Applied Kinetic Arts

This piece is in the show “The Art of Communication – 100 Artist Show” at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery in Salem, OR. The auction starts February 2nd and ends March 2nd. Here is your chance to own a piece of my work at a very special price. Info here.

Another artist and I exchanged quotations. My piece was based on the quote for Kahlil Gibran “When I wrote on my door: “Leave your traditions outside, Before you come in,” Not a soul dared to visit me or open my door.”

At first I wanted to do something other than the obvious – but after weeks of thinking about it, I thought it wouldn’t make sense not to do a man that opens his door.

All the pieces in the show had to be less than 12″ x12″, so I started building the door and the window to fit into that space. I brushed the wood for the door with a wire brush to bring out the texture of the wood. I also designed everything to be a little wacky – slightly skewed, out of plumb. Only the top part of the door opens – I wanted to hide the mechanisms behind the behind the bottom part.

The head, sculpted from polymer clay. I did look at a couple of pictures of Mr. Gibran, but I was not going for an exact likeness.

The wall and the window. I created a stucco texture using drywall mud mixed with paint. I love this look, I might have to do it again.

My paint finish – I love how this came out too.

The finished piece – 12″ x 12″ x 4 1/2″

Detail of the door.

As the door opens, he leans over to check outside.

A closer shot.

The movie…

Behind the scenes……

This is piece is a real step forward in my progression as an artist, and make be a sign of things to come……

Two new static figures, “Bad Ideas” and “Claude”, are finished. These pieces, as well as “King of the Known World” and “Queen of the Silent Night” are currently available through Groundwork. Their shop is located on the 2nd floor of ABC Carpet & Home in New York City.

Bad Ideas started as a simple drawing in my sketchbook, but also came about from my continued fascination with collections. In my studio, I have many small collections of things – it’s a way for me to keep all my found objects organized. But sometimes these collections become the springboard for an idea. In this case, a small jar of burned-out light bulbs becomes…….bad ideas.

I placed her on a small vintage tin.

I wanted to show the back of this one – something I’ve never done before with a static piece.

Her lovely face, sculpted from polymer clay.

Her body, ready to be put together.

“Claude”- the title is sort of a play on words.

I decided to dress him as an innocent young man to contrast with the seemingly menacing steel “arm”.

A detail shot of his claw, which has 2 moveable joints.

His head shot.

Pre-assembly.

The apparatus on the bottom was his original arm until I realized it was WAY too big. This may show up on some future figure……

Until next time……………….

I sort of experimented with shooting this piece. I wanted to see what I could do with lighting, motion and editing. The piece – being a non-kinetic work – doesn’t really seem a good prospect for a movie, but I wanted to see what I could do with it. I may have to try this again with future static figures.

“Harvest” 2011 by Tom Haney from Tom Haney on Vimeo.

My latest piece is about a man trying to pick a heart out of a tree. You could say he is looking for love, or something like, that but I will leave it up to your interpretations, (as I usually do).

I did a simple sketch for this back in the summer, and actually made the head in July, right before I started on the Boxcar Fair figures.

Click on the images for a better view.

The tree is fabricated out of branches I found on the banks of the Ohio River, near Cincinnati. The base is a piece of driftwood also found on the river, down near Evansville. All hearts were found at various antique shops. And I made the “picker” from a dowel and some wire I formed into the shape of a hand. I remember picking apples in my grandfather’s backyard when I was a kid. We used a very similar device, though it was not in the shape of a hand.

More pieces to come……….

See it here. It’s been months in the making and finally it has been completed, (and the credits added to the end).

We shot the 2 1/2 minute video in one continuous take. There were SO many variables during shooting, that even the day before I wasn’t sure it was even possible. The biggest problem was the High-Diver. She kept getting tangled. The solution was to eliminate 4 of her 8 strings. This limited her ability to move but we had no choice. Marionettes don’t do well when you turn them upside down. And she really made this fact obvious. Also, she, and the other 2 string puppets, had 9 feet of string between them and the operator. This makes them pretty difficult to operate because much of it is done by feel. My hat’s off to our puppeteers for sticking in there and getting the job done! Bravo!

Now on to the next project……….

See it here. It’s been months in the making and finally it has been completed, (and the credits added to the end).

We shot the 2 1/2 minute video in one continuous take. There were SO many variables during shooting, that even the day before I wasn’t sure it was even possible. The biggest problem was the High-Diver. She kept getting tangled. The solution was to eliminate 4 of her 8 strings. This limited her ability to move but we had no choice. Marionettes don’t do well when you turn them upside down. And she really made this fact obvious. Also, she, and the other 2 string puppets, had 9 feet of string between them and the operator. This makes them pretty difficult to operate because much of it is done by feel. My hat’s off to our puppeteers for sticking in there and getting the job done! Bravo!

Now on to the next project……….

Here are many great images of our video shoot last Friday, Nov. 5th, photos by Rich Addicks.

Everything came together nicely – we built the set in about a week and had 3 live performances with Little Tybee on Saturday night.

The day of the shoot we had many run-throughs and shot the video – which was one continuous 2 1/2 minute shot with no edits – about 30 times. We got our perfect shot and I will post it here soon, it’s pretty amazing and the song is great too.

My hat is off to our wonderful puppeteers – Raymond Carr, Lee Bryan, Amy Rush and Mauree Culberson. Arthur Thompson also help puppeteer and was an invaluable help with building the set and making props. Paula Joerling, my wife, helped build props and was in charge of our dry ice effects. Eric Cortina supplied the decorative lights in the Fortune Teller’s tent. Kerry Sisselman built all of the palm trees and Paula tweaked them. Mary Avery collected bags of leaves that Arthur crushed up and sifted – we used them for texture on the set.

Also thanks to Andrew Kornylak for his lighting and shooting skills and making it all look so beautiful. Andrew was assisted by Brett May, who also work as our dolly grip.

Thanks for all of your help!!!

An overall shot showing the 40′ x 6′ set, the bridge up above for the puppeteers, and the track and camera dolly.

The Explorer marionette at the beginning of the shot. The backdrop was digitally painted by Ram Bhat.

The Boxcar Fair sign with small tent in background. We sprinkled the set with ground-up leaves to add texture, and added rocks collected from right outside the studio.

The small tent. I built 2 small (3″) trapeze artist figures inside that form a heart shape as the Explorer walks by. The figures were operated by strings from below, and back-lit with a small red light.

The High-diver Girl – the next character the Explorer encounters.

Me tweaking the High-diver marionette. You can see the 2 small spotlights I added to illuminate the diver.

The Anglerfish – I finished his eyes, which move, and added the light.

The sign outside the Fortune Teller’s tent.

The Fortune Teller’s tent – the front of it rolled up as the camera panned across it.

We used a mirror for the crystal ball. The heads turned – an improvement suggested by one of our puppeteers – and their arms were operated by rods from below. I took 3 people to operate these 2 figures.

We threw in a little pyrotechnics.

A shot of the mouse in the tent.

Detail shots of the Explorer…..

….and Fortune Teller.

The “mouse run”, which is directly below the Fortune Teller’s tent. This was made from plywood and foam, covered with paper mache and painted. Each cubbyhole was lit with a tiny light and propped out with my collection of stuff – keys, light bulbs, coins, bones, etc etc.

A wider shot of the scene.

The ornate Elephant.

The ending shot of the Explorer and the Elephant, and the moon.

Stay tuned for the video……….

For one night only we will have a live performance of Boxcar Fair, November 5th, Atlanta GA.
More details here .

The last of the major marionettes for our video project.

Since the Anglerfish turned out to be so labor intensive, (nothing I do is ever easy), I decided to use a different method when building the elephant. I knew I wanted it lightweight, and after experimenting with some tape and paint finishes on styrofoam, I knew foam was the way to go. I chose aluminum tape, the kind they seal ducts with, and applied it in strips, papier mâché style.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Sculpting the foam – I used two kinds because that’s what I had on hand, and the pink stuff worked better for the legs and trunk.

The head and articulated trunk pieces.

The legs covered with the aluminum tape – so shiny!

Close up of the tape pieces.

The head and trunk; after aging with raw umber paint mixed with gel medium.

The pieces aged; drying. You can see my test piece in the upper right hand corner.

The underneath, showing the axles for the legs.

All put together. I added the ears and eyes last. And next I will add all the strings.
The elephant turned out to be more of a baby elephant, which was much better for the scale we’re working in, and a smaller elephant was the perfect size when paired with our Wanderer.

The “backpack” or howdah, though technically a howdah is for people and not necessarily luggage, which will be the case here.

The jhool, or textile covering adds cushioning to the howdah. And looks great.

It was suggested by Brock, my collaborator, to add some things dangling on each side and I thought, “why not just pack the elephant full of things, as if going on a journey?” I really like the idea that this may be the beginning of a journey for our characters.

As you can see, our elephant is outfitted with many accoutrements – all packed up for the journey.

More details. I really like this shot.

A front view showing the sehri, or forehead covering. I decided to have the trunk strung up underneath and not controlled by the puppeteer – though it does sway from side to side.

More details, which I think add a lot to the feeling of the piece.

Close up of the luggage etc.

Now onto the small mouse, and all the other props – especially those in the Fortune Teller’s tent. And the tents. And the signs. And, and, and……….

This is one of those projects that sounds simple when you first approach it and turns out to be way more work than you thought. Sure most projects, or pieces, are like that but this one kicked my butt.

I dove right into making the fish, based on my full-scale drawings. I cut and bent a section of hardware cloth and tried to create the fish’s shape on the fly. After a few hours of frustration, I decided I would never get the shape I was after.
I thought it would help to sculpt a small model out of foam and create a pattern from it’s form. This made more sense. After creating a shape I was happy with, I made a small paper pattern, doubled it, and then blew it up on an opaque projector. I spray-mounted the full-sized pattern to the hardware cloth and proceeded to cut it out.
Cutting out the hardware cloth and stitching it back together proved to be very challenging – and painful. The sharp ends seemed to be constantly scratching and cutting my hands as I wrestled it into shape. Once that was done, I figured it would be simple to hot-glue on all the little bits of plastic paraphernalia. I underestimated the amount of stuff I needed to cover the surface and was constantly searching for more stuff to glue on. I thought it would take one day to glue all the pieces on and it ended up taking 2 and a half. I was so looking forward to painting it all one color and aging it down. Maybe I was impatient with the gluing, but it seemed to be an endless job.

Here are my in-progress pics, click them for a larger view……..

The form of the anglerfish starts to take shape. I added a couple of pieces of wood to help hold the shape.

The top and bottom part of the mouth. You can also see the pink foam model I used to create the pattern.

The small paper pattern I got off the model.

Starting to cover the fish with plastic pieces, which I used to add texture.

Almost done. There’s a hinge for the mouth, and the eyes will move, and the fin will flap.

All covered. I couldn’t wait to cover all of this mess with one color. I figured out I used at least 500 buttons and I have no idea how many other pieces.

A close up of some of the pieces.

A small test piece I made so I could play with the color and aging.

The top piece painted. Here I’m adding the teeth which are made from a plastic milk bottle.

The bottom, with the teeth added.

The tongue, covered in a generic variety of Cheerios.

Front view of the anglerfish.

This is probably the view we’ll see the anglerfish in the video.

Another view. I still have to finish the eyes and add a light out front – it is an anglerfish after all.

A close up of the pieces after painting and aging.

Now on to the tents and props for the Fortune Teller’s scene…….

More info about our video puppet production here — Check it out, and pass it on.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1941888570/boxcar-fair-a-puppet-production

Images of the anglerfish coming real soon…………..

I actually built this piece earlier this year – it’s taken me a while to post it here. It was featured this Spring at the Boston Cyberarts Festival in Boston, Mass.

After completing “Return to Dreamland”, I wanted to explore further the idea of a kinetic figure interacting with sand. I wanted to make a figure combing through the sand, so I decided to have her sitting on a rotating platform.

This piece is available at Obsolete in Venice, CA.

I didn’t take as many in-progress pictures this time, but here are the ones I have…….

Her rake-like hand.

Her arm carved and ready for paint.

Her body in-progress. I think this is the first time I’ve done a figure in this position. I’ve done a few figure sitting before, but not sitting on the ground like this.

Her head.

Her body right before I assemble and dress her.

The background for the piece is actually a couple of ‘paint-by-numbers’ landscape paintings that I tore up and decoupaged back together. I then painted over the whole thing with washes of color.

The final shot, taken by Gregory Campbell.

Dreamtime the Movie……

A close-up of her hand moving through the sand.

The next figure is the High-Diver.

There are actually 2 marionettes needed for this, one a diver and one a swimmer. I wanted to create the diver to do just that, dive and nothing else, very rigid and exacting. The swimming version is much more fluid and loosely jointed, she’ll be “underwater”. The high-diver will dive into a small pool and as the camera follows her down, we end up in a magical underwater world. We will switch to the swimmer puppet down below.

The Diver’s body cut out. She raises her arms over her head and pivots at her waist as she starts her dive. The controller for her is going to be a little unusual as she goes from a standing position to a full dive.

Her body again, showing her legs and feet. I’ll put opposing magnets in her feet, and at the end of her legs, so she points her toes automatically when she dives off the platform.

This is the swimming version. I made ball and socket joints at her shoulders to make it easy to move her arms in all directions.

Hands in-progress.

The two versions. You can see the magnets in the feet here.

The original head (diver) on the right and the copy, which cracked in the oven, on the left. It took a while to patch her back together, but she is fine now.

Parts ready to be painted.

Four hands.

Ready to be assembled. With 2 marionettes I could be specific when making the bodies. The diver version only pivots at the shoulders, waist and ankles and the swimmer pivots at all her joints except the ankles and wrists.

Dressed and ready for strings. You can see the diver’s feet automatically point when she is not standing.

The two heads – the one on the left is the diver and the other is the swimming version, who is looking towards the angler fish (next puppet to be made).

On to making the controllers and stringing them up.

The angler fish is next on the list.

The next character created for our story is the Fortune Teller.

Halfway through the video, the Wanderer walks into the Fortune Teller’s tent and appears to have taken a seat next to him. Actually we will see the seated version of the Wanderer inside the tent. It’s a bit of visual trickery.

His body in-progress. I used another wood, instead of basswood, for his torso, upper arms and thighs. Not sure what kind of wood it is – it carves as easy as basswood but has a coarser grain.

In the middle of carving the hands – challenging, but very rewarding work.

Finished carving….. and filing… and sanding. These probably took about 4 hours to make.

His head after sculpting and baking. I’m pretty happy the way he turned out.

When sculpting heads, I don’t have a lot of confidence in my abilities, and consider most heads I’ve done “happy accidents”. Though pleased with the results, I’m always pleasantly surprised by the personalities that emerge.

His body, ready for painting.

Ready to be dressed. I create, and age, the clothes before I paint the figure, so at this point he is ready to be assembled.

Detail of his hands. I used a darker skin color to suggest a Middle Eastern/Moroccan heritage.

His super-fancy shoes.

His finished head. He’ll be wearing a hat/headpiece by the way, so pay no attention to his hairline.

His distinctive profile came out a bit like Baron von Munchausen. I rarely use visual references, so his appearance came from deep inside my brain. (I will say it’s one of my favorite movies.)

The many, many hats I considered for him. This is a sign that I do indeed have enough found objects to pull from. Each hat or headdress certainly lends a different feel to his character.

My choice for his hat – it goes so well with his outfit and has the perfect feel to it. It’s actually a small round wooden picture frame with a small metal cup on top.

He’ll sit before a crystal ball of sorts, and his arms will be manipulated by rods from underneath the set.

Another view.

Our two characters as they will be sitting. I’ll be building a table for this scene, and the crystal ball and stand are yet to be designed and created. The one in the pic is just a stand-in.

Next the High-Diver…………..

I finished “The Wanderer” and thought I would post some in-progress pics.

This is the first of 6 figures I will be making for this project. I’m pretty happy the way it turned out and I love to see the how the marionette moves with all those strings…..

His hands – one’s carved and one’s just started.

I’m actually making 2 copies of our hero – one is a full marionette and the other is a seated figure whose arms will move via rods from underneath. I “cast” the front of the head, (using more polymer clay), so they would be identical.

All the arms, legs, boots, and heads – painted and aged – ready to be assembled.

Dressing the seated figure.
Sometimes it seems like assembling a puzzle; they have to be put together in a specific order. I’ve learned this order after making a few frustrating mistakes in the past. Luckily, on these two figures, the vests can be slipped on from the back, which is not always the case.

The marionettes’ body ready to be dressed. His socks are felt.

His boots are ready to go on after his pants are on.

Adding the strings to the the marionette – 12 in all.

His head showing the 3 strings that control the movement.

Stringing up the marionette. He seems a little dejected without his head.

All finished! except for maybe a little tweaking for functionality. He is approx. 18″ tall.

His back, showing his awesome European shoulder bag.

More to come. Next is the Fortune Teller…………

I’m excited to be teaming up with the wonderful band Little Tybee on their next music video. Brock Scott, lead man extraordinaire, and I have come up with an interesting, and very challenging concept. I’m creating 6 marionette characters for the piece, and will be art directing and creating the miniature sets too. If we can pull it off, it’s going to be amazing.

Here is my progress so far on the main character, The Wanderer.

My sketch for The Wanderer. He will be approx. 18″ tall and be operated by 10 strings.

His torso, ready to be carved.

Legs are cut, ready to be carved.

I’m making ball and socket joints at the shoulders to maximize his movements.

His head from polymer clay.

His body so far.

I hollowed out his head so I could insert his neck. There is a pivot at his neck so he can look up.

His boots cut out and ready to be carved.

Done.

Much more to come – stay tuned, I’ll try to post my progress regularly.
And in the mean time be sure to check out Little Tybee.

I’ve finished my latest commission and have named her “Serene”.

As always, click on the images for a larger view.

The polymer clay head after painting and aging.

Her head in my hand – which gives a sense of scale.
I love this shot; the light coming through the window was perfect.

Serene’s body, painted and ready to be assembled. The tape on the torso helps me position the legs.

Her legs after they were glued in place.

Here I’m stitching up the front of her dress.
I always have to cut my clothes up the back to get them on the figures – then I stitch up the back. For this dress I’ll cover the stitches with a piece of trim.

The final shot of Serene.
I placed her on a base made from a vintage tin and a piece of Plexiglas. I very rarely use any kind of plastic, but I wanted to give the feel that she was standing on ice. You can see through to the bottom of the tin, which I think is a nice effect.

A close-up of her head.

A detail shot of the skates.
I cut two holes in the Plexiglas to accept the posts on her skate. You can see the tip of the skate on her left foot rests perfectly on the “ice” – sometimes things work out perfectly……..

My current commission is of a static figure much like my piece “Serenity” which I made back in 2006. It’s not often I revisit or recreate my pieces, but it’s been fun to add little improvements and to see how my style has progressed over the years.

Here are some in-progress pictures………..

The legs as they were being carved.

The legs are carved, and the position of the boots is determined – keep in mind there will be blades on the skates.

The skate blades were cut out on the scroll saw…..

…and then filed to shape.

The boots are carved and holes are cut into the bottoms to accept the blades. The metal rod was soldered on for added strength.

The blades were glued into the boots and the teeth were cut into the blades with a triangular file.

The torso, and the arm almost finished. She will be “wearing” mittens so I did not have to carve her hands and fingers.

Her arm, carved and sanded. Her other arm wraps around her back.

Her head as seen from the side.

More to come, as progress continues…………………

He’s finished and delivered —

A close shot….

Here are some in-progress shots and the final images of Intermezzo. He is available through Obsolete.

Click on pics for larger images….

Here I’m working out the position of the ‘cello’, the fret hand, and the bow. This shot was taken before I added the strings and other accoutrements to the instrument.
The stand on the ‘cello’ is connected to a spring under the floor that holds it in position.

Two strings run inside his leg that control the movement of the hands. I had to put on all his clothes before I attached the arms. I hooked up the strings and then covered the front and back with a piece of thin poster board to protect the mechanisms. Then everything was sewn up.

Final shot of Intermezzo.
The floor is a piece of lead that I formed over and nailed to a board. The base is an old drawer from a sewing machine and the ‘cello’ was found at an antique store.

Brass wires were use for the strings, and using a metal bow, they make the quietest sound.

Close up shot.

A shot from the back showing the details.

The movie….

Close up of the bow and strings.

My latest figure is a commission from my favorite psychiatrist client. He had this idea of a figure holding two heads that represent the phases of Bipolar Disorder.

The challenge for me was to get the three heads to look like the same person. I’d never attempted this before. I sculpted the ‘normal’ head first and thought I could make a mold of his face and use this to create the other two. I discovered I could duplicate the face but since I normally create my heads from the inside out, it didn’t quite work out. I had to sculpt the other 2 heads from scratch and not use my mold. I’m pretty happy with the way all the heads came out.

The ‘normal’ head.

Depressed state.

Manic state.

The body ready for assembly.

I will post the completed piece soon……

I found some nice pieces after my show opened at Young Harris College. Perused flea markets, antique stores and thrift stores in the North Georgia Mountains the day after the opening.

My recent findings, all good stuff………………

I think the piece on the right is especially nice. The guy who sold it to me didn’t know what it was so I got it for $5. That happens a lot – when someone can’t identify an object, they can’t price it, and it usually goes pretty cheap.

More later…………………….

Here are some sneak peek shots of my latest piece. It’s a man playing a cello-like instrument, standing up. Both arms move, one on the frets and one works a bow. When his fret hand moves, the whole “cello” moves. Click on pics to see them larger…..
I will post full shots soon.

His polymer clay head.

His body ready to be assembled. You can see parts of the mechanisms that are inside his torso. His arms both pivot at the shoulders.

The mechanisms hidden underneath. Two cams and two levers pull two strings to get the arms to work. The strings run inside tubes inside his leg.

The “speaker” that is connected to the “cello” No, it doesn’t really, make noise.

More soon…………………..

This was the last piece I created for my show at Obsolete. I finished it at about 1:30 Tuesday afternoon – 4 days before my opening. I overnighted it to LA and saw it set up in the gallery, (after my wife and I flew out), the next day. I was sad not to spend more time enjoying this piece, I really love the way it turned out.

Again, click on any image to see it larger………

“Tete” 28″ x 16″ x 6 1/2″
The mechanism for this piece is mostly in the base of the woman. However, the piece does not operate unless the 2 bases are at the proper distance from each other. The woman does not pull unless the man is pulling back. There is only a spring in the base of the man, which makes him pull on the rope.

My drawing of Tete. You can see I originally had the figures bent over, but after I tied a piece of rope to a column in my studio and pulled on it, I realized the figures should not be bent over, their bodies should be straight; so I changed my drawing.

Basswood pieces ready to be carved.

The joint at the man’s ankle. I debated whether to have their bodies pivot at the waist, but opted for the ankle after doing a test in the studio with the rope.

The box I cut in half to make the matching bases.

I made this rig to determine where the arms and the hands needed to be in relation to the bodies. The brass rod stands in for the rope.

The woman’s body, which shows how she rests on her back foot when she is at “full pull.”

Here I’m determining how the hand joins the arm.
The hand was carved first, with the hole where the rope goes through determining where the fingers would be. Also the hole for the rope had to be in line with the corresponding hands on the other figure. So the hands where put in place first……

…then the rough cut arm was put in place and the wrist joint was finalized using the ‘trial and error’ method. Once I had the joint right I could then carve the arm down close to where it needed to be.

I then glued the hand to the arm and smoothed out where they join.

The 4 hands and arms that literally took all day to make.

The finished figures, ready for paint.

The clothes ready for final assembly.

The figures assembled. Their other shoes are glued and nailed to the bases.

The woman’s head.

The man’s head.

The woman’s arms.

The woman pulling.

The man’s hands.

The man, seen from the front.

The man pulling.

The mechanism, inside the woman’s base – one cam and one follower.

The cam that controls the movement.

I will try to post a movie soon……..

This is the second to last piece I finished for my show. It’s a figure that pulls on a string to operate a marionette. It was purchased the afternoon before my opening by Maura Tierney. No, I wasn’t there, so I didn’t get to meet her.

BTW – the opening was great, the pieces looked incredible in the space. The crowd was the perfect size, very appreciative and everyone had a good time. I sold 2 more pieces that night. I will try to post some pics from that night.

Now on to “Adroit”………………………………..

As always, click on the pictures to see them larger.

Here I’m working out the position of the arms and how the strings run from the controller to the marionette. The figure’s right arm moves up and down and pulls a string that runs through her hand.

The box that I refurbished for the base. Not sure if this box contained a phone or maybe a wind-up motor of some kind.

The figure’s head.

The marionette was made from found objects. It took all afternoon to gather just the right pieces. And of course everything had to be aged down. She is about 3 1/2″ high.

The marionette assemble. Her torso is the base to a light bulb, her head is an old doll part, one leg is off an old Barbie and rest are odds and ends. Making this was almost like making jewelry.

The Marionette in place, with strings attached.

Adroit ready for final assembly. You can see how the arm operates here.

Adroit completed.

The lower half of the figure is a foundry pattern, used to cast a very large drill bit I suppose.

The video of my work that will play in the front window of Obsolete in Venice.
It features 7 of the 14 pieces that will be in my show here. Enjoy!

Note The video used to be on Vimeo but it’s now on YouTube. Updated 5/4/11

One more piece for my show at Obsolete — Click on any images to see it larger.
I wanted to do another piece involving lights, and since I had this great old gauge case, I decided to do a figure operating a searchlight.
I started stripping everything out of the metal case, which I think is made of nickel(?). The tower for the searchlight was made mostly of Erector Set parts with a few odds and ends thrown in. For the top, I chose to use the doll furniture table you see below, (I also have the matching chair – they are both great old hand-made pieces). I cut down the table a bit and added the metal parts with nails.

Here is the tower in progress. I mounted it to a board which was later cut down to size.

The tower with the searchlight in place.

Detail of the light.
I hand-cut all the mirror pieces and glued them to a metal cone I fabricated out of a piece of sheet metal. The support bracket was made out of an old handle of some kind. It took a while to bend into the shape right – it was harder than I expected.

The searchlight completed.

This is one of my favorite details.
I couldn’t find a good piece for this area after searching through my collection of junk, twice. So I decided to stop thinking so darn practical. I stumbled upon this lion’s head and since it already had 2 holes in it, I decided it would be perfect for the wire egress. It is perfect.

My carving stand as it usually looks while I’m working. It’s 51 inches high and it keeps me from bending over to work.

The arms carved and assembled – ready to be painted. I made ball joints at the shoulders to allow for maximum movement.

Arms after painting and aging.

Here I’m working out how the figure relates to the “push bar” that moves the searchlight. (Actually it’s the light that moves the figure. Don’t tell anyone.)
In the picture the figure is standing on a block. I scrapped this idea and lowered the bar to eliminate the block.

My drawings for the mechanism. I was trying to maximize the sweep of the light, (almost 180 degrees) but also work with the figure, which had it’s own limitations. I often use this method to work out the movements.

The mechanical parts complete.The silver bar is the “push bar” that the figure holds on to.

How the mechanism fits together, all wired and ready for the bottom cover.

The figure’s head.

A peek at the final piece. I will post better pictures, and movies, once the show opens on Nov. 13th.
Stay tuned………

Continuing with my piano piece….. I painted the head and gave him a bit of a 5 o’clock shadow.

Here’s his body ready for final assembly. I assembled the arms and legs as I dressed him – sometimes it’s like solving a puzzle, I have to do it in the right order.

Half dressed. I sewed the sleeves on last. BTW – The fabric for his jacket came from an old pair of my favorite shorts – yes, really.

I wanted to something different for the floor this time. In the past I’ve done nice finished wood floors – this time I wanted it to be darker with more texture, like in an old dive somewhere.
I nailed all the planks down and took my propane torch and burnt it down about a 1/16″ to 1/8″. Here it is after I burned it.

After it cooled I “sanded” it down with a Scotchbrite pad. This brought out a lot of texture, with high and low spots. Also because I burned away some of the wood, the nail heads were a little raised. This was exactly the look I was going for.

After a coat of sanding sealer it got a lot darker – very rich!

I picked out of my stash, potential pieces to be used for the embellishment of the piano. You will see, some of the pieces made the cut and some didn’t.

The 3 horns that go on top of the case.

I painted the case red but left some parts black and added the “nameplate”.

The case after painting, aging and finishing. I also glued the keyboard in and decoupaged the inside.

The “inner workings” of the “piano”.
At this point I’m trying to get away from the idea that this is just a piano. Now I’m thinking it’s some sort of fantastical, musical piece of wonderment. And who really knows how it works?
I like how these workings could be their own little sculpture. One sad thing is you don’t see a lot of this because of the front window.

The workings assembled.

This shows how I had to place the piano and the”chair” in their exact place according to my drawing. I actually put the drawing on the base to locate the feet of the piano, etc. I had to be dead-on because of where the mechanism were located below. No guessing here.

Detail of the area below the keys. I put pipes in behind the board.

The mechanisms finished and ready for assembly.

The 3 cams, one for the head and 2 for the arms.

Everything is assembled and wired underneath.

A sneak peek of the finished product. I will post better images when my show opens on November 13th. (I can’t give away the surprise now, can I?)

If you haven’t heard…….

Well it’s been a while – but I want to update you on the progress of my recent work and other goings on.

— The piano piece now has a name, “Crescendo” and has been completed(!) It came out great and I will post pics and movies soon.

— Exciting News! – Both “Crescendo” and “Undaunted”, which will be in my show at Obsolete, have been purchased – (got to love the pre-sales). Thanks again Mark!

— I started a new piece on Tuesday and it is going well. It’s a female figure operating a spotlight. Pics up soon.

***As always, click on any of my pictures to see a much larger view***

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I was out of the studio for 2 weeks, traveling to a friend’s birthday parties, (yes, 2 parties on 2 weekends). Of course whenever I travel I always have my eye out for found objects. Well, I found some really great pieces this time and I thought I’d show them to you. Surely these pieces will work themselves into my work in the near future…….

Philadelphia is fast becoming one of my favorite cities for great junk. This 11 pounds of mostly keys came from the 6th floor of Sander Supply. They had a fire there in the spring and are in the process of cleaning up. My wife Paula and I spent a while combing through the rubble to find this pile of beautifully distressed debris. It was like combing for shells on the beach. Funny thing is – I really don’t use keys in my work unless they are miniature.

The hunt is on…

Note the melted windows…

Combing for keys – it was hard to stop looking.

More stuff from Sander’s, found on the first floor. They have a lot of big, used restaurant equipment there, but scattered in are tons of these smaller, perfectly distressed items.

Our friend Robert,who makes amazing lamps and furnishings out of recycled industrial parts, gave me these exceptional pieces. I owe you one Robert. —

Not sure what this is, but it looks great. Do you know what this is?

Robert said this is from France and has something to do with growing mushrooms. All I know it’s a wonderful piece on it’s own and has my brain spinning with ideas.

Some sort of gear thingy. This photo was taken before I blew all the dust off. This piece is ready to go – just add figure and a motor. I love it!

I also bought some great stuff out of the basement of Ollie, and 85 year old picker – great stuff, great prices. Thanks Ollie!

A huge spool of fabric-covered wire – awesome!

Some sort of brass thingys, I have no idea what these are for, do you? They have a pivot on one end and a threaded rod. Avoid Imitations!!!

2 great miniature vises used for watch making/repair. The top one is about 3″ long.

Another ‘what-is-it’? Small carved wooden box with a hinge for holding…..????

Found this in Virginia, it will soon be a companion piece for Crescendo.

Many more great items were gathered – too many to show.

Now I got to get back to my spotlight piece…..
Talk later,
tom

My friend Patsy owns my piece titled “The Red Chair”. I made it way back in 2001 and as you can see it’s in my older style – all wood and much more colorful. She said the man’s hat was missing after a recent move to North Carolina. She sent the piece to me and I carved, painted and attached a new hat. I also had a chance to shoot a few movies of it in action.

The hat I carved, on the end of my favorite X-acto knife. (For the past 15 years or so, I’ve been doing the majority of my carving with this knife. It’s easy to spot on my cluttered work table because it’s green!)

I wanted to make a simple crank, which ended up not so simple. I had to add the yellow slider piece to keep the red connecting rod at the same angle all the time or the mechanism would lock up.

Closer view showing the chunky gears and how they mesh.

For scale -the man is exactly 3″ tall.

Back to working on the piano piece tomorrow – I’m building out/embellishing the piano…..

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 very excited to announce my show of new kinetic works at Obsolete in Venice, CA
The opening is Saturday November 13, 2010
I will be bringing as many pieces as I can, plus a few surprises……
See info here soon…..

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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