Sticking to it...
Saturday, June 23, 2012

With the ongoing support and generosity of Patrick Dougherty I was able to take on this project in the Northeast Kingdom.  The homeowners have taken their house and flipped it inside-out with a creative force second to none.   Elements of nature are found throughout, and I was asked to build a nest-like window seat enclosure in the living room!  With a theme like this it is easy to "go Epcot," but it was truly amazing to see how tastefully and beautifully it was all made into reality.  Derrick and his crew from Brothers Building Company were on the job site, making the process as smooth as can be.  I was fortunate to have two great assistants Caroline Bach and Elliot Jenkins.

 Building a Nest/Pod Window Seat:

Original sketch. 99% approved, just had to make the entrance larger.



Flat panel cut to make 1/4 cone shape for back inside the window seat. Similar to making the crown for the Zakk Wylde photoshoot with Clay Patrick McBride.



I used a cone calculator, made the cut extra large, clamped and screwed it onto the frame, and then trimmed with a Dremel Mult-Max.



Primed.



Installed



Organizing sticks. A section of nearby land had been trimmed and we were able to grab the precut saplings... doesn't get too much easier than that.



Elliot and I tied the structural limbs in place.





Caroline did the intricate work along the bottom skirt and a simpatico element under the adjacent window bench with a pop-up tv!



Final Photos...

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Labels: Patrick Dougherty, window seat

Bye George...
Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Preface: http://www.villagevoice.com/2001-01-23/news/very-curious-george/ ... Here is an article about the website bushorchimp.com R.I.P.  I had stumbled upon it looking for a good image of President Bush's face to superimpose onto the G.O.P. Elephant.  I later found out that I was launched by a friend, Alex Reeves!

On an artistic note: I had always been a fan of The Third-Class Carriage by 
Honoré Daumier.  Not just because of the subject matter, but because of the ability to see the artist's painting process.  The work depicts an everyday life scene, commoners riding a train, during the brink of industrialization.  When you look closely you can actually see the priliminary lines used to map out the scene on the canvas.  After mapping out a foot x foot chalk grid on the steel and plasma cutting my Bush Elephant I decided to leave the lines behind to pay homage to Daumier.

Getting on with it..... The chalk eventually wore away, but luckily a white crayon makes an identical mark and stays put.  Here is a photo of me redrawing the lines on the Bush Elephant in its new home, 6 feet below grade, in a finished basement of a private residence in New Jersey.


Footer:  In hanging the steel cut-out, determining the distance from the wall was extremely important.  The steel casts shadows that needed to be vivid enough to be seen, but not too close to the original edge as to be hidden.

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Labels: Bush or Chimp, Elephant, Plasma Cut

Nine Times
Thursday, April 5, 2012

In January at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito CA, I built my 9th sculpture with Patrick Dougherty. CLICK HERE FOR THE MUSEUM'S FLICKR PHOTO SET.  The sculpture, Peekaboo Palace, is in the form of serpentine hallways and openings winding around a dome-topped tower.

Patrick had previously built a sculpture at this very location and we incorporated-in some of the living elements from the first sculpture which had rooted themselves and continued to grow after being woven in place.  We watered the base with a hose, it also rained a bit, and we hope that some of the structural sticks from this sculpture will take root as well.  This living material adds to the longevity of the work because it won't rot at the base.  The BADM crew did a great job with upkeep on the last one and it lasted 7 years!  This project was driven by Brianna Cutts, the Director of Vistor Experience and Exhibit Design, who really made everything run as smoothly as can be.  There was also a great group of volunteers to work with during this build, a lot of jaw-droppingly talented local furniture builders and artists.

Here's a link to a particularly striking image taken of Peekaboo Palace; to view it, click the photographer's name --> Aaron Logan <--.

Richmond Time Lapse is doing another video!  Here is the first one segment, hopefully we will see the rest soon!

We also go great press from ABC, check out this scenic location where we were able to live and work for 3 weeks!  Here is there news feed:




I stayed a couple days longer and did some touch up work to the last Sculpture I helped Patrick build in the Bay Area, Out Yonder.  Here is a before/after of that:

Before:
After:

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Labels: Bay Area Discovery Museum, Patrick Dougherty, Richmond Time Lapse Richmond VA

CityScape Coffee Table
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

I've been waiting to build a table with this wood for a long time.  I found these planks in a dumpster and immediately recognized their potential to support a sheet of glass even though they have zillions of cuts and abnormalities.  The table creates a frame for the wood and the glass rests flush with the steel.  The cuts in the wood look like streets and create what looks like a birds-eye-view of a city.  This table is currently used for display and on sale at Teich at 22 8th Ave in the West Village.  I added a final photo below of one of the custom shelves I made for Teich to fit into their beautiful pegboard display case.  Please stop by the store and say, "Hi!"  They are great people with an awesome selection of goods.  Or, visit online at  http://www.teichdesign.com/

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Labels: CityScape Wood, Pegboard Shelf, Steel Table, Teich

Simple Incense Holder

Try to find a really simple, but nice, incense holder... somehow they are all decorated with really tacky designs. I designed and built this one to be as straight forward as possible.

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Labels: Incense Holder

TV Stand for an LP Fan!

Here is a TV stand that hosts a collection of records. It has glass ends to hold them in and a bamboo top. The top has its edge exposed to show how awesome bamboo plywood looks!

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Labels: TV Stand

From the curb to the Storefront...

Here are some storefront creations I made for Sparrow Salon & Body Work; a menu holder and a decorative tree. All the steel is from my scrap pile of found treasures. It's fun to work from odd pieces like this because you don't have to worry about being 100% precise, you just eyeball it and weld it all up. A hammer usually fixes things you don't like.

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Labels: Sparrow salon and body work