Experimental art project inspired by LA River

ELYSIAN VALLEY, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles River is serving as the inspiration for a project by an experimental French artist who is walking all 51 miles of its length to produce a series of ceramic pottery pieces.

Artist Frederick Gautier is now about halfway through his project and has two months to make 100 pieces of ceramic pottery. The pieces are inspired by the silicone impressions he's making along his river journey for a project he calls "Eat the River."

The artist is looking for LA's hidden footprints.

When he finds something he likes, he marks it off with a square and takes a photo. Then when his ceramic piece is completed, he will bring it back to the spot that inspired it and take another picture.

Gautier, who has had previous careers that include art director for motion pictures, looks at the river like a movie set.

The silicone forms are brought back to his studio adjacent to the river, which is already filling with Gautier's pottery, from teapots to flowerpots, all of them waiting to be fired in a glaze with colors he finds in the river.

Gautier's deadline is Sept. 21, when the work will be presented by a downtown gallery called Please Do Not Enter.