Applied Kinetic Arts

One last thing on the arms – since I need the arms to be heavier, I drilled these holes and poured in molten lead. I’ve done this a few times before and it works well. I covered the lead with a mixture of wood glue and sawdust. When dry, I file and sand it down. After painting, this “adjustment” will be undetectable.

After carving all the body parts I sculpted the head from polymer clay. Since his head will nod slightly, I have to work that out before I can finish the figure.

I drilled a hole in the neck which will be the pivot point. His neck this time is solid wood- I do this because the polymer clay, even though I have a supporting stick inside, isn’t that strong. His head is at a slight turn towards the audience.

His head and the finished pin in the neck.

The line to move his head goes around a rod – usually I use screw eyes, but a rod seem better here. As the line is pulled his head goes up. The line runs inside a small brass tube that runs up through his body. I had to drill out section in his chest so the lever that connects to his neck has room to move.

Th figure is finished, and this shows the final position of the upper arms. Since he’s not sitting straight on to the piano I adjusted where his upper arms were positioned. Only his lower arms will move.

Final position of the piano and figure. At this point everything has to be “nailed down” because now it’s on to making the mechanisms and from this point forward nothing can move, or change. To get their positions correct, I placed them on a piece of paper and traced around the legs of the piano and the figure’s feet. Then I determined how big the base would be and it’s orientation.

Now it’s on to making the mechanisms and the base…………..

I started a new unnamed piece the other day – a man playing a piano. His arms will move and I’m pretty sure his head will but have not worked out how or which way.

In order to start making the figure, I first had to establish the overall dimensions by drawing it out full-size. This told me the height of the keys, so I had to start there. There have been a couple of starts and stops on this one. First I was going to use a couple of old boxes from which to build the piano, but then decided I needed something more refined and found this jewelry cabinet that seemed better. Also I wanted to hand-carve the keyboard, so I laid everything out and carved it. When it was done and painted, I realized it was too formal and opted for a more funky stylized keyboard that was actually a little easier to make.

Here are some in-progress images —–

Beginning the carved keyboard, (I still have it and it may work itself into another piece).

Carved keyboard finished. You can see I made it wavy, but it was not funky enough for this piece.

A more better keyboard – I glued a bunch of tiny pieces of wood together.

The keyboard installed in the piano – I was working out the position of the arms and how the figure addresses the piano.

My drawing of the hands.

The hands ready to be cut on the band saw.

After cutting they look strange.

Carving finished – it took all afternoon but I think they came out great, and I didn’t break off any fingers or drop them. I had to add some bits with glue, (the black blobs).

I saturated them with thin CA glue which makes them much stronger – now I can quit worrying about breaking them.

The hands attached to the arms, notice the 2 different colors of basswood.

The figure’s body. I will have to make or find something I can use for a chair.

More later!!! Now I got to get back to work.

I had this idea of mounting an electric motor on the back of a figure for a while now- and I’m pretty happy with the results. The motor dictated the size of the figure which is larger than my “standard” size figure. The piece measures 9 1/2″ x 19″ x 9 1/2″ and the propeller is powered by a 2o RPM motor. Click on images for a larger view.

Front view.

His power pack, complete with hand-carved propeller. I had to engineer the “backpack” in a way so the motor could be easily replaced (someday) if needed. Two screws hold everything together and the small round tin holds the wires which are connected with small wire nuts.

I did some preliminary carving on the legs and shoes, then cut them in half lengthwise in order to place the reinforcing rods and wires inside. You can see the legs are made with a half lap joint.

The wire runs alongside the 3/16″ rod. I used CA glue to hold the rod and wire and wood glue on the wood surfaces.

The legs reassembled, ready for more carving.

The body and “backpack” in progress – you can see how the motor is placed here.

Carved hands ready to be attached to the arms and then painted.

The hands holding the controls.

The head before paint.
I really tried to push the caricature aspect of his face and when Paula said, “he looks French”, I knew I accomplished what I was hoping for.

His head after painting and aging.

The figure, ready to be dressed.

This back view shows how his arms were glued into place before his shirt is sewn up. I had 4 mounting holes for the “backpack”. Here you can see the wires that come up his legs, go through his torso and come out his back.

Each layer of fabric was cut away to reveal the mounting holes for the “backpack”.

My table while working on the backpack part of “Undaunted” – you can see my drawing of the piece underneath.

The motor cover – in progress.

The motor cover before antiquing. I took a while to drill all the tiny holes and fish the ends of the screen through but I couldn’t see any other way to do it.

The “backpack” ready to be place on the figure’s back and finished. Four “hoses” were added in final assembly.

The “backpack” all assembled.

Detail shot of the shoes. In the past I’ve always painted on the laces- these are a little more work but I think it’s worth it.

View of deck and shoes. Soon I will post a step by step of how I made and finished the deck.

Video of “Undaunted”….

More pics from my latest commission. I’m ready to put it all together except an integral part is on back order – the sound/applause component won’t be in the studio until the end of August. I set this aside and started working on more pieces for my Obsolete show. Pics of that to follow soon……

The stage is finished and painted.

The curtain, made from thin plywood – painted and aged.

The curtain inserted into lid. It’s not attached to the hinges yet, of course.

Two tiny arms, ready for assembly.

One of the smallest set of fully-carved hands I’ve ever done.

The performers body, pre-assembly. The dress is put on and the arms and head are glued in position. Finally the back of the dress is hand-sewn closed.

The figure ready to be placed on stage. Bravo!

Her head up close.

I will post final pics when I get it all together, and also a video of how it works.

My latest commission is a music box of sorts. When you lift the lid, a figure on a stage pops up and the sound of applause is heard. Here is my rough sketch of the piece……

When I first talked with the woman who requested this piece I was not sure what her budget or size constraints were. Initially I envisioned a grandiose, elaborate, and much larger piece. I imagined a moving figure, operated by strings or rods connected to a motor, popping up, illuminated by stage lights. After some consultation we scaled it back to what you see here, (she wanted it to fit on a bookshelf).
This piece is more like what she had in mind.

Here are my in progress shots, in order—-

I took apart this old crate and used the wood for my box….

My box with lid……

The hinge that enables the stage to swing upwards….

After drawing out how this piece was going to operate, I had exposed linkages on either side of the stage that I thought were very distracting (ugly). I had an idea to make them decorative, to make them look like they belong there. They work to pull the stage up when you lift the lid.

The stage showing the 2 post that act as connector rods.

The stage connected to the lid with the linkages…

Cutting the linkages…

Linkages cut out and ready for finishing…

Finished linkages. My idea was to make them look sort of like ropes.

The figure’s legs and shoes. The figure needs to be well-built because when the lid is closed she rest at a 22 degrees angle.

That is where I’m at today. I will post more pics later.

Many of my pieces, especially my Figures, deal with the idea of the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity. This piece is no exception. I love his optimism- he has a sense that “nothing is going to slow me down”. This piece is SOLD.

His wrench rests on his shoulder. I took a while to figure out the angles to make this happen.

His back, showing the hand stitching.

His carved wooden hands. I carved the hands separately and added them to the arms using glue and a bit of brass rod.

His body pre-paint and pre-assembly. The wheel is an antique pulley, I added a “tire” made from an old electrical cord. His head, sculpted from polymer clay, was painted when I painted the previous figure’s head.

The box I used for the base was found at a flea market in Maryland, or was it Delaware?

I will post another new figure soon…….

This is my first attempt at creating a head that is more of a caricature. I think want to take my work in this new direction. I love the way he turned out. This piece is titled “When Things Just Mesh” and is $395.

Last Saturday I ventured west of Atlanta in search of more old boxes for my Story Boxes. I found 6 great boxes and many other good things…

I’m always on the search for found objects to use in my pieces. Last week while in Philadelphia, I visited Sander’s Supply which carries mostly restaurant equipment but is a great place to find old junk. I’d been there a few times before but this time ventured to the 6th floor where they had a fire back in April ’09. Since the building is made mostly of reinforced concrete, it was pretty intact, but everything else, the floors, walls and ceilings were burned up. I found some pretty cool pieces in the charred rubble. The kind of pieces that are perfect for me- nondescript with a lovely patina. I could, should have, collected more.

Final cut of “Epiphany” Music by Tobin Sprout, thanks Tobin!

I was at my favorite antique store in Lawrenceburg, Indiana a few weeks ago and found this great book on mechanical movements, gears, etc, etc. Of course I had to get it. I have a growing collection of these kinds of books. I figure if I can get just a few ideas out of a $10. book, it’s totally worth it. It also helps when I get stuck on a particularly complicated mechanism.

I’m in the process of putting the final touches on my most recent commission, “Epiphany”. It used to be called “In the Psychiatrist’s Office” until last night when someone suggested Epiphany, which is a perfect title for the piece.
Here are some pictures to get you up to speed……..

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