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.
These are the pieces I currently have available - on one concise page. I
will keep this list current by removing the pieces that have sold. This
will give you an image, size, price, and a link to each piece available
as of today. Please let me know if you're interested, if I can answer any questions, or if you need more photos - here.
***Note
- this piece can not be shipped. It will have to be delivered by a
private art carrier. Or if you're in the eastern half of the US, I could
personally drive it to your location, and set it up. (Delivery charges
will apply.) Please contact me and I'm sure we can figure something out. Thanks.
"The Seeker" 21" x 12" x 20", $10,710. Blog Post---Movie
After much contemplation, I've decided to sell these two special figures who play a prominent role in Little Tybee's 2012 music video "Boxcar Fair". If you haven't seen it can be found here on YouTube, and here on Vimeo. These two notable figures appear in the Fortune Teller's tent scene - go watch it if you haven't seen it.
To date, I've used just one of the five figures from the video project - the Swimmer has been transformed into my piece "Swim the Sea". Looking at the Wanderer and the Fortune Teller, a friend recently mentioned he likes them just as they are - just like they're seen in the video. After thinking about it, I have to agree, these pieces are great just how they are. They would look especially great sitting on a table, or looking down from a shelf in your home.
So available for you now - fans of my work, fans of Little Tybee, or both(!) - The Wanderer and The Fortune Teller, for the price of $1200. each. Contact me through my website here, if you're interested in one, or both pieces. They are sold as seen, chairs included. So here's your chance to own a little bit of history, and a special piece of my work.
Over 50 hours went into the creation of each figure - each a labor of love. Both figures were hand-carved from basswood, and the heads were sculpted out of polymer clay. All the clothes were designed and fabricated by me. The heads turn and the arms move on both figures.
Click on the pictures for a close-up view.
The Wanderer ------ 14" tall.
SOLD
The Fortune Teller --------- 15 1/2" tall.
SOLD
{The in-process images can be seen here for The Wanderer, and here for The Fortune Teller.}
Back in 2003, I made a motor-driven piece called "Heart in Hand". It was powered by an old 8mm camera motor and had a figure that opened his arms to reveal his heart. I wanted to a similar piece where a figure was opening his coat to reveal his chest and/or heart. This piece is similar in action to "Dubious", who I made back in 2008.
As always, click on image for large picture.
Here is the piece closed. An electric motor operates 2 cams and levers that move his arms.
"Home" open. Right before his arms open, a small flicker lightbulb is illuminated by the means of a cam and a switch. When
the piece is switched on, he opens his arms to reveal his heart. He
pauses for a second, and then closes his arms. His right arm opens and
closes slightly ahead of his left. The light goes off when his arms are fully closed.
A closer shot of his chest.
The Process
Starting out, I cut out and carved his torso, then I cut out the center to create a cavity in his chest. I added a socket to hold a lightbulb here.
I
not only had to run the electric wire along each leg, but also run a
cable housing, which contain the cables that operates each arm.
Here you can see the support rod, the electric line, and the cable housing, as they come out from the bottom of each shoe.
Once all the work on the inside was done, I trimmed down the piece I had cut out to about 1/8", and glued it back on. Small pieces of wood make up for the saw kerf.
Shoes, ready to be carved.
Done carving.
Here I'm working out the length and shape of the arms, and where the hands need to be.
The hands, carved from basswood, will hold the ends of the coat.
The 2 arms - yes, one is slightly longer than the other, it's just the way they worked out.
The
flickering light bulb inside his chest. At this point in the process, I
wasn't sure how much of the bulb I wanted to be seen. You can also see the cable housings for each arm.
His
body ready for paint. You can see the cable housing for the right arm
goes in his chest and down his left leg. And vise versa for the left.
His head, painted and ready for assembly.
His
chest during assembly. I thought I might just put a wire cage over the
bulb, but it looked odd. That's why you see decoupaged paper on the inside.
A test of the mechanism.
I opted for a thin piece of plastic with only a heart shape to reveal the flickering "flame" inside.
The
two levers that operate the cables. Because these are situated so very
close to each other, they each had to have a special connection, as you
can see.
The mechanism. I added a third cam that operates the light inside his chest.
His suitcase - made from a block of wood, some spare parts, and the cover of an old bible.
Here is the movie......watch full screen.
For higher quality you can watch it on YouTube here.
