Author Archives: Tom Harold

New Sculpture video “Subside-to-Side,” and It’s Been Too Long!

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Friends and family – or maybe just friends, I won’t make any assumptions on my readership – I apologize for having been away from the blog for…nearly a whole year! It’s ridiculous. I don’t have any good excuses. Are there any GOOD excuses? Act of God might count, I suppose. Death, but that would curtail my writing permanently. Not too many others.

I can safely say that my time away has been due to two things. One, being pretty busy with “real life” stuff, which doesn’t quite cover all the free time I’ve had. And two, being somewhat overwhelmed by a lot of talk/advice I’ve read around the interwebs about “growing your audience through blogging.” I’m still confused by what it all means, and the more I think about it and try to come up with what it seems I should be writing, the longer the expanse of time grows between that last blog post and this one.

I’m kind of tired of it, the not writing. I’ve actually been very hard at work with the art, and I’d like to tell you guys about it. Maybe I’ll never figure out how to write the perfect blog post that will drive seven million people to my blog, half of which will look at my site, one-sixteenth of whom will write me once with a question, and one percent of that who will either buy something from me or hire me to do a commission.

Know what? Those numbers are probably all too high. Even if there were seven million people, the following numbers, I have been told, are far, far, FAR lower, which is why you’re supposed to craft perfect blog posts. *sigh* Get it?

At any rate, how about I just let you know what’s up around the ol’ fantabulous art factory? There have been several new pieces I’ve created since June of last year. I’ve done “#30 Molar” for a dentist’s office in Indianapolis, and following that there was an amazing whirlwind of creativity and lack of sleep and sweat that resulted in “Meer-col,” both of which are viewable below.

Following the completion of “Meer-col” the holidays rolled in, and it was hard to get much done. Wait! That’s not true at all! I completely forgot about a set of still figures I did just for fun and as a change of pace. I still have a few of them left. I’ll blog about those separately, as they seem to deserve it, but suffice to say that they are little people around 3″ tall that have marbles as heads. Their bodies and attending accoutrements are of stainless steel, mostly 1/8″ rod like my rolling ball sculptures, but also some smaller wire as well as some flat sheet here and there.

Following my still figures and the end of the holidays I decided it was high time to get back to work on rolling ball sculpture. I had purchased a small batch of special hand made marbles. After looking over them carefully I realized that they were ideally suited for small sculptures. In addition, I have been wanting to increase the rate of growth of my portfolio. The larger pieces are wonderful, but they can take several months of free time to complete. I wanted to experiment with doing smaller works as well as make a statement about my abilities in completing a project in a shortened frame of time. These smaller pieces would also be an opportunity for those with smaller budgets – or display space – to take part in my art work.

To that end I have been working at a somewhat fevered pace and have completed several sculptures since I began in January. Making the videos takes its own time, so that has lagged a bit, but I’ve finally gotten my resources together for that work as well, and I am now able to present to you a completed video of one of the small pieces, titled “Subside-to-Side,” as well as a teaser at the end showing two of the other works that will soon have their own feature videos. I do hope you enjoy them.

“Subside-to-Side” is the first piece in which I’ve utilized sequential ball drops as their own element. They turned out quite nicely, and I think they figure well against the spirals at the beginning and end. It is listed on my web site and available for sale, so drop in and have around. Enjoy!

“Opportunity” Rolling Ball Sculpture Completed!

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It has taken me nearly a year and a half to create, but my largest, most ambitious rolling ball sculptured, “Opportunity,” is finally complete! A commission received back in November of 2011 started the whole project moving. Since it was of a size and scope that I’d not tackled before, I had to make some adjustments. I had to tear out a shower that someone had built in my basement back in the 60s. I had to install more shop lighting. I had to build a wooden frame onto which I could mount the sculpture as I built it. There was a lot of work to be done before any work got done!

Finally, however, it got down to the real sculpture work, and I learned how to square a frame and how to weld a frame without having it tweak itself out of alignment. That was the barest tip of the iceberg in all the learning experiences I had with this piece, and some of them felt extremely unpleasant. I’m the wiser for it, however, and even when things seemed at their worst, even when I welded something on and then hated it and wanted to tear it off (friends said leave it alone, so I did, and they were right), I kept moving forward and the end result is nothing short of fantastic!

This piece is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to build when I first laid eyes on Eddie Boes’ “Island Exploration” video. It’s the sort of work I’ve been dying to do even when I was first learning on copper at my dining room table. I was able to push myself farther, create more, show the world more of what I am capable of building than with anything previous. And you know what? I’ve still barely scratched the surface. This one is wonderful, and I am happy and proud to have completed it, but if you think I’m going to rest on my laurels, well, you couldn’t be more wrong.

The response to this video has, in the space of hardly a week, been outstanding for me personally. Over 1,000 views already, and it hasn’t stopped! Please take a look, share it with friends and add a comment if you like. It would be a big help toward me pursuing my art and creating even grander pieces.

Finally getting back to work!

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It has been quite a while since I last posted, and that’s not by choice. Of course, the holidays bring with them the usual bustle of various sorts, but that had little to do with my step away from here and from the shop. The cause of it all goes way back to my teenage years when I was in a car accident and cracked a vertebra in my neck. (Note: Always wear your seat belts, kids!)

As time has passed, the old injury on occasion makes itself known to me. This time it happened because I was talking on the phone too long with the phone crooked between ear and shoulder. I know not to do this, but sometimes it slips my mind. It started bothering me, so I put the phone on speaker, but apparently all had been undone already, as I awoke in the middle of the night with my neck screaming in pain. I’d done myself a number good this time, and for weeks on end all I could do was lie flat on my back or sit upright and look straight ahead. No health insurance meant I couldn’t just run off to the doc for a checkup. I also was out of work, because I could hardly do a thing physically. I finally went to a chiropractor with the help of some family intervention, and things began to improve. I am now 50% better according to the doc, but it feels like 80%. It’s definitely better than when any movement at all sent jabs of pain up my neck and how sometimes all the muscles in my left arm would start jittering.

The doc said I could finally start doing things again if I took it easy, so today for two hours I worked on the big sculpture commission I’ve been working on for the past thirteen months. It needs a different motor put on for the lift, so I am working on the retrofit. I worked carefully, and there was only one point when my fingers started tingling (pinched nerves in your neck make your fingers go numb), so I stopped what I was doing and moved the work around.

It wasn’t a huge day as far as sculpture progress, but it was a huge day for my own progress. I hope to be back to getting some real work done soon. I hope to get this big sculpture finished so all of you here can check it out! I also have a new commission that I got back in late November that I would love to build and show off as well. That one is going to be pretty special with some very unique elements added to it that I’ve never seen on any RBS ever. Fun stuff in store, so stay tuned!

New Sculpture Video! It’s a Ringer.

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I am excited to report that I have recently completed a small rolling ball sculpture. This piece had several new challenges for me. For starters, it is a very small piece, measuring 6″x11.5″x6.5″. That’s not a lot of space in which to make things interesting! To accomplish that I used several pieces of scrap steel that I claimed out of the scrap heap at work. Visually, this piece has some real fun stuff going on.

Secondly, the sculpture is composed entirely of mild steel, which means it will rust if not coated with something that serves as a moisture barrier. I could have used standard paint, but that would wear away after a while where the marble rolls. Plus, regular paint just isn’t what I wanted to use, and I didn’t want it to change the color of the metal. I really wanted it to not look like it was painted! It took some internet searching, some phone calls, some driving, plus a little hit-and-miss investigation, but I feel fortunate to have found a place that was actually excited about taking on my odd little challenge to them: “See, it has this marble that rolls around, and the marble hits one part and rings. It has to keep that ring even after it has been painted.” They actually got a kick out of that whole idea, gave me a nice trial price to allow me to test their electrostatic paint process, and I’m pleased to say this thing looks fantastic! You can’t tell it has been painted, and the ring is great! Things went so well I am planning on doing a series of these pieces priced right around $175.

At any rate, I’ll let the video fill in all the blanks. Likely you are really curious to see what I’m fussing about.

Dremel Finishing Abrasives for Metal Sculpture

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I have been experimenting with several different small abrasive buffs for my Dremel. I used these to clean up the discolored spots on a welded stainless steel sculpture as I wanted this piece to look rather uniform in color. I took the time to make notes on which ones I liked for my own reference, but it occurs to me that others may benefit from this information, so I decided to make a post out of it. As with anything of this nature, you may have different preferences as far as finish goes. These are the tools I tried and my impression of how they suited my needs. Maybe it will give you a good start in your search for some appropriate abrasives for your project.

NOTE: When I reference “my finish” I should state that the sculpture pieces were individually cleaned with a scrub pad before they were welded together. The piece overall had a satin sort of look to it, so this was what I was looking to duplicate when cleaning weld joints.

Dremel 512E – Fine Grit (320) Buff – Good results. Removes discoloration acceptably and leaves a clean satin finish that is close to the finish already present on my sculpture.

Dremel EZ473 SA – 220 Grit Detail Brush – This tool looks like a fan wheel made of curved rubber fingers. It leaves a clean satin finish. It does not seem to remove any metal. It gets some spots that a buff cannot reach, but it misses others. It is rather durable and lasts a fair while, probably as long as a buff or possibly a bit longer. It is acceptable as a buff substitute.

Dremel 530 – Stainless Steel Brush – This tool has stiff bristles and looks just like a tiny wire wheel. (Dremel makes a standard steel brush, but don’t use it on a stainless as it will discolor the metal and contaminate it as well.) The stainless steel brush works well on tough spots, but the brush itself is narrow and touches only a small area. It is not good for large areas as you end up with a brindled or sort of tiger-stripe look when trying to even out the appearance of the finish. It will get in narrow spaces well.

Dremel 511E – Package combines one Medium on Coarse Abrasive Buff – Why they don’t sell just

New sculpture video!

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I am very pleased to announce that I have completed a video of my latest sculpture, Triangle Twist. This is the first all-steel piece that I have completed and the first to have a decent quality video made of it as well. It is all stainless steel with 1/8″ rod for the main track plus some stouter rod for the pyramid frame. I also threw in some perforated sheet stainless for some fun visual variety. Take a look below, and feel free to comment and let me know what you think. If you care to purchase this piece, you may find further information on my main site here: http://tomharold.com/works/948091/triangle-twist

You may also subscribe to my Youtube channel for future video updates, and I have a Facebook page that you can “like” for other info as well.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy the video.

Making Changes, Moving Forward

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It has been long coming that I made some changes in my web presence. To that end I have put together a site dedicated solely to representing finished pieces of my art, both past and those awaiting homes. It is currently located here. The new site will enable those who want to purchase my art a simple way to access it, make inquiries and purchases. You, my wonderful readers, will still be able to come here and read about my musings on creativity and overcoming obstacles in the creation of art. For clarity, I’ll state: the blog is not going away! It will continue as it always has, but with the added feature of being a communication arm of my art site. I will be making some changes to the appearance of the blog as well, but that will not affect the content or my delivery of it in any way.

In other news, I am working hard on completing another piece of sculpture. It’s smaller in size and easily fits on a desktop. I have plenty of pics and will post a write up and photos as soon as I am able. This one was not commissioned and will be available for sale to the general public, so check back in to see what I’ve cooked up!

Getting things done

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Doing this kind of work, lots of times there just isn’t “the way that it’s done.” Sure, there might be “a” way that it’s done, but not “the” way. And lots of times a way that worked before won’t work again, because something else is different, like now you’re against a wall whereas before you had plenty of space behind the thing, or before you had plenty of running room following the thing you want to do, but this time you only have, say, three inches, and the ball will be going much to fast to make that happen, whatever “that” or anything else may be.

I’m sure you get my point. Lots of times I take photos for my own remembrance of things…although cataloging them would probably be an excellent idea. Well, never mind that for now, at least many of them are showing up here. Matthew Gaulden and Vic Chaney both mentioned specifically that it’s important to write down how you figured out a way to solve a problem, because lots of times you come across that same problem again, but you can’t remember how you solved it the first time!

Here’s a common problem: holding a couple things together so they can be welded. I solved it in a rather unstupendous but quick and easily repeatable way. I used a bunch of my steel blocks (again I say “YES” to my wonderful habit of picking these things up on instinct whenever I run across one) and just stacked them all up so they would hold these two pieces of solid bent rod in alignment long enough for me to tack weld them.

It’s really hard to see (I congratulate myself on making a very close joint!), but look at the small stretch of rod that is closest to the table’s surface and positioned between the two sets of blocks. If you look closely you can see the parting line where those two pieces have yet to be welded. It turned realllllly nicely, I am very happy to say. That doesn’t always happen. It worked, though, and this thing now holds up a couple of different pieces of the sculpture, including two loops from the loop-the-loop section. It holds up some neater stuff that I’ll show a bit later. Until then, best of luck in your creative pursuits.

rolling ball sculpture construction

First paid publication! Huzzah!

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In the midst of some not-so-great stuff happening (more on that in another post – totally going to ignore it for now), I have had one definitely awesome thing happen. As of today I am a physically verifiable paid and published fiction author! Sweet!

Now, this has all been in the works for quite some time, but I never mentioned much of it. I sent my story “Scratch” out in early July to an Indiana horror authors anthology. No dice, as it needed to be more toward the R- or NC-17-rated end of the scale. I sent it to another publisher shortly thereafter, RuneWright, to their “Best Served Cold” anthology, which was focusing on the idea of vengeance, which my story seemed to fit. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to get an acceptance in August. I was very happy about that, but as acceptance by no means guarantees publication (and I’ve had the personal experience of a deal falling through in the past), I didn’t think it was quite time to start celebrating just yet.

On November 17th I got paid real money (five dollah!) for the story. I thought this was pretty awesome, not for the amount, but for the intent shown by the publisher and editor. Still, I remain overly cautious about these things. I’ve heard to many tales of disappointment. So even while I was rolling in cash and buying all the gumballs I could get with my five dollars, I was still hesitant to say anything. Part of this was due to the fact that the anthology had been scheduled to be released in August, and November is clearly not August. I was afraid I’d just keep hanging it out there for you guys, and then having to pull it back, and that’s only entertaining for about maybe one second, two tops. I do understand that small presses are often understaffed (to the tune of a single person handling all duties), making setbacks the norm. I just didn’t want to drag things out on the ol’ blog here.

I was further encouraged when I received an email at the end of November telling me my contributor copy was on its way. (Note: It’s a nice deal to get both payment and the contributor copy, as if you don’t, you pretty much wind up spending your little payment on your own copy of the book, which sort of means you didn’t really get paid, because the book usually costs as much or more than your payment, but I digress.) Still being incredibly wary (I’d waited a year for an accepted piece to be published whereupon the anthology wound up being canceled. I have my reasons for wariness!) I kept my mouth shut and waited. Today was a day of days, however, and it was with much glee that I went to my front door this afternoon, peeked through the blinds, and saw a book-shaped cardboard box sitting on my porch. I hurried out there, swiped it off the porch, brought it inside, ripped the tape off it, and here’s what I have:

Best Served Cold

And so, kids, it has come to pass that I, Tom Harold, can now honestly say that I am a paid, published fiction author. After a year of putting the word “pending” near those other words, it’s nice to be able to lay that to rest. Awesome!

Naturally, I am going to offer you the ability to purchase this sweet affirmation of my efforts. Follow the nifty link above or right here to navigate over to RuneWright and order a copy in either digital or traditional print format. I have not had a chance yet to read the other stories, but I am looking forward to seeing what else is in store.

Update: More writing, more submitting, more rejections

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I got, I think, three rejections this past week. I’m not sure. Maybe it was one the week before, and two this past week. I guess it doesn’t matter. Anyway, the good thing is that people are reading my work, even if they don’t like it or at least don’t want it. The thing is that it’s getting out there. I told a friend of mine today, “If you don’t submit, you a zero percent chance of getting published. Therefor, if you do submit, your odds of being published immediately increase, even if you’re up against three hundred other people.”

I was reading a great interview with novelist James Lee Burke today in Writer’s Digest. He said, “Never let a manuscript stay at home longer than 36 hours. It’s that simple. You keep it in the mail, and if you do not you are ensured to fail…because you’re not a player. The manuscript’s sitting in your desk drawer. It’s never going to be published. And that’s how you do it. And you’re always a player. In other words, you write it as well as you can, you let God be the judge of it, don’t worry about critics and rejection.”

I suppose I’m not super jazzed about getting rejections, but Burke received 111 rejections on ONE SINGLE MANUSCRIPT before it was published. It took nine years for “The Lost Get-Back Boogie” to find a publisher, but once it did it was nominated for a Pulitzer.

I don’t know if I have Pulitzer material in me, but I’m taking Lee’s points to heart all the same. My odds of getting published are far worse if I’m not putting my work out there, and I need the odds in my favor as much as possible. Even better, the more I write, the more I’ll improve, and those odds will rise even more. Not a bad deal if you think about it.

My stats at Duotrope’s Digest say that I now have written 14 pieces since June of this year, and that I’ve submitted 36 times (which leaves out one submission that Duotrope doesn’t have listed). This weekend I sent out two rejected stories to two new markets, plus I finished a story this evening, found a market, and sent that one out as well. Tomorrow begins work on another story. After all, I only have a week to write it. And who knows, maybe this next one will turn into something special, or maybe I’ll at least learn a bit more about perseverance and patience – both good qualities to foster when writing.