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I finally got back to work on some rolling ball sculpture. I think I meant to do this two whole months ago. Progress is slow, but it is progressing. These are some of the parts for the marble lift assembly. I think I screwed something up, but I’ll fix it. You’ll never know!
After many weeks of deliberation and second-guessing and fearing for the worst, Tuesday night I finally set about putting the finishing touches on the rolling ball sculpture for which my friend Tina made the base. Getting some help on a base was a new twist on my sculpture building, short though its history may be. By the time Tina was finished I was so pleased with the results I was just certain that I was going to do something to horribly wreck the end result.
I didn’t like the most obvious method to me, which was to tie it down with wire through holes drilled in the base. Tina, of course, was totally fine with that, but I wasn’t. Being a fix-it/mechanic/backyard engineer, I had half a dozen concepts in my head for better ways to do it, ways that seemed classier, ways that would look better, and ways that might function better. These ways, these many awesomely-conceived and clever ways, generally involved materials that weren’t readily available (tiny U-bolts anyone?), methods that were time-consuming (fashioning custom brass feet interlocking with routed cutouts and countersunk brass screws), or stupid expense (back to those custom tiny U-bolts again).
I decided once and for all to use the wire and just accept the fact that, at this point, it was my best option both in terms of ability and expediency (after I mulled it over and fretted about it for four or six weeks…or, um, eight weeks, of course).
Tuesday night I picked up the drill. It was scary. I was going to drill a hole in this carefully executed bit of wooden artwork that Tina had created for me. Visions of a slip of the hand and the drill bit skittering across its surface, gashing the tongue-oiled brilliance of the piece went through my head. Yeah, that was what was going to happen, I was sure of it. Definitely. No other possible way out of it. Oh, well, there was one other: I was going to drill crooked holes with terrible burrs at the edges and the result would be so distracting as to make the piece as a whole just look like a hack-job.
Okay, maybe there was one other possible outcome: it would be fine, but I wasn’t betting on that one, at least not the noisiest part of my brain.
However, I listen to that quiet part of my brain more these days, the part that says, “Yeah, you know, there IS a possibility that things could go wrong, but, dude, you’ve drilled HOW many holes in your life? I mean, really, give yourself a little credit. You’re going to make reference in the divots before you start, and you’re one of the most ridiculously careful people on earth. You’ve stacked the odds in your favor that you can succeed at this. Just take a deep breath, and do the work. The results will be what they’re supposed to be, and that’s okay.”
So, having made my reference marks and double-checked everything four times (that’s eight checks total, right?) I fired up the trusty Skil cordless and went to work. Once the holes were drilled I went to work underneath with my fabulous rotary tool and routed out room for the twists of wire that would hold everything down tight. I should have take a picture of this part, but I completely forgot about it for once. I guess that’s a sign of how driven I was to finish the thing.
I feel very fortunate in that there really were no major snags. The wire ended up being pretty decent as a fastening concept, and I only had to cut and redo one attempt. I soldered everything on the underside so that it will hopefully never come loose. Then I put on a sheet of adhesive cork that Tina provided so that the base won’t scratch anything.
Here it is, and it’s fantastic!
Overall shot.
I don't have video, but here's a shot of it in action.
Detail shot of Tina's work and the mount for one of the feet.
I’m glad to have finally completed this one, and I thank Tina for making it really stand out. The other day I saw a notice online for a local art show that is having an open call for art work, and I think I may send a photo in of this one and see what happens with that. It may be that I can use this as an opportunity to meet some other folks who enjoy this kind of art.
Man, I’ve now finished up two creative efforts within the space of a week. Last Sunday was the novel, and then Thursday night I finished up this sculpture. I sure am glad I took some time out for myself to work on my projects. I’m feeling a little better about things now.
On a related note, weeks ago I was talking with a friend of mine about my sculpture work, and she said, “You know, my ex-husband used to do work with metal stuff, and I have a whole roll of copper sheet sitting around that I was going to throw away. Do you want it?”
I had a bit of a coughing fit for a moment, and then I accepted. See, metals have shot up in price (along with all kinds of other stuff) in the past couple of years. I had just been thinking about buying some copper sheet and trying it out with my sculptures, but I was a little concerned about the expense.
For a few weeks there were a bunch of missed connections meeting up with my friend again, but on Saturday a group of us were out for lunch, and she said, “Hey, guess what? I made sure to put the copper in the right car today. I have it for you!”
She hadn’t told me much about it except that it was “a roll of copper sheet.” When we got it out of the trunk, this is what I found I’d been bequeathed:
You may notice that this copper looks rather yellow. I did too. I said, “It looks to me like this may be brass.” She said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that.” I happily told her it was no problem, that brass would solder up to copper just as easily as the identical metal, and, in fact, I’d already started doing as much with my spare harmonica reed plates. I was totally jazzed and thanked her.
Later that night I went to take it downstairs. It was heavy. I mean, she really had given me a bunch of material. I got curious and laid it on the bathroom scale. Twelve pounds! That’s a lot of brass! I don’t know how many feet there are of it, but let’s just say I’m not going to be running out of it any time soon. It’s heavy gauge stuff too, so I’ll be able to fashion plenty of supporting objects out of it. It’s really good stuff!
I used to think that things like this just happened to people who were “lucky,” but these days it seems to me that if I put out the message of what I’m interested in, what I enjoy, what I’m working on, then things like this happen in turn. I’ve been operating under that idea for a little while now, and it’s been interesting what sorts of things have shown up in my life because of it. I see no point in changing tactics. Now, I wonder what would happen if I went around saying, “I want to write for a living” to everyone I ran into? Hmmm…
Stay creative!
Tina finished her work on the RBS base, and it’s great! Check it out!
All that’s left now is for me to mount it to said base and it’s done! (Hmmm…why is it that finishing stuff always sounds a little scary?)
Anyway, enjoy Tina’s pics, and I’ll be back with the final installment on this as soon as possible!
Stay creative.
Tina is working away on the base for my latest RBS. She’s done a bit o’ blogging on it, and I thought you might like to see what she’s got on her plate right now. This is a lot more involved than I’d originally imagined it would be. I appreciate that she’s working so hard at it.
Here from earlier: http://tinahanagan.com/2009/04/08/rbs-progress/
And here from just this week: http://tinahanagan.com/2009/04/13/its-all-about-the-circles/
I had fun decorating Easter eggs with the fam over the recent weekend, and hope to have some pics up for that as well as the Dyngus Day gig I did down in Bloomington, Indiana with some band friends – much hilarity in costuming on that one!
Stay creative, folks.
Way back when I started on this rolling ball sculpture stuff I got this idea that it would be fun and cool to use old gears and bits of other things to construct the ball lift that I wanted on my sculpture. I got even more interested in doing this when I found out that custom made brass gears cost around forty bucks a piece(!). I dug around on eBay and found old clock parts that looked fantastic. I could get a bag of them for about seventy bucks, but I would have so many, I could use them for all sorts of stuff and it would offset the initial cost in the long run.
I managed to dig a couple of gears out of the collection that would kind of work with the chain I had ordered. It would take some doing, but I could make it happen. Besides, it would look cool, really, really cool. A while back I started actually trying to assemble all of this gack into an operable Electroencardioshnooks, and found out that one of the pieces was going to need some machining done on it. It was just a gear with a shaft. I needed the shaft turned down at one end to mount the whole thing on a bracket.
So I began looking for a machine shop somewhere in my area, which isn’t easy to find. There was one down the street from my office (way out past the west side of town), but my job was too small for them to take on. They told me to go into downtown to have it done, which would have meant I’d have to take half a day off work to do it, which I didn’t want to do. So, I kept looking. I finally found a place not too far from my house, and the beauteous thing of it was that the joint opened at 7am, meaning I could go there on my way to work. Awesome.
I went. I explained what I needed. No problem, I was told. Happy to do it, and won’t cost more than twenty bucks.
Okay, twenty bucks I can handle. It was one job.
Guy calls me middle of that day. The shaft broke as they were trying to machine it. It’s an odd size. They need to order more material to replace it. They won’t be able to have it to me for a week. I say, use something larger and just bore out the gear to fit it. They guy, probably not wanting to do the extra work on such a little job, says that he can get the stuff in to do it right, and it won’t be more than twenty bucks. Okay, I’m not in a rush.
I go back a week later. I show up and I’m asked if “they got it done.” Huh? You were the guys that told ME to show up today. I’m assuming it’s done. A quick check is made. It’s not done. Come back tomorrow. Fine. Tom leaves, not all that jazzed.
Tom goes back today. Job is done! Happy. Guy explains job. Due to the existing gears on the shaft and how they were assembled, it turns out that the shaft required was larger anyway, so they had to use a bigger one (negating my wait time on that material from the past week). Hey, these things happen, but it’s still only twenty bucks, right? Nope, it’s twenty-five. By this time I’m just happy to have it in my hands and be done with it. I’m still glad I have it, but I’m a little more glad that it’s just finally all over with.
How much is a miniature lathe, anyway? Maybe it’s time I just cut out the middle man.
This simple little piece ate up weeks of time. It happens when you want to make nifty custom things.
In other news, I’m working on the novel. Again. Still. It’s looking like I’m nearing and end on this thing, which is good. I love finishing stuff! Before I couldn’t even begin things, or if I did, I couldn’t finish them for fear of them being imperfect. This one is about as imperfect as they can get, but I’m steamrolling onward (at about the same speed as said steamroller). It’s taking a long time, but I’ve not given up on it yet. When I’m done, the good will be that I can look back and say, “Well, there was that time I wrote that 90K-word novel. If I did that, then I can do this thing I’m working on now.” It won’t be great, it may not even be mediocre, but it will be finished, and when you’ve spent a lifetime fearing finished things, it’s a great victory. So, onward toward victory.
Oh, I’ve started reading a new bit of fiction this week. I absolutely love it! It’s called “Geek Love,” and it’s by Katherine Dunn. Circus performers, love, jealousy, bitterness, family, betrayal, kids with flippers instead of arms, hunchback albinos – this book has everything you could want. If you like twisted tales that also highlight the difficulties and joys of family, then this book belongs to you. I was riveted from the start.
I forgot one last thing. I’m working on another drawing. My niece said upon viewing it, “Cool! It looks like when the TV goes all fuzzy.”
One last last thing. I have word from Tina that she has found the apparently ideal piece of wood for the base of my current rolling ball sculpture project. Sanding is in progress to prep it. Stay tuned, stay creative, kids.
As I mentioned previously, I’ve been doing some experimenting, some playing around with drawing. The interest in colors first came out when I did some work with the Artist’s Way, one of my Artist Dates where I goofed around with crayons and markers. My friend Darryl inspired me to take it a step further when I saw some of his really awesome colored pencil abstracts. He then very generously moved me further towards carrying things out by giving me a bunch of colored pencils. I started, got really into it, bought some more, worked on it more, bought even more pencils, and now I have some additional progress to show you.
Fun stuff, huh? It’s kind of hard to do work like this, because part of my brain keeps telling me I’m screwing around and that this isn’t “real art.” This is the part of my brain that’s always telling me that, no matter what I’m doing creatively, it’s not valid for some reason or other. The reasons vary, but they’re generally along the lines of “You’re not good enough.” I realized last night that the fact I’ve managed to get so far along on this little project shows how much progress I’ve made in not letting that little voice get the best of me these days. In years past that voice was sufficient to keep me from even starting most projects.
It is almost scary to note that, after years and years and years of not allowing myself to do anything like this, I now have two complete rolling ball sculptures (soon as Tina finishes up that awesome base for the second one, anyway), I’ve written 86K words of a novel, and I’m able to finish little fun drawings like this one. This ability to finish things, this is – as far as my own personal growth goes – huge stuff. I’m extremely grateful for it. You know what happens when you become able to finish things? You finish them, then you can feel good about them, show them to other people, share your work, your self, your life. It’s incredibly powerful.
Something else kind of wild that has crept into this little exercise is what appears to be some kind of learning process. I thought I would just basically be scribbling on a piece of paper, goofing off with pencils, randomly assigning colors here and there with no cause or concern for the total outcome. Yeah, I think that went away when I left the first pencil. Not that I’m incapable of just letting myself go and not freaking out about the outcome (thought that’s harder to do when I’m really tired, so I try not to do this unless I’m rested), but I’ve noticed that I’ve been making conscious decisions about this apparent random display of color. Sometimes I’ve chosen colors that I think will go with each other well, other times I hope that they won’t match at all, that they will clash, or that they will blend almost seamlessly. I can’t really help it. It just happens. Sometimes I just go, “….ummm…I think this needs to go there,” and I don’t even know why, but I picked that color, even if I didn’t know the reason for it. When you’ve spent this much time away from embracing such things, having them come out at you is kind of scary. Exciting and fun, but also kind of scary. I didn’t know I thought of things in this way, that I had these preferences, or that I flat-out enjoyed the hell out of this stuff so much. It’s really fun!
Oh, and as for it being goofy and a waste of time? I had my stuff out with me last Saturday when I met up with some friends. One works as a graphics producer. She saw the drawing and said, “Oh, that’s cool. You should send that in to a company for a design. That would be good for, like, a border on a paper plate or something. They do that on spec. You send it in, and if they like it, they give you a thousand dollars and…” My eyes kind of glazed over after the words “give you a thousand dollars,” so I need to revisit this subject with her. Nothing at all may come of it, but I have at least learned from that short bit of conversation, that the world does reward creative people for their work. Not all the time, and not always equitably, but it does happen, and right now I sure could use any sort of income from all this output! You’ll be sure to hear about it if anything more happens.
In another small but significant bit of news, I finally went over to the welding shop yesterday after my dental visit and gave them that little gear and shaft that I need to have turned down. They said they couldn’t do it, but the great news was they were able to give me the name of a shop that could, and it turns out the shop opens at 7am and it’s kind of on my way to work. If they can do it, this place would be ideal, as I would be able to drop off and pick up things without having to lose time from my regular job. I hope to stop in there tomorrow and see what I can see. If this flies, then you’ll finally start seeing progress again on my motorized RBS! Woohoo!
Stay creative, folks. You will be rewarded.
Man, Tina is going to town on this RBS project I’ve handed to her. Check it out. She’s doing test designs and stain colors on scrap wood for this thing. Honestly, I figured she’d just whip out some nifty little design, draw it out, stain, and bam – we’re done. But no, such is not the case. She’s being meticulous about every detail. Witness the use of the bone folder if you don’t believe me. Feel free to leave her a comment if you like. I’m sure she’d enjoy hearing from you.
Today we also have a first for you here, kids. It’s personal video! Well, it’s not my personal video, but I’m actually in it, part of it. In addition, this is, if not the first, then one of the first blogs containing much about my musical pursuits. I play with a band regularly, and while I’ve been working with the same band for over ten years now, it occurred to me a few months ago that I have some good friends with whom I’ve fallen out of touch musically. Some of these guys are people with whom I formed my first band in college. I thought it no coincidence that, not long after I arrived at this conclusion, one member of that group of friends came to me and essentially said, “I have a line on this gig with these other friends of ours. Do you want to do it?”
Have I ever told you about how I don’t believe in coincidences? I don’t. I think stuff happens for a reason. I think I got the opportunity to rejoin my friends and play with some new folks right at the exact time that I was ready to embrace the opportunity. It was a little unnerving, because I’ve been used to playing with the same guys for so long. New stuff, even old new stuff, can be kind of scary. I spent twelve hours total driving to practice with these guys so that we could do the best job possible. Still, the big day arrives, and you’re a little nervous. Even if it’s just a house party, you’re a little nervous. Will the show set sail, moving gallantly into open waters, waves crashing at its bow as it triumphantly makes its maiden voyage, or will it get about eight feet from the pier, suddenly begin taking on water, and moments later present only the mast above the waterline?
I’m happy to say that she fared well, and an excellent time was had by all. The inside joke on the song’s title comes from the last name of one of the attendees. The guitarist wrote this song especially to mock him, which is what musicians do to people they like. It’s a bit of cheese, but then the whole point was to have fun with it. I’m lucky I have friends who ask me to be part of things like this. It was big fun.
My friend Tina is hard at work coming up with design ideas for the stained wood base she is creating for my latest completed rolling ball sculpture. She’s started blogging about it as well, so we can all enjoy the process, and, really, it looks like she’s taking this whole thing pretty seriously! I’m stoked. Check out her thoughts here. Do not hesitate to leave comments on her blog. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you. Besides, I’m hogging it!
This interactivity with other artists has me pretty jazzed. I got an artistic response from some friends of mine recently after I’d sent them some of my work. I’ll have some examples of it for you in the near future. Fun stuff to come!
Friday night the 6th I finished all the preliminary work on the latest rolling ball sculpture I’ve been working on, the so-called “martini” sculpture. It’s not quite finished, however. From here it goes on to the wonderfully talented Tina Hanagan who will design a custom stained wood base for it. It’s going to be awesome when it’s done.
Here are photos of the finished wire work. You can click on them for complete, larger images.
I dropped it off at Tina’s on Sunday, and was very impressed and excited to see that she had already begun work on it. Upon my last visit Tina had used some graph paper to mark the location of the feet of the sculpture along with some other significant points. Based on that information, she had already begun to draw myriad circles, triangles, and other schematic-looking designs. “Yeah,” her husband, J.J., said, “she’s been talking a lot about it. ‘Should I do something that complements it, or that’s a counterpoint? What kind of wood should I use?'” He laughed, “I suggest stuff, and then she does the opposite of that.”
Dudes, this thing is going to be so cool! I can’t wait to see what she comes up with! She has already started blogging about it based on the first visit I made, and she’s even put up some pics! Check it out!
It was kind of weird dropping it off, though. I was goofing with it, showing J.J. how it worked. We ran the marbles through it a few times, and I said, “You know, I didn’t think much of it the other night when I finished it. I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and went, ‘Well, I guess it’s done,’ and went to bed. I think I’m kind of starting to like it now.”
I’m not sure what’s up with that. I don’t dislike it at all, but it didn’t affect me right away like when I completed the first sculpture. I really can’t figure out why that might be, although finishing the second was definitely not like sticking my neck out for the first time and seeing if I was even capabled of one. I’m getting pretty jazzed now that Tina has her hands on the whole thing, though, and I think it’s really going to be outstanding once the entire piece is completed. I think I’m repeating myself there, but, well, I’m pretty stoked!
For anyone keeping track, recent sculpture music has been:
The Replacements – All Shook Down
Dusk Till Dawn – The Soundtrack
Random songs off of my playlist from Project Playlist
Just a quick update tonight, as I’m working against a tight deadline, and wanted to get this up before the rest of the week slips by. I got some time with the sculpture on Friday night, and spent it working on the final spiral at the base of things. t was a lot tougher than it looked. I don’t feel I did my best work on the exit ramp for it, but it is functional, and not terrifyingly ugly, so I call it a success!
Here are a few other views:
This last photo shows the final piece of track that I have to put in place. So close! Or so it seems. It will likely take me at least an hour to form and join this little smidge of track up to the rest of the sculpture. The work that makes all those angles look nice and the marbles roll well seems to take a lot longer than it should.
Gotta go, kids. Not much time to blog this evening. I do have plenty of cool creative news to present, however, so I hope to bring you more before the week is over with. I’ve gotten together with my friend and fellow artist Tina Hanagan for some initial thoughts on making the base for this piece. I’m happy to say she’s very excited about it, as I am. Initial tests on some of her existing work indicate that this thing is going to look truly smashing with the addition of her talent to it. Stay tuned.