Answered: Common Rolling Ball Sculpture Electronics Questions

Posted on November 17, 2017 by Tom Harold

While my sculptures are largely mechanically operated, some pieces do also employ electronics as well. I suppose that at times my artwork appears so complex and even chaotic that a person might think the electrical components are just as crazy, difficult, or possibly even dangerous. None of that is true, of course. I strive for safety, dependability and ease of maintenance with my electrical components and wiring. Electrically, my sculptures are easy to operate and as safe as any common household appliance.

Starting with safety, I use a grounded power cord for all of my sculptures to prevent any risk of electric shock. Wires running between switches and motors or other electronics is routed through the frame, out of sight. Connections for switches and motors are concealed inside enclosures that are secured by screws or other fasteners so as to be safe from casual, unwarranted interference, but easily accessible with simple tools. I source my parts from reputable retailers so that repair and replacement is simple, should that ever be necessary.

The enclosure at the base of this rolling ball sculpture houses the motor for the lift plus the main power wiring and switch wiring, making things safer and more pleasing to the eye. Electronics can be accessed from underneath via a cover plate attached with screws.

Providing power to the rolling ball sculpture is as simple as plugging it into a wall outlet. To bring it to life, you only need flip the power switch. The most common is the standard toggle switch, operating with an up/down flip like a wall outlet.

This is a toggle style power switch. The enclosure is welded to the sculpture. The wires travel through an access hole in the side of the enclosure into a corresponding hole in the frame of the sculpture itself, concealing them for safety and improved aesthetics.

Access to the power switch for the rolling ball sculpture is on the back side. Wiring is safely concealed from curious fingers, but easily accessed with a screwdriver.

However, let’s say you only want the sculpture to run for a few minutes at a time when a visitor requests it. In that case, a push button can be paired with a timer so that the sculpture comes on for a set amount of time and then automatically shuts off until the button is pressed again.

Let’s take the above scenario one step further. What if you want to locate your sculpture in the lobby of your pediatric dentistry, or a children’s hospital, or a library, but you want people to be able to interact with it? Under those circumstances, we can use a light sensor instead of a physical switch. All the viewer needs to do his wave his or her hand in front of the sensor and the sculpture will run for the specified period of time while remaining safe within its display. In this way, people would be free to interact with the sculpture, yet it would never be subject to distress or damage.

If you would like to be able to change the mood of the sculpture to fit your own. I can pair a rotary switch with a speed control so that you can influence the overall activity of your rolling ball sculpture, taking it from contemplative to energetic, as you please.

Do you have any other questions about my sculpture that I’ve not covered here or in another post? Click here and send me an email through my contact form. I’ll be happy to help you out.

New Video for “Tomfoolery” RBS at Indy Public Library

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Tom Harold

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.

Video for Ashely Longshore’s RBS Valentine’s Day Card!

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Tom Harold

There’s been such a flurry of activity lately that even though this work of art was completed all the way back in February, I didn’t get the video done until fairly recently. It’s a really cool little piece that has garnered accolades from someone big in the art world!

Ashley Longshore is considered to be THE pop art diva. Referred to as “Andrea Warhol,” the New Orleans painter has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Elle, Vogue, the Huffington Post, the New York Post and many others. Her clients include film, television, sports and rock stars. She has accomplished all of this without having gallery representation. Rather, she sells her work mainly via social media, especially using Instagram.

How do I fit in? Back in January Ashley posted on Instagram asking for people to send her valentines. I thought this might be a fun way to possibly connect with someone who works with the world of art marketing in the same way I am also pursuing it. I created her a folding metal card that opens up into a real rolling ball sculpture! I had no idea if she would pay attention to it at all, if I’d even get a reply, but it seemed like I might have a fair chance, as I was doubting anyone else would send her something remotely similar.

I sent it off and sort of forgot about it in the rush of other projects, but a few days after Valentine’s Day I got a comment on my Instagram from Ashely herself! The full comments are in the video, but, in part, she said, “omg!!!!!! This card is the COOLEST card on the planet!!!!!! I LOVE it! I will have it forever! u r awesome!!!!” That’s not quite an exact quote. I actually left out a lot more exclamation points!

I am so grateful for Ashley’s comments! And there are more! Below you can check out the video for the sculpture that is loved by one of the biggest names in pop art!

RBS Artist Interview Series – In production!

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Tom Harold

A month back I brought you a wonderful interview with the talented RBS artist Stephen Jendro. I stated at that time that I would be releasing one new artist interview every third Thursday of the month. While that was admirably ambitious on my part, I didn’t fully realize how challenging it would be. In order to bring you high quality material that I am gathering from all across the country (and perhaps around the world!), I’m going to have to slow down the timeline a bit. There’s lots happening in that expanded time frame, however!

While there will be a wait, I can honestly tell you it is going to be worth it. I’ve been using much of my time lately to interview two more amazing rolling ball sculpture artists and to come up with some really fascinating stories from each of them. I have also been lining up further interviews for the coming months with other stunningly talented artists. It’s really going to be amazing. I’m so stoked about the opportunity to bring this to you! These artists are helping to provide a look at the emergence of a modern art form in their own words. It’s fascinating! Plus, if you’re a creator, yes, there will be building tips thrown in as well. You know you love it!

This is a minor gear change, but it will be for the better. I look forward to bringing you some A+ material that’s really going to shed some light on the unique and fascinating world of rolling ball sculpture and those who make it!

Of course, none of this will affect blog posts on other topics related to my art. You can still expect to see those popping up, so stay tuned!

It’s a life’s calling, Part 2 – Interview with RBS artist Stephen Jendro

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Tom Harold

Last week introduced the first in a series of interviews I will be conducting with noted rolling ball sculptor artists from all over. I had realized that the art world and the world at large was missing out on a great deal of information about this wonderful art form and the amazing individuals who are creating it. I aim to change that with these interviews, to provide a fuller awareness and begin the process of creating an historical reference for future creators and fans of rolling ball sculpture.

I previously brought you part one of a wonderful interview with the talented Stephen Jendro in which he discussed how bad art leads to good art, working with the Titan IV rocket program, how the Watts Towers inspire framing and sculpture research at the dawn of the internet.

This week in part two Stephen will reveal his biggest challenge when building rolling ball sculpture, what stresses him out most about building RBS, tips for beginners, safety and problem solving. And the birds show up again.

TH: Aside from your welder, what is your favorite tool?

SJ: My little Pandora radio. Not much gets done without the tunes, seriously.

TH: What do you listen to?

SJ: Todd Snider, Tom Waits, Amos Lee, John Prine.

TH: In terms of building rolling ball sculpture, what do you enjoy most about the building process?

SJ: I think what I enjoy the most is that, in order to build one of these things there’s five or six different, discrete activities, and I enjoy them all, and I feel very lucky about that. It’s like the scenery changes. It’s not just one task. I could spend hours, days, sketching things out, whether it’s a new idea or a new sculpture, and that’s an activity unto itself –where I get to sketch and draw ideas. Then I get to physically go out and buy steel. I love doing that. I love going out and picking up steel and parts and bolts and washers. Continue reading →

It’s a life’s calling, Part 1 – Interview with RBS artist Stephen Jendro

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Tom Harold

Rolling ball sculpture is a fascinating, complex and relatively new art form. Currently, there are a number of outlets on the web from which one can mine information about it, but it is largely technical in nature. I have realized that the creators, the ones who breathe life into this wonderful form of kinetic expression, are often left in the shadows, information on them being provided only by a few scant “About Me” descriptions on web pages or random web posts. I have decided to do something about this lack of information, to shine some light on these wonderful creators, and in the process, to provide the world with a fuller view of the magnificent art of rolling ball sculpture.

To that end, I am pleased and excited to present you with the first in a series of interviews I will be publishing featuring highly talented rolling ball sculpture artists. Far more than simple “How’d you make that?” FAQs, these interviews will focus on each artist’s backgrounds, and their different abilities and experiences that have led them to this unique and captivating creative outlet. Yes, there will be technical information shared – I won’t go without missing that opportunity – but an equally valuable opportunity will be seized to present the artists and their art in as full a capacity as possible. The aim is to broaden the recognition and understanding of the artists and the art form itself. It’s a first of its kind literary and artistic project for rolling ball sculpture, and it’s going to be great stuff! There will be a new interview posted on the third Thursday of the month.

Our inaugural interview is with accomplished and skilled RBS artist Stephen Jendro. Stephen credits a childhood gift from an uncle with igniting his fascination with rolling ball sculpture. He has traveled the world, worked with rockets, owns 80 birds, and considers singer/songwriter Todd Snyder to be an important tool in the work shop. But how does this add up to amazing kinetic art? Read on to find out!

TH: Where are you from?

SJ: Carnation Washington, about 20 mi east of Seattle where Carnation sweetened condensed milk comes from. I was born in southern CA and then the family moved to New Zealand and then Australia when I was a kid. Then I came back to southern California. So I was educated in the British schooling system, but I’m an American.

TH: What were your big interests when you were younger?

SJ: Plastic train tracks when I was two. When I was four I got an Erector set. I remember building a Ferris wheel when I was four. I remember that once I realized the nuts went on the bolts, it was amazing. You could connect stuff! And then Lego, lots of Lego and slot car sets. Things with tracks and motors and kineticism, lots of slot car tracks. Later, a lot of skateboarding. When I think about all the skateboarding I did, I realize that I was the marble!

TH: Did you have any schooling in the arts?

SJ: No. A friend called me “autodidactic.” I got out of high school and went straight to work, and I’m self taught on everything.

TH: What is your day job?

SJ: I’ve been at Microsoft for 15 years as a web site manager and web site producer.

TH: When did you first discover rolling ball sculpture?

SJ: When I was ten my uncle brought home a brass rod rolling ball sculpture that I think he got in San Francisco. That was a good place for that kind of art in the 70s. It had one-inch steel balls, and I played with it way more than any normal child would play with it. And here we are forty years later, and I can still remember – I could build that thing from memory, and as a matter of fact, I might build that thing from memory yet.

TH: Do you know who built it?

SJ: No, I’ve tried and tried. If I had to guess I’d say it was a Stan Bennett. I do remember that it was brass or bronze rod, and it had a name on it, but it had little people – little weld-dots out of leftover pieces of rod, a blob for the head and blobs for the hands. They were just stuck on there. But I have no idea who really did it.

TH: What do you recall really drew you to that sculpture? Continue reading →

Sculpture completed: Flying Hulls!

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Tom Harold

I have been waiting forever and a day to post this for you:

Flying Hulls, a rolling ball sculpture customized to the client’s wishes based on a passion for sailing.

I’ve had to sit on this for about two months now! This rolling ball sculpture commission was created as a Christmas gift for a spouse. The two share a passion for sailing, and I was excited about this the moment the client asked, “Can you do something shaped like a sailboat?” Yes! Yes, I can!

Themed pieces can be very challenging, but they also allow me to stretch out and force me to think in different ways. I could immediately imagine designing a frame shaped like a sailboat, and once the client emailed me a photo of their catamaran I knew it would be perfect.

The overall design took careful consideration of the appropriate number, size and shape of the sales as well as the placement of the mast. These are details that I feel are extremely important, as I believe the client will get a greater amount of enjoyment from a work that more closely matches their own vessel. In addition, I curved the outer edges of the sail so that they look as if they are filled with air.

Of course, a catamaran with its sails filled is hardly sitting still. One of the wonderful things the client provided for me as part of my initial research was a video of them on the boat sailing it. I learned from that their practice of “flying hulls,” where the boat only has one of its twin hulls in the water at a time, leaned over from the force of a strong wind, jetting along at speed.

Once I had that image in my head I couldn’t get it out, and the idea of placing the frame of the boat level was just not going to do. I had to make it more dynamic. I had to give it visual motion even as it sat still! I decided I would kick up the frame as I had seen, leaning it up on a single hull. It required a bit more work, yes, but it looks so much better!

I suppose I could go one forever about the creation of it, but I tend to get a little wrapped up in what I do. There were many fun and even frustrating challenges in creating this piece, but it turned out wonderfully, and I was given a wonderful Christmas gift in return: a video of the new owner opening up his present on Christmas day! It was SO cool to see his face as he opened the box!

Now I’ll let you all take a look at it in action! Thanks for reading, and if you do enjoy the video, please give it a thumbs up on Youtube and/or a comment. I greatly appreciate your support!

Invitation and Publication

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Tom Harold

Tom Harold Rolling Ball Sculpture gues post.

The Metal Store published my guest blog post, a brief history of my career with photos and video.

Several weeks back on one of my Facebook groups a post popped up about guest blogging. The writer of the post was looking to create content for a metal supply company’s blog and called for offers from artists. I jumped at the chance. It was a fun way to share a little more about my work and make sure my message was going out to the right crowd.

I wrote an article about my piece Tillander, as I’d just completed it. I sent it off, and the blog manager wrote back and said, “We like it, but do you think you could write more of an introductory piece about yourself, and then we’ll run the other a bit later?” Two articles? Yes!

Today the first article was published. It’s a nice little piece that details my general background from youth up until present day, an examination of the somewhat meandering path that got me to where I am now. It’s all original writing, so you’ll see nothing else like it anywhere on my web site. You can click here for my art career post on The Metal Store’s blog.

I hope you enjoy the post, and thanks for supporting my art!

Tillander – Another Rolling Ball Sculpture Completed!

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Tom Harold

It’s amazing, and it’s finished!!!!

I love to be able to announce that I’ve completed another rolling ball sculpture! There are a lot of feelings that come with finishing a new work: gratitude, happiness, pride, relief, maybe a bit of loss, and I don’t know what all else. That gratitude thing, though, that’s a big one. When I was younger I was often so afraid the finished piece would not be “good enough,” not be perfect, that I never finished it. I didn’t even see my problem for what it was. I’d just get to a point where I was anywhere between 50% and maybe even 90% of the way done with something, and I’d put it down and never quite get back to it.

In my high school art class I got lower grades than I should have simply because a lot of my work was not complete when I handed it in. There were even plenty of projects – art and otherwise – that I never started or took part in because I was afraid my end result would not be good enough. I missed out on a lot that way. The fear of what I perceived as failure was powerful in those days. Eventually, however, I got sick and tired of things, and I desired a change badly enough that I started doing things differently.

That was several years ago, and I still have a good perspective on my old way of (not) doing things versus how I choose to live now. I’ve realized that my perceived ruinous flaws were just poor perspective. I still do the best I can at all times, but now I don’t create impossible standards for myself. Allowing myself to be human allows me to get more work done, which, in turn, allows me to improve even more. Every time I finish a piece of art now it becomes another fabulous and concrete way of physically telling myself, “You’re not living that way anymore. You’ve made changes, and look at how awesome this is!”

Tillander is a wonderful piece of art that stands as further proof that there are big benefits in casting aside a belief in perfectionism. I’m so happy to be scheduling delivery of this piece to my clients! They had the idea to put the air plant terrariums in the sculpture. I thought it was an absolutely kickass idea, so much so that I named the sculpture after the scientist who discovered the plant type. The terrarium idea wound up creating a number of challenges during construction, but I dealt with them one by one, perfectionism be damned, and I think the result really is fantastic. The green of the plants reaching out from inside the twisting, shiny metal really has a wonderful effect, and the round glass spheres of the terrariums complement the curving paths of the marbles perfectly.

Below I present a video of the completed piece. If this piece inspires some thoughts for a rolling ball sculpture that you’d like to commission for your home or office, please click here and send me a message. I’d love to hear your ideas!

Challenging designs

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Tom Harold

Some years back when this blog started, it wasn’t about rolling ball sculpture. It wasn’t even focused chiefly on art! It *was* focused on creativity, and that aspect of it will always be alive and well. Today’s entry is a great example.

This week I had my monthly metalsmith meetup group. It’s a great opportunity to get together with some other artists and swap ideas. Our focus this month was on Design – big “D.” How did we approach design and what sorts of ideas and considerations were part of our design process?

It very often (Maybe all the time?) looks like I just grab some wire, and with total abandon and complete lack of planning, just start a-bendin’ and a-weldin’ and somehow magic happens. In some instances, yeah, I just kind of throw caution to the wind, but lots of times I really am following some sort of plan and working within parameters.

I have one piece in particular which always comes to mind when I think about planning and design, and I brought said piece to the meetup with me. Here is its most basic component:

Maybe not much with just one piece…

I went through a series of months where I was on a self-wrought mission to create one new piece of sculpture a week. Given that I work a day job, that’s a huge challenge, and I had to figure out a way to do things more quickly. I had to come up with new construction techniques and ideas and…designs.

The track section above came to my mind when I tried to think of the simplest, quickest and most efficient way to create track. Actually, I could simplify it a bit more, but I think it would have lost some coolness, so I made this piece! After I made this piece I made:

Many pieces…

So now I had lots of pieces of track. It was so simple it just felt brilliant! It was like a jigsaw puzzle you could put together any way you wanted, and you got a cool image when you were done! (Do they make those puzzles? The should!) I started fitting them this way and that, having fun and getting to literally see what the track was going to do as a completed piece (a fair bit, anyway), before any welding took place. Pretty cool!

Once I’d mocked it up in my head I got down to the hard part and made it reality. Behold, Dropping In:

Add some creativity, a lot of hard work, and voila!

Um, I *might* have lost some simplicity and speed somewhere, because you’ll notice the incredibly cool(!) uprights that I fashioned. Those took a long time to make, involving the measuring, cutting and fitting of lots of little pieces along with a complex welding process to get the three-sided tower completed.

It was a great overall success, however. I made a stunning piece that uses NO curved track AT ALL! It’s the only piece of created to date of that kind. It uses very carefully leveled track so that the marble does not roll too fast, which was not an easy task to accomplish. The results are very pleasing, however, and well worth the effort.

As of the writing of this post, Dropping In is still available. If you’d like to learn more about it and see video of it in action, click here. If you have any questions about it, or would like me to create something along these lines but customized for your particular wants and needs, send me a message here.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to drop back in for more art updates. I appreciate your enthusiasm for my work!

Tom Harold

Writing on creativity and rolling ball sculpture

Tag Archives: Rolling Ball Sculpture