mothers cast away burner bibs, an old dart board from college, a wok lid, old stainless pots, outdoor solar lights and her grandmothers serving tray... to name a few.
