I've had the idea for this piece ever since I found an interesting looking fuel filter at a junk store. (It's funny where ideas come from sometimes.) The filter had a clear glass container attached to it and I thought it would, along with other items, make for a curious assemblage. I liked the idea of using clear elements in an assemblage, and even added clear tubes to the mix. The defender concept came pretty easy. It measures 8" x 22" x 14".
I've posted a movie below....
The final shot. The found wooden box was the perfect size and appearance for the base.
Here you can see part of the fuel filter that started this piece - the green part. I ended up replacing the glass container with what you see here, because the glass was way too heavy.
All the elements, even the "hoses" were found pieces too.
The "gun" or sprayer was fun to assemble. Some parts have been sitting around the studio for years, and some, like the small tin seen here, was found only days before I started assembling the gun.
The gun in-progress, before I antiqued all the shiny parts down. When I can, I like to solder things together instead of using glue.
I love the color of the box.
Here's where I started.....
Before carving the legs, I wanted to work out the movement. The right
leg moves forward and back which makes the torso turn side to side.
His two hands, carved from basswood. I always saturate the wood with CA glue after carving to make them stronger. That explains the color difference.
Here is his torso and his gun stand-in, used to figure out the position of the
hands and arms. I glued the "gun" to his hip so it would not change
position as I worked.
The body - all carved and ready for paint etc. Here you can see the pivot point for his right leg, which is in his right shoe.
His
body and head all painted. Here you can see one of the bearings and how
the legs fit into the torso. The torso pivots on 2 bearings.
Working on his outfit - which was inspired by various emergency worker uniforms.
Assembling
his body - legs first. Since only one leg is really attached to his
body, I had to secure his feet to the base and work up from there.
I
put one arm on at a time. Next I placed the gun in his hands and
attached the other arm. They had to be strong because the have to hold
up the weight of the gun.
Putting the final touches on his uniform....
The "backpack" in progress.
The cam and follower, connected to the lever, which is connected to his right leg.
After making my initial shadowboxes back in 2010, I knew I would eventually make more. I made extra boxes and even decoupaged them back then. Only now am I getting around to using them.
With this round I wanted to make pieces with stronger story lines. Also I wanted to create a richer textural feel to the box element, I think I succeeded on both points.
All the shadowboxes are 16 1/2" x 16 1/2" x 4", and are signed and dated. They are all sold.
Here is how the figures start. You can see the posable form I use to place each figure in position. The torsos are cut and the arms and legs are roughed out - each has a half lap joint at the knee or elbow.
A shot during carving. Since I rarely work on more than one piece at a time, these figures seemed more labor-intensive than others. I had to keep reminding myself, "you're working on 4 pieces". The rough drawings for each piece are seen underneath all the shavings.
The 8 hands. With these shadowbox figures, I've decided to keep the arms, legs, and hands simpler and more stylized than my typical figures.
Many arms - after I added all the hands. Each arm and leg had to be number to keep me from mixing them up.
"Lost & Found" SOLD
This piece could also be considered a bit of a self-portrait. I'm always on the look out for interesting found objects - and often have wonderful dreams where I'm finding huge stashes of incredible things. In one memorable dream, the items were submerged in a clear rushing stream.
Dressed in all his finery, our hero is picking up many kinds of fabulous objects; blissfully filling his basket.
"Wordsmithing" SOLD
This piece is a homage to all who work with the written word. Though language is not my strong suit, I do have an affinity for certain words - some of which are included in the collection here.
"Local Loudmouth" SOLD
This piece is sort of self-explanatory. It wasn't until I was doing the final assembly, that I thought of adding the words coming from his bullhorn.
"Mechanical Advantage" SOLD
This piece speaks of the courageous women who choose to work in fields typically dominated by men. Though her dress came out looking more like a Tibetan princess, I like that it contrasts with her task at hand. Oh, and this is the first time I've used real hair for one of my figures. It's from my wife's head and I've been saving it for about 5 years.
On Sunday Noah from Red Truck Gallery called and said Mr. Bon Jovi was fascinated by the piece and was asking about the "best price". They were showing my work at artMRKT Hamptons in Bridgehampton, NY. After some negotiation Jon decided he must have it. The guys from Red Truck did the installation that afternoon at Jon's summer house.
Here's the happy customer -----
Here is a better shot of the piece. And more info about the piece is here.
I'm very excited that this piece found a good home - Thanks Jon!
Lucy Schwartz, a talented singer/songwriter from Los Angeles, contacted me last year after seeing "Boxcar Fair", the music video I did with Brock Scott for his band Little Tybee.
Lucy loved the look and feel of "Boxcar Fair" and also, to quote Lucy, "was entranced by it's magic". After talking a bit via email, she sent me her song "Time Will Tell". The song is about a young boy wondering about his future. He wants the future to happen now and the lesson is "take it slow", don't try to rush it. Lucy describes it this way - ".... it's important to pay attention to the journey, because if you don't, the best parts of life pass you by......the journey IS your life (I'm saying this advice mostly as a note to myself....but that's sort of the idea behind the song....)"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I have to say I've been so fortunate to collaborate with these incredibly talented people - first Brock Scott, a remarkable songwriter but also a talented visual artist and sculptor. And now Lucy Schwartz, equally amazing singer and songwriter who I had the pleasure of experiencing her creative perspective on life while she was here in Atlanta. We spent the good part of a day hanging out in my studio as she sculpted a small figure. I was showing her my approach to sculpting and I learned a bit of how her creative mind works.Never before have I realized what could come out of collaborating with another creative person. Sure there is always an end product but what one gains from another person's perspective is immeasurable. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So in producing the video I knew we had to come up with a story to go along with the lyrics. We talked back and forth and came up with a story of a young boy walking around in the forest wondering about his future. He finds a magical mirror in which he sees his future love interest, a wind-up doll. He makes a wish to have this girl now and realizes his mistake when his wish comes true.
A single marionette was create for the shoot. The boy plays several characters, facilitated by changes in his wardrobe.
Here are some shots of the marionette in progress, including the changes we made to fit our look.
The young boy's body is carved from basswood. He had to be fully functional with jointed arms legs and neck. Also I hollowed out his chest to make him as light as possible.
I created 3 right hands, (and one left), so he could hold/carry various props. This actually worked out well. I could change out the hands quickly as they were simply held in with a small brass rod.
Here I just finished sculpting is head from polymer clay.
His body is all carved, painted, and ready to be dressed.
All dressed and ready for the strings. The white shirt was from a collection of old doll clothes I bought a while back. I put it on him and it fit perfectly; this so rarely happens. I rolled up his sleeves so his arms could move. I also had the sweater and it fit perfectly too. The sleeves were already cut off and were used for a pair of socks on another figure a couple of years ago. I love how this outfit came together and I love this look.
All dressed and strung for the first time.
Lucy thought his skin tone was a bit too red - a bit sunburned - so I did a bit of repainting on his face.
She also thought he looked a bit melancholy so I changed his mouth to give him more of a smile. She was right, he looks happier now.
From the beginning, since we would be shooting the video in many parts and editing it together, I had this idea of using different eyes and eyebrows to give him different expressions. I painted eyes and eyebrows on a piece of black masking tape and below you can see one of my test with the eyebrows.
The eyes before I cut them all out. We ended up using only 2 pairs; one regular and one downcast. I also created a closed eye look.
The boy's father is mentioned in the song so there's a few scenes where he's dressed up as his father. This is the suitcase the father carries. Made from a block of wood, I hollowed this out as well.
The pitcher he uses to water a flower.
Lucy wears a key on her back - after all she is a wind-up doll. I made it out of wood and added strong magnets to the base. Here it's stuck to our refrigerator. She wore a thin metal plate inside her dress and the key stayed perfectly in place.
Shots from the video shoot - it took 2 days to shoot the puppet and one day to shoot Lucy's part.
The opening scene - we see him sitting on a rock staring at a lake deep in contemplation.
Here he's watering a flower that he just planted. You can see the magical mirror behind him.
Sometime getting the shot takes many people.
The young boy walks down a path and comes upon the magic mirror for the first time. Beau Brown puppeteered on Day 1 of our shoot.
Here we are getting the shot where the young boy dips his pitcher into a stream to get water for the flower. I'm moving the puppet's arm and Raymond Carr, our puppeteer for Day 2, is supporting the puppet's body. Andrew Kornylak is behind the camera; he served as our director of photography and location scout.
The lovely Miss Lucy holding the young boy. This was taken after our last shot and the boy's expression reflects his feelings about his mistake. Lucy's hair and make-up by Kathleen Marsh.
All in all this was a great experience for me; I learned a lot and loved working with Lucy and all the other folks who helped out on the shoot.
Here is the video (added here 10/5/15) Watch full screen.....
You can check out Lucy's music and other projects here.
