Something Fun

Do you know about Big Huge Labs?
They have plenty of cool stuff you can do with your photos.

Haven't had your 15 minutes of fame yet? Try the Warholizer then!

Here's a clay man I sculpted. He even has working suspenders! The Hockneyizer makes it appear as if I shot a bunch of Polaroids.



I think my brother, Dan, will like this work around for a Flickr shortcoming. Check it:
View On Black

Still Waiting Around

It's not the brides fault, but I haven't seen pictures from the center piece boxes i made for her Tunisian-style wedding. I created two 6-inch boxes, seventeen 30-inch boxes, and one 5-foot box. The boxes were filled with either flowers or these amazing candles that they had custom made to match their chosen colors. They look little like the original post from months ago, so it probably remains a mystery to most of you as to what I have accomplished.

Here I am ready to stain the boxes, before moving on to the complicated stencils. Incidentally, I'm standing in the future spot of my very own regulation-sized four square court. I can't wait to paint that thing and have you people over for a fun party.

It's coming, it's coming!

Flower Bag

This bag hangs on the wall at my parent's house in Valley Center. It's a simple design, but I think that adds to its elegance. My sister, Erin, added the copper pieces.

All the material was purchased at garage sales, estate sales, or thrift stores.

The wooden "handles" serve as the hanging device, as well as being visually interesting. I picked these up in Florida years ago while at this enormous outdoor junkyard slash garage sale slash flea market. (I have about 200 more of these spindles, used in textile mills to hold cones of thread.)

While there, I overheard these 2 old biddies walking along the dirt path in their great New York accent, "Oh, Emeril; he's the hottest right now, doncha know!?"

Yes, I can sew . . .

A piece that I brought to a white elephant X-mas exchange at Dan and Jen's house. I found the best cork screw opener at an estate sale and had to round it out with this bag and bottle. (2 Buck Chuck, perhaps?) The opener was a little naked guy, and you can guess what part of his anatomy was the screw.

Lest my post title make me sound like a pretentious ass, I must explain. It comes from a little biography story I wrote in my literature class called, "Better Than I Could Do." It was about getting flack for being a boy who could sew. Sure, I'm not the greatest, but I have pushed my creativity in an original direction that I haven't seen elsewhere. (This bag is fairly standard, however. I'll post others.)

Still, when people would see my work and make a big deal because I was a male, they would end with this back-handed compliment, "Well, it's better than I could do!"

Of course it is jackass! You don't even sew!

Come to think of it, I'm sounding like a pretentious ass even with the explanation; so I'll stop here. (It's all in good fun anyway.)

Awe Man!!

My brother, Dan, will bust my chops for this lousy photo with all its wonderful blur, but we don't all own a DSLR. (Is that a good enough excuse? And hey; unsharpen mask can only take you so far in PS.) This is the only look I have to show you of the new routered keyholes I make for the back of these tablets. These will be the first items I list on etsy. I can make them inexpensively as well as quickly.

My good friend, Tyn, dropped by my place to see what I'd made of the wood shop and to go over some art projects with me. She's had her etsy shop running for a while now. It's funny how ideas jump out as us. Soon after offering her some extra Plexiglas (that's no typo!) I had lying around, we started talking about how it can be scored and snapped to the correct size or even cut on the table saw. Someone had told me to reverse the blade on my saw in order to not scorch the plexi. Meh! Sounds like too much trouble; so we cut away and everything went fine. It does get a bit messy, though, with the extra stringy plastic. No problems cutting the sheets down to size with the chop saw, either.

We had already printed a stencil or two and decided to try acrylic paint on the plexi. The result was acceptable, but could be made even better if we thicken up the paint. We tried working quickly to construct a frame. BTW, sawblades leave a grove that is the exact thickness of plexi or regular glass sheets. We ran in to a few problems when trying to nail the mitered corners. Later that night I solved the problem by purchasing a band clamp. (Yes, I was the funny man walking around Home Depot saying to himself, "This one time, at band clamp . . .") In this way, I only had to glue up the corners and clamp the entire frame without using any nails. The glue sets up in about half an hour. Again, we used the keyhole router bit to easily make this frame ready for the wall. All this quick work means I can try and get a fair price without running myself ragged.

Tyn, your frame is ready; come and get it!

P-P-Palanca

Here's a box given to Augie Leyva as a thank you for heading up Palanca for Search 140. It features the ever-popular Josie Leyva imitating Augie's patented funk stroll (complete with afro-puffs to boot!) We all signed the sides with a gold paint pen, and it was a huge hit!

I love the negative space created by both her forearms. This was the first time I used a more neutral stain. I think it works here, but I still can't be sure I don't want a darker stain for most of my items. This almost looks as if it has no stain at all.

Rodney and Nella look on as Augie takes it all in. Of course that's me hovering over the unveiling! Thanks once again, Augie, for a Funky Good Time!

Some of you have been asking about the wedding boxes I created. They turned out amazing, and Luca and Laura were very pleased. It was great practice for me moving towards a deadline while maintaining quality work. Unfortunately, I've been waiting forever to see actual wedding pictures. I'm hesitant to post the few pictures I have of the boxes. I don't think they do them justice.