Have A Seat

("Have A Seat" 2013, wood and steel)

As I mentioned in my previous posts, tea parties and toys are a common theme for me, and what kind of low rate tea party would I be throwing if I didn't have proper Pee-wee Herman-esk furniture?

The over all theme of this piece isn't exactly original for me, but the work I put into it differs greatly form that of earlier sculptures. This was one of the first things I made using a proper sculpture studio and professional grade tools. For example, those spider legs are made of old windshield wipers. That's not a new idea. I've made at least 3 other sculptures using that same idea before, but the first time I simply stuck the wiper pieces to a metal rod with hot glue (they fell off after a few days) the next few times I tried epoxy glue with similar effects. This was the first time I had the chance to weld the wiper parts to steel rods. There's a lot of welding work on this piece actually, the two metal rods that make up the neck of the chair are welded into the wooden body on the inside, and the other end is welded to the back of the heart on top, which is also made of steel. There are metal hinges attached to the top of the seat cushion so it can be opened and used as a compartment, and the whole thing is welded onto a non-stick pan that I used for the base.

And the whole thing is perfectly scaled to seat a lot of the toys I make, which makes for some interesting photos.

Baby Oiks-a-lot is ready to party.

Little Mermaid

"I just don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad." ~ Ariel

This is rare for me. I don't often make things with a serious message, but  I just couldn't resist this time. 

I was watching The Little Mermaid on TV because I'm a gigantic nerd and Disney movies are always entertaining no matter how old you are. Anyway, right around the part where Ariel and Flounder are in that cave where she keeps all her human junk, she said that line, and of course I immediately thought of all the oil spills, all the plastic bottles and styrofoam, all the garbage bags and the soda can rings and god knows what other hazardous crap we're always dumping here and there, and I wondered what her collection would look like if she collected the kinds of things that people usually dump in the ocean, not sunken treasure or historical artifacts, but just regular common garbage. And of course, what better way to rip at your heart strings than by killing off the lovable sidekick. BAM! Right in the childhood.

Taking Notes Is Important

("Criminal Law Notes" 2013 ballpoint pen)

Taking notes is a great way to learn.... but doodling is a great way to fight boredom. I did fully intend to take notes, hence why I put a title on the top of the page.. but I'm afraid I quickly lost interest. Or perhaps these are my notes, but written in a strange hieroglyphic language that nobody else understands. 

More Tea, Mr. Cthulhu?

Tea parties and stuffed animals are very common themes in my illustrations. Even more common is the idea of small children in the company of by giant monsters. Children are small but they have big ideas. They constantly surround themselves with make-believe stories and imaginary characters, and that is how I like to draw them. Children also help to change the context of these pictures. If I just drew a giant grinning teddy bear or giant monster it might be considered negative and creepy, but by adding a happy child, the feeling changes. The monster becomes a protector, a friend. It takes on the air of a big brother or a guardian. This combination of big and small makes for a powerful emotional response. Like a gorilla playing with a kitten, it these gentle giants give off a feeling of fun, and peacefulness. I am planning to work on a few other illustrations like this, but with monsters actively protecting children form danger, bullies, or perhaps just other, less friendly monsters.

One of my hopes for after college is to find work illustrating children's books. 

Time for Tea

("Time For Tea", 2013-2014 multimedia sculpture)

What time is it? It's time for tea!

As you might have guessed this is not one of the pieces that I built from scratch. I bought the tea set, and the white gloves, and the clock was salvaged form an abandoned building. My dad works in construction/demolition, and every now and again he'll bring me something random and awesome from an abandoned house, in this case it was the head of a grandfather clock!

Interesting side note, some of the gears on this piece are bent slightly. This is because I opened the clockwork mechanism without bothering to learn about how they're put together. Apparently clocks have these crazy things called main springs which wind up tighter and tighter inside the clock as the gears turn. They are made of strong, thin metal coils with rather sharp edges... you can probably guess where this is going. I opened the clock work mechanism and the springs SHOT out, slicing many my fingers open. I'm all better now, but I still have some serious trust issues with clocks.... Despite my fears, I sallied forth to finish this piece, fingers trembling only slightly as I worked. 

The arms are made of mattress foam wrapped around a skeleton of thin steal rods which are welded to the inside of the clock. They're sturdy but still posable if I ever want to change the position.

The most common question I get with this piece is "How did you make the black gunk poring out of the teapot?" It's actually just hot glue form a glue gun, I painted black after it dried.

I do plan to take more pictures of this piece now that it's completed and mounted on my wall. My bedroom has horribly tacky striped wallpaper that makes an excellent background for it.

The sad thing is I keep looking up at it when I need to know the time, and then I remember that it's not a real clock anymore. I'm considering cutting out the picture of the globe on the clock face and putting a small working clock in there, but that's a job for Future Nick.

This week on MTV's Cribs

("Mount Mourning" 2013 Photoshop)

So I see you have discovered my secret layer. Mount Mourning! Located on the upper west side of Death Valley, this 136 room layer is equipped with the latest in evil technology. Complete with newly refurbished dungeons, acid pool, and a gorgeous view looking over scenic Doom river, this  magnificent layer makes castle grayscale look like a cheap blanket fort. It is the epitome of evil swag.

BFFs

("Best Friends Forever" 2011, Photoshop)

FIRST THINGS FIRST! I forbid any of you to look at this picture without this song playing in the background! 

Okay now that that's over, play THIS song next. It fits really well I promise.

Wasn't that just grand? You're welcome.

There isn't too much to tell about this piece. I was watching that new King Kong movie with Jack Black and what's her face, and I was watching the scene where King Kong is beating nine colors of shit out of the giant T-rexes and I was just thinking how nice it would be if they could all just get a long and be friends. And now they are =D That's the wonder of art.

If you have any suggestions for of other frolicking tunes, feel free to post them in the comment section!