Do What You Can...

The night before we were to go hiking, a buddy of mine severely injured his ankle. We went anyway, and during the ride out there, this quote from Teddy Roosevelt came up in conversation

Parking was distant, so I dropped him off (with a braced ankle and in crutches), and took this photo as I walked to catch up.

Both of us are volunteers with The Trevor Project, the nation's only around-the-clock crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. A framed print of this photograph (shown below)  is available for sale in my Etsy shop where 50% of the sale price will go to benefit The Trevor Project.

Buy one here.

DE Logo

The rubber pattern shown in The Tease, was created to serve as a background impression in upcoming designs.  Before I was ready to build it into designed pieces, I wanted to test it out against concrete.  This serves as a small, 12"x15" test.

Even though two of the background cubes snapped off during the demolding, I think it's a successful test.

It was only after this piece was complete that it occurred to me, the pattern resembles a miniature city and its skyline.

A Tease

I don't normally post pictures of works-in-progress, but because this piece is taking so long, and because I'm happy with how it's developing I thougth I'd show off a bit of the most complex mold I've ever created.

Blade - Framed Mirror

During the office renovation, several bathrooms in the building were redone.  The tile colors and even the fixtures were thirty years out of date.  In order to overcome the "dating", I chose white 3"x6" subway tile, laid up in common bond (reference to the masonry roots of the company) and white porcelain antique-appearing fixtures (a reference to the 70 year age of the company).

In order to make the otherwise cold white bathroom appear warmer, the floors were done in slate grey, and wooden details were added, including these mirrors over the sinks.  They measure 24" x 27" and the frame is just 2" wide.

Because they were cut and assembled by workmen on site, I had to limit the detailing - in this case to just a singular routed groove, cut by table saw.

Corner detail.

Urban Vase

In order to relax during lengthy assignments while still in college, I designed and cast a series of concrete vases. They were simple boxes with recesses cast into their corners.  They were some of my earliest works, and few pictures of them survive because most were given away.  This piece, is the only one I still have.

The Urban Vase is just an updated version of these earlier pieces.  It measures 3"x3"x8".  Although it appears to taper at the bottom, its base is the same area as its top.  It has three levels of recess unlike the usual two of all my previous vases and no canted edges - everything is cut square.

The Inner Workings

I've been working on the design for this piece for years in my head.  The idea was to start with a rectangular solid and cut lines into it that then opened up in organic stomach-like shapes to reveal a detailed texture within the opening.  I imagined it like peeling back the skin to see the fibers of the muscle underneath.  In the original concept it was meant for a lamp.

I'm completely unsatisfied with the result of this cast.  But I do think the idea has potential.  I'll have to play with the details and scales.

Window(s) - Test Cutting

A couple of months ago I came across Davey Wavey's blog, www.breaktheillusion.com and enjoyed his honest in-your-face exhuberence.  He has a unique take on the world and a fantastic body.

But while his body is hard-earned and attention worthy, I didn't want to gloss over what I think his real gifts are... a sharp sense of humor and an irreverent yet relevant vision. What better way to do that than to showcase his eyes? 

At 16"x20" I think this is a pretty good proof of concept for a larger version.  This cutting is based on a self portait taken by Davey. In exchange for his permission to use the photo he asked for this proof, which he auctioned off to a fan for the benefit of  The Trevor Project.  How cool is that? Davey talked about it here and then a few days later posted this video:

My gratitude goes to the winning bidder for his extremely generous donation.  Thank you, sir.

The off-axis shot is below.

Change Order Destroyer

After I had developed a few marketing give-aways that were a little peculiar, notably the toilet paper and business card holder, I wanted to see what else I could come up with.

Three concepts sprang immediately to mind.  The first was that whatever we created had to be something that people would hodl on to.  Too many give-aways develop into things that people give to their children - they approximate toys in some way (a major drawback inherent to the Lego business card holder).  The second was that the item had to be something that people would want to not only keep, but keep out on their desks so that the company name would be in their faces every day.  And the third was that the company tag line would be modified or swapped out entirely depending on what we were putting it on.

The "change order destroyer" was the first item I developed to comply with these concepts.  It made most project owner's smile when they saw it.  One proudly proclaimed "Finally! I've been looking for one of these!"  The original idea was that it be a Mars-Staedtler eraser, possibly the best eraser on the market today, but the idea proved difficult to execute, so we went with off the shelf erasers (which yes, diminishes its hold-on-to aspect).  But in terms of getting attention, telling you something outside your experience, and getting attention, I think the piece is successful.

Blue Halo

This is just a straight up painting on canvas, measuring 36"x48" and using six shades of blue latex paint.  It was done in the same technique as the dining wall.

The painting was designed to integrate with the greater wall behind it.  It looks clever and plays nicely with the eyes, but it results in an unusually busy pattern that I hoped the diagonals would help alleviate. I'm not sure it does this successfully.

Aknowylliw

Let's make 2012 a sweet year.

The subject of this cutting is outside my normal interest, but I did this for a friend of a friend, who happens to be, the biggest fan of this character on Earth.

I'm continually surprised by how interesting a subject's eyes can be portrayed with decidedly un-eye-shaped elements.  This piece highlights that more than most.  Also unlike the others, this piece had to be nearly complete (five out of six layers) before the subject was recognizable.

Below is the same image, off-axis.

Moonlight

Last month I joined the website, modelmayhem.com in an effort to connect with both photographers and models with the goal of eventually taking my own photographs to serve as the basis of my work.

A side benefit of joining the site was the direct contact with photographs that are properly credited.  This makes it much easier to ask for permission to create my own work.

The image to the right is based on a photograph taken by Walter Kurtz, of the model Nick Gogel.

The original photo is rather large, so I placed the vertical line of Nick's body at the classic 1/3 position.

The lightest shade of this cutting is slightly lighter in shade than my previous blue cuttings.  I did this to emphasize the brightness of the light coming through the window.

The image below is the same piece, shown off axis.

This piece was auctioned off at Trevor NextGen's Spring Fling 2012, held to benefit The Trevor Project.

Thank you, Dan.

Two Students of Architecture - Test Cutting

I've always liked this image, but having completed two cuttings of it, the first in "Two Students" at 8x10 out of paper, and now this one, 16x20, out of mats, I think I may hold off creating it full size, at 30x40.

It is to date the most complex cutting I've done, and I 

think it's the one that has the greatest artistic meaning.

To the right is an off-axis shot of the same piece illustrating how it is constructed out of mats laid one atop another.

To the left is a photo of the completed second layer in front of a window.

To the right is a shot of the top five layers, stacked loosely atop each other.

King of Pain

 When I started doing the cuttings, bodies were the focus of the work because of the natural shadows and highlights that the gradient layers almost delighted in showing off.  The earliest cuttings are models against stark black backgrounds.  As the pieces got more detailed, the "noise" of the background began to interest me more and more.  This is my first exercise in representing something borderline non-objective.

The little black spot on the "sun" in the image above is actually a hole, cut in the deepest (and lightest) layer.  This is the first time I've made any cut in the bottom layer.  It felt more appropriate than creating a true black spot which would have resulted in a "tower" of cut pieces building up to the black layer on top.

The original image was licensed from a stock photography website.

Sample Cutting - Doug w/ Earphones

Having done the cutting of Troy's face a couple times I became interested in some of my other friends' faces, especially as they appear in self portraits.

Doug's face was a particular challenge.  He has a thick but closely cropped beard, and faint but visible vitiligo lines around his eyes that fascinated me.  I was curious to see how both would appear in a cutting. 

The result is to the right, and a shot of it off-axis is below.  This piece is sample sized, so it only measures 8"x10".  I think the detail around his mouth and nose is some of my best work.

Sample Cutting - Troy Redone

One of the earliest cuttings I did, I think it was the fourth, was a self-portrait of my buddy Troy.   I was particularly fascinated with the position of his deltoid, bicep, and pectoral muscles , and the mild shadows between them.  It was the first done in blue and I still hadn't worked out the shading gradients or the correct framing, so the highlight on his cheekbones and face is a little too harsh, and the 10x14 image is lost in its 16x20 frame.

I wanted to see how he would look if I corrected these mistakes and went with the brown sepia shades, but in order to make it more mysterious, added an extra dark layer and removed a lighter one. I think the result is successful.

Logo Design - New Company

A former boss of mine hired me to create a new logo and look for a new company that he had created.

He requested the blue and green colors because he felt they'd be bold and noticeably different from his last company, even though the name and font remained the same.

One of my favorite things about creating logos is that its evolution from initial concept to final result is usually explicitly clear in a way that isn't always visible in my other work where ideas often emerge almost fully formed.  

Included below are the various stages for the development of this design.

Initially I started with the outline of an "M" and a rotated "G". I felt the outline would serve to look like the walls of a floor plan, which I thought would be appropriate given that it was for a construction company.  The outline didn't look meaty enough to me so I filled in the block letters and made the "walls" white giving me the logo on the far right.

At the suggestion of the client, the blue and green became navy and lime to increase their contrast and boldness.  In addition, tabs were added to the M, and the M's legs extended to make it look more like a grouping of buildings.

I didn't feel this was working but still liked the graphic of the two blocky letters, so decided to go for something a little more three dimensional.  By stretching and rotating the G, the image gained depth.  The composition took on the appearance of a drill or a pencil, both of which seemed appropriate.  The center element of the M underwent  several changes. in order to marry it successfully against the rotated G.

In the final stage I shortened the central element of the M and reversed the cants on it.  The client suggested adding the cants on the top to achieve the final look.

Good Morning - Sample Cutting

This is a sample cutting, measuring 8x10" using the same color gradations as Skyline Yellow.  The black border of most previous cuttings works well to make the colors appear more vibrant, but in this case I eliminated it because I think the subject matter demanded a more ethereal effect.

To the right is the off-axis illustrating the individual layers.  The original photograph is from a stock photography website.

Buttermilk In May

In order to overcome the inherent complexity of the original image, I had to do this cutting with a higher level of abstraction than I would have liked.  I think the piece is successful but I'm not sure it's something I want to repeat. 

To the left is the off-axis, illustrating the thickness of the six individual layers.

T 

Glass & Concrete Candle - Small

The Glass & Concrete Candle seemed like a good choice for an existing design that I could simplify for sale on Etsy. (It can be purchased here.) I'd noticed that although the height of the candle looked cool, that the capillary action that fuels the flame wouldn't work once the oil level was more than a few inches below it, so I bought some glass vases that were shallow.

The image to the right is of the nearly completed foam object, ready to have its mold taken.  I usually build a foam mold of what I want to cast.  Because of its complexity, this time I did the reverse, creating the positive object first.

This is the completed object in a box ready to be filled halfway with molding rubber as shown in the picture below.

After the rubber material has cured, the two pieces to either side of the model are removed. They serve to create holes in the first half of the mold that the second half will "key" into to insure proper alignment during future castings.

The two part block mold had a couple of air bubbles in it that needed to be filled in. The foam pieces inserted into the mold allowed me to fill in those bubbles.

This is the finished cast, made from quick-setting concrete. I did this one just as a quick test to see how it would form against the mold and if air bubbles would be an issue. The wick hole has yet to be drilled in the cast.

Here are some additional shots of the finished piece.