It has taken some time, but I’ve finally been able to put together an appropriately awesome video of my commission for the Indianapolis Public Library, Central Branch! This piece, titled “Tomfoolery,” is getting lots of love at the library on a daily basis. Area Resource Manager for the library, Michael Williams, says, “Tomfoolery, the rolling ball sculpture created by artist Tom Harold, clearly brings a sense of wonder to every individual who stops to admire it. In a high traffic location…the sculpture is seen by hundreds of library visitors every day. [It] is a great and entertaining piece of art that truly excites the viewers. It stops many of them in their tracks and they clearly enjoy the time they spend watching it.”

That’s a pretty outstanding commendation to receive, and I’m very happy for it, as one might expect. As you’ll also see in the video below, there are photos and a few seconds of video of the piece being observed and eve fairly mobbed by children and adults. It really does my heart good to see it being enjoyed so much! Clearly, this rolling ball sculpture has gone to the perfect home.

If you’re wondering, the name “Tomfoolery” came from a couple of influences. One is from my general affinity for messing about with all kinds of mechanical contrivances, something I’ve been prone to since birth, as near as I can figure. Secondly, fittingly, and far less obvious, as a child I loved a book called “How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen,” by Russell Hoban. In the book there’s a boy named Tom who lives with his aunt and is constantly fooling around with all manner of castoff objects in myriad ways. His aunt sees this as a terrible occupation in life, but seems to be able to do nothing to stop it. To that end, she sends for the most famous master of fooling around that the world has ever known, Captain Najork! He arrives with seven hired sportsmen in a pedal boat, and the games begin! You’ll have to read the book to find out the ending, but, man, I love that book! So, this piece is in a library, I love books, I like to fool around, he’s Tom, I’m Tom. You see how this all comes together: perfectly!

There are more details about Tomfoolery on my web site. Below you can see the video in all its foolingaroundishness.

Thanks for dropping in, and if you’d like to check for available sculptures, check my gallery here. If you’re interested in commissioning your own custom piece, click here for commissions.