cacti growth

A few days ago we CNCed some new cacti.


CNCing these really doesn't save me as much time as I would like. I feel like I'm sanding my life away!
Here are some freshly painted CACTI:



For SALE!

first woodcut

I've been thinking about making a woodcut for a long time, but just started on one before Christmas. I found this paragraph in the Anderson Ranch Art Center workshop catalog that embodies everything that I find intriguing about woodcuts:

"Why explore the woodcut print today? Can such a anachronistic medium still have relevance? Is it the energy, the honest hand work, the raw physicality and interaction with once-living material? The oldest form of printing, the woodcut has a readily understood mark and a direct process that continues to intrigue makers and impact viewers."






The print is about 1' by 2.5'... My initial meaning behind the cut sort of got lost in the process, which is strange because usually the opposite happens to me. Anyway, my next one is already in the works and will be the same size. I'm really excited about it... Its going to be my reaction to industry/progress/work/etc.

birds and dinosaurs

I finally took some better pictures of my dinosaurs.



And, I finished the big bird I've been working on. 22 inch wing span, oh yeah!


With these birds and dinosaurs, I feel more like I'm making sculpture than design. I think I've been trained not to make objects that don't preform a function, but I've always found value in things that somehow made me feel good, even if this wasn't necessarily a function they were meant to preform. So, the sole function of these objects is mood improvement? Eh?

birds and brachiosauruses

More birds finished today. Made-to-order birds to be exact.
And, the first dinosaur!

2d + 3d = 5d?

Finally, the prototype of my flat-pack lamp is finished! (I apologize for my old-timey-looking photos)
Here are all of the parts. Close your eyes and imagine that they just came in the mail in a box.

I'm still making some adjustments so that it can't be put together incorrectly. Still, sadly, I think I'll need to include instructions.
Here is the skeleton, all put together.

Then, the nylon tube is stretched over the skeleton. (This part still needs some work.. I have to hold the frame with my knees and fight with the nylon to get it on. So, I'm thinking maybe a zipper? Zippers on lampshades seem odd, though. Buttons have been ruled out already.)


Ta da!

building birds, not bridges

My mom has ordered 10 hanging wooden birds from me for Christmas presents and I have a custom order for 3 more, so I've been doing a lot of bird-making.


I'm just going to have to make a giant one soon... I'm thinking at least a 2 foot wingspan. Oh yeah.

holy cacti

My friend's mom contacted me to make two Christmas presents for her daughters. I finished them today:
They are my usual CACTI, but with holes drilled so that earring posts can pass through.