"The Usual Suspects" - 2014

You may have noticed I've recently begun to move my work towards a more shadier side of life. I've always been fascinated with characters - underdogs, the downtrodden - but also, more recently, I've been curious about small time criminals and people just struggling to get by. (Who hasn't been inspired by the characters in some of Tom Wait's songs?) I'm excited to explore this side of the human condition - and can't wait to see where this exploration might take me. Stay tuned!

  

This piece sort of popped into my head all at once - a police line-up with many seedy characters. I thought it'd be intriguing to have so many personalities in one scene. These men are all in the same situation; each dealing with it in their own way. And each figure has a different movement to convey their feelings.

Making this piece was like making 5 pieces at once. Everything took sooooo long - 10 hands, 10 arms, 10 legs, 10 shoes - and all the clothes that go with 5 figures. I really didn't save any time on making multiple pieces, except maybe some of the mechanical parts. I have over 250 hours in this piece.

It measures 32" x 21.5" x 8.5". It's powered by a 4.8 RPM gearmotor.

There's the final shot of the completed piece. The base is also made from scratch - the top is actually a board salvaged from the basement of our building.

A closer shot. Each figure moves in it's own unique way- see the video at the bottom of this post.

Another shot. The guy closest to the camera points to the others, as if to say, "It wasn't me!"

Left to right - the heads. 

I like how the cigar adds to his guy's character. I grew up with a neighbor who always chompin' on a stogie, and looked a bit like this guy.

This guy is sort of the hippie of the group - his hair was inspired by a friend's hairstyle. 

The most normal looking guy in the line up. (It's always the one you least suspect.) He holds a piece of rusty pipe in his hand.

This guy's a bit flamboyant, but that's okay. A good friend hand-knitted his scarf out of kite string, using 2 toothpicks as needles.

The last guy - he's not happy one bit.

One of the last things I did was to carve this newspaper, (the guy needed a newspaper in his hand). One of the headlines reads, "Crime Spree".

In-progress images........

Just starting out. Some of the torsos, legs and shoes are carved. Much work ahead.....

More progress..... I pretty much use basswood all the time.

The majority of hands where not holding anything, and I carved all of these in one day. No power tools are used; I do it all the old-fashioned way - with knives and small chisels. And sandpaper.

Eight of the 10 arms. Some had to be weighted with lead so they would "swing" when the body moved.

After all the carving is done, the last part of the body to be made are the heads. I usually work on heads one at a time - but with this piece, I wanted to keep the heads relatively the same size - so I roughed them all out at the same time.

The finished heads - sculpted from polymer clay. 

The bodies, waiting for their clothes to be made --- then on to painting. At this point all of the internal mechanisms have been figured out.

All the clothes are made. (I took this shot so I could remember who's wearing what.)

I always "wash" the clothes in a watery mix of raw umber to age them down. Then I hang them up to dry.

And I paint while the clothes dry. 

When painting, these magnifiers really help me see all the tiny details. They're indispensable to me now, I use them a lot, in every aspect of fabrication.

The heads - painted, aged, and lightly sanded. I also give them a coat of paste wax.

The mechanisms.....

I made 3 of the levers the same. (It saved a bit of time.) These levers will pull down on a line to move various parts. I use precision bearing whenever I can; you can see 3 of them here.

These two levers control the last guy on the left. The lever with a "3" on it, moves his arm, and the other one moves his head back and forth. (The cams, that work these levers, are not in place yet.)

The 8 cams are ready to be installed in the base. This is after days and days of figuring out each movement, and mechanism. All this work is from scratch, using the trial and error method, which is pretty time consuming - but it's the only way to do it.

The cam assembly.  You see 2 more precision bearings here. These bearings will never need oil and will last for decades, probably longer. (I love them.)

The cam assembly installed. Here you see the cams and levers which control the first 3 guys. The gearmotor, that powers the piece, is all the way to the left, (you can see the wires).

After the piece was completed, my gallery owner, Noah, suggested I make a back piece to complete the  police line-up feel. It is slightly shorter than the base.

 Another shot of the back piece.

I made a movie of this piece. I want to make a "making of" video too, but have not yet. Enjoy.

Thanks for looking.

tom

"Makeshift" - 2014

As I love to work with found objects, and after completing a very complex mechanical piece, I wanted to do a simpler non-mechanical "fun" piece. Yes, fun. It's not often that I get to work spontaneously. Usually my mechanical pieces take a lot of planning, engineering and brainwork. This piece has some of that, but it's much more enjoyable to put things together when the parameters are looser. I had a rough idea of what I wanted the vehicle to be, but things were able to change as I went along. Most changes were hinged on what found objects I had on hand. I just went to my stash and made it work. I hope you like it.

It measures 18" x 19" x 8".

The wheels do roll but that's not the point. And instead of pointing the cannon straight ahead, I turned it  about 5 degrees, which moved his whole body from a straight on pose to a more dynamic one. He is a bit off kilter, tipping to his right, leaning on one leg.

I started with the cannon and played with a million different variations and combinations of parts, wheels, and boxes.

I really like this shot - it shows his determination.

I find it interesting that some of the parts I used have been sitting around my studio for years, and some, like this screw clampy thing, I found at a flea market a day before I added it to the mix.

He has his makeshift helmet on - ready for battle.

This ornament came off a butter dish that I cut down and put on the front of the vehicle.

The curved front and back pieces are actually a tin I cut in half. The shape and patina reminded me of a civil war-era boat.

Many screws and nails add to the detail. The aforementioned butter dish on the right.

You can see he's just barely hanging on the back. He was going to be standing on another box, but it hid the curved part of the base. I like that he just fits here.

In progress pics........................

Figuring out what this piece will be - so many found objects, so many possibilities......
Starting out I knew I wanted to use the cannon part, and for him to be on a wheeled vehicle of some kind.

Carving the hands from basswood.

Figuring out this arms. His hands were done - as well as his torso, legs, and shoes. Now to connect his body to his hands.

Lots of trial and error, but I think I got it.

Afterwards, the arms are carved - and glued to the hands.

Here I'm covering the base with small pieces of tin, using many tiny nails.

Wheels are added. The other section, with the cannon, will be added on top of this.

Thanks for looking,

tom

"Eversharp" - 2013

Another idea I've had for a while - a man sharpening a giant knife. The base is a handmade box I found and the stand for the grinding wheel is made up of parts from an old Erector set. The grinding wheel is made from a piece of wood.

He guides the knife back and forth across as the grinding wheel spins.

Magnets in the palms of his hands, and in the knife, help him hold loosely onto the knife. This lets the knife moves around a bit, with no binding as it moves back and forth.

The view from above. I love how the movement came out - slow and deliberate. The handmade knife was an antique store find. It has "1918 France 1919" written on it and the handle is actually a shell casing. I wish I knew it's history.

Here I'm working out the position of the "knife" in his hands.

Rechecking the position of the knife - and still some carving to do. I used small brass hinges for the pivot points at his shoulders.

His finished head - I was going for a sinister look.......

Ready to be dressed. I made two small covers that close up his chest.

One last check before I put on the cover and sew up the back. You can see the line and the spring which moves his right arm. His other arm moves because it's connected to the knife.

Four small magnets hold the knife in his hands. You can see one of them in the palm of his left hand.

The mechanism, (seen upside down). I used two motors - one for the wheel and one to move the arm. It's always a fun challenge to fit the mechanism into the box I've chosen.

Here's a quick movie clip that shows how it works. I'll be putting together a full edited movie soon.

Thanks for looking.

tom