I was asked to do some work for Red Six Media in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Their plan was to create a Rube Goldberg type of machine for a TV commercial for ExxonMobil, and they needed some rolling ball sculpture elements to integrate into it. It sounded like an fun project, and I was definitely interested in the opportunity to put my work out in front of a larger audience.

As I worked on it, I considered the possibilities of the final outcome. You never know just how your work will be used, and I’ve seen situations where the end result hardly showed the contribution or presented it in such an odd fashion that it was hardly recognizable. I realized that my work could be edited down to 2 seconds and shot at an oblique angle that didn’t really present it well. This is just a reality of the job, and there’s not much you can do except hope for the best outcome and do your part to do the best work you can.

I just received a link to the completed commercial yesterday, 3/11/18, and I have to tell you that I am absolutely thrilled with how it turned out! Both of the pieces that I created for the commercial were used, and they got nearly ten seconds of time during a 30-second commercial! My work looks good in the video. You can tell exactly what it is, there are some cool closeups, and the counter weighted tipping arm that I made for it looks and works wonderfully!

I am thankful to Red Six Media for asking me to do the work, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to present my artwork in a commercial setting to a broader audience! The commercial begins airing today, and you an also see it on http://energygoesfar.com/ .

Here is a direct link to the video! https://vimeo.com/258747102/cf40f8cf08

Back in April I was contacted by a company that creates trade show displays. They had a particular display that needed a rolling ball sculpture as its main element. Time was short. They needed it turned around in just three weeks. Was I interested? After a few email exchanges to gather details, I accepted the commission and immediately got down to work.

The details for this piece were quite interesting. It needed to be hand fed from a funnel at the upper right, rear corner. The exit had to be in the center at the bottom, dropping the marble into a container furnished by the company. More unique were the dimensions: three feet tall, 16 inches wide for the main body, and only 6 inches deep! It also needed three or four “arms” that reached out at various points no greater than about five inches.

“It’s shaped like a grandfather clock,” the told me. That stuck with me as I built it, and I couldn’t help but think of it as a giant clock body the entire time. I knew it was going to be called Tick Tock before I ever finished it.

I completed the work on time and within budget. The client received the sculpture at their shop in Canada in perfect condition and sent me a very pleased email. Check out the video below to see what I created for them. If you need a rolling ball sculpture, something that is guaranteed to stop people in their tracks and keep them riveted to the spot, be it for a trade show, waiting room, hospital, museum, library or any such public or private venue, do get in touch with me at www.tomharold.com and let me know how I can help you. And if you enjoy the video, please do give it a thumbs up on Youtube. Thanks so much!

I had a couple of really cool things happen to me today that I wanted to share. First, as you can see above, I reached 1,000 followers on Instagram! Considering that I can’t tie my public awareness to any major films, television shows, hit records or even a shout out from my local newspaper, that’s really pretty damn good! If you’re not following me on IG, get on there and find out what all the fun is about! You get to see tons of in-progress shots and little video clips of me makin’ the marbles do their magic.

Secondly, remember that little bit up there about public awareness? Well, that’s changing! Right around the same moment that a guy on IG with the user name “highheeledchicken” was tapping the “Follow” icon, a web site called The Metagrobologist was featuring me on their web site! Metagrobology is the study of puzzles, so the site is all about studying and having fun with puzzles. Since there are many mechanical puzzles that are also very artful, and since my work contains puzzle-like features at times (“Can you figure out which track the marbles are going to take based on the various switches and paths that are available?) they felt it was a good fit. They called my work “amazing,” and “Really cool!” right here! It’s a pretty fun web site, and they take their puzzles both fun and seriously, both of which I can relate to very well! Stop in and have a look!

I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to keep up on the posts, but I’m improving! I actually didn’t realize I’d missed last week’s, so you get TWO this week! How cool is that? (Answer: Extremely!)

“Emerging” is a great little piece that has two spirals plus a fantastic coil. The frame on this piece is a particular favorite accent of mine, and I would not be at all surprised to see something similar show up on future pieces (hint!). This piece was priced at $200, a range I’m trying to maintain for this whole series of smaller pieces. Someone already likes it enough to have made it a permanent part of their home.

My most recent piece is “Trio,” a complete devotion to the ever-popular track element, the spiral. Giving it its name are three spirals of varying sizes. It has that wonderful hypnotic effect that somehow straddles the line between calming and energetic. This one is also priced at $200, and as of this writing still available. You may purchase it through my web site, www.tomharold.com.

Thanks again to those who continue to check in on my work and offer support! Assistance is always greatly appreciated in the form of forwarding my videos to anyone you feel may enjoy my work, as well as comments, and Likes. It means a lot!