Maybe you're wondering how I went from producing bronze sculptures to making recycled sculptures. It IS quite a leap in thinking! But, that's how I think. I love to try new & different things and maybe I could get out of my BOX and try something different. Sure!
I had seen that a public art piece was needed for a park. I wanted to do a sculpture in an entirely different form than I'd ever done before. My favorite movies are the Star Wars saga, and, I love Sci-fi books! The A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) bots and especially C3PO and R2D2 were so cool.
Large monumental sculptures in bronze were way out of the question anymore because of the high costs of casting and the logistics. Several Public Art project requests often did not offer near the stipends to cover the costs of the art work nor the intense physical labor, in exchange for what the art commissions wanted...more, more, more. It usually barely covered my time and materials. Often, I had to put money in to finish the sculptures. Besides, I wanted to get more experimental with whimsical things and really MORE INTERESTING subjects and materials.
"Mountain Majesty"
Bronze 17 feet tall
Glacier Park International Airport
Kalispell, Montana
I began sketching one night, thinking about a recent request for a local sports complex. The first idea for the mechanical and "recycle-reuse" style of my work began to take shape. It was definitely going to be "different" than my other work. I had several ideas but, based on the theme of family and fun,
which the committee wanted, I decided to give it a try and submit a new style.
My first sketch was fun to draw. I always add things that I HOPE will work and deal with it later. This was based on robots and science fiction and all the stories of how A.I. might be developed and function.
It started to evolve. I had to figure out all sorts of things such as How would it stand up? How tall would it be? (12 feet!) What parts would make it interesting? Where would I get the parts? Recycled, of course~ What would make it fun and interactive.? How would all of this go together? How would I managed to put it ALL TOGETHER? and...Where would I make this? So, I redrew it and redrew it and came up with this sketch.
The most fun is, of course, the planning! As you can see, there are so many items to look for. I love to put a puzzle together and this was a BIG one!
I submitted the idea and I also made a model, as required. The committee met! They loved it ! The whole idea was amazing! But I lost by 1 vote! DARN.
However, all is not lost! I decided to make something very similar. Of course, that was really fun, too. I started gathering up more parts!!!!
and more parts....
and began to put it all together.
I found a SAWZALL box to mount this on.
Dad's head is made from a coffee creamer. What else can you see?
Dad had a lot of items to screw together. I don't solder them or weld them. Holes have to be drilled precisely to fit onto the other parts. They are screwed together and often glued in order to keep them stable. I then try to make them in sections so they can be taken apart for packaging and shipping.
I finally had a nice sculpture! And it won a Merit award! Yay! Success.
"A DAY IN THE PARK WITH DAD"
They are about 38" tall. Dad and son finally have a chance to hit a few balls at the sports complex. What a great day for both!
Go back and read the full story of them on my website! They are showing off their "parts" in a several more images. So, go find them and see if you can figure out
(PSSST...The SAWZALL box opens to hide secret things...or just plain old CDs)
They are so fun!
Wouldn't this look good in your Home?
OF COURSE!
Call me! 408-499-2561
The BOSS approves of this blog!
BOSS MOSS
(KD HOP ON POP)
408-499-2561
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