Steam Powered Crescent Wrench

There I was minding my own business and doing a light morning work out in my studio. The music perfectly matched my joyful feeling of being alive. I threw open the door and stepped out side to welcome the gorgeous day! Hello Day! Hello World! You are looking mighty spectacular this morning!
I looked down and shouted with joy. An old rusted crescent wrench was sitting there and at that moment I saw the most neat steam driven crescent wrench. Oh how I love the eye's of inspiration.
I decided that I would share some of the processes in the making of this new artifact from the Captain Bland's air ship crash site. Enjoy.
The first thing I did was weld the hand guard on. Appropriately rusted re-bar. Cool right? Then I met the first obstacle.  It is very difficult to drill into tool steel so all items need to be mounted in  another way.
The second pictures show my solution as to how to arrange, measure and place all the items. A 2' x 6" board covered with paper. Now I can drill and move and lay out the total project before I have to actually assemble the units to be mounted on to the wrench.
This is just the start but just this much gets me all excited about what will develop. It is like having a ring side seat to creation! Sounds weird? I mean I am the creator and at the same time I am watching it be created. Not really because I have no Idea what will happen next! Now it is sounding weird! But I love it!!
So here is the beginning of a fun artifact creation.

Original with added re-bar. What a great rusted wrench!

The lay out and start of fantastic!

This is shows the lay out better.

Well captain Bland Sir?

The morning was just a whisper of the day to come and the beetle smiled from it's lofty perch on the milk weed pod.

The new YEAR! News of ....

Well this is the first post of the new year. Boy I feel lousy! Crap really. I can see I need a bit of a boost. Hold on I'm going for coffee and a change of music.  Twenty minutes latter.... then some more... and a bit more......Ahhhhhhhh! Coffee! Music!!! All better now!!
Sorry, bit of a barracuda in the "out look on life at this moment" application. Now where was I? Yes Wess! The enviably great Mr. Wess has sent a bunch of pictures of his creations. The latest is of a Indian lady dancing with High heel moccasins. Rather nice high heals, really. I mean if they did not have high heal moccasins then they should have. History would have been a whole lot different now wouldn't it?  This particular sculpture has a control man inside and a bunch of sophisticated control mechanics in side. 

High Heels Moccasins! 

The Man that is driving the woman. Yea Right!

Close up of control room. Way Cool!

My hats off to you Mr. Wess! Always totally awesome!! He is obviously still working on the hair and other components but what a great sculpture as it is!
Ain't it great that inspiration flows freely all around all the time. Mr. Wess always motivates me to push the boundaries a bit harder and keep working.
 thank you sir. Keep up the good work.

Altoid Painting # 2 & MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!

Yes it is Christmas and I hope that this finds every one full of love and joy. And as MY GIFT to YOU (read as self promoting with great amounts of ego) I bring you the 80%, more or less latest altiod painting. The first pict. is from a post in August, before, and the second is.......... the after!

Putting the elements together

And now!!

Getting Better?

And now as a super Christmas bonus heeeeeeres Cheri's!!!!!!!!!!

Most Magnificent!, Unbelievable! Super Fantastic!

I love my wife so much and all the unbelievable inspiring gifts she gives me every day. Every day is Christmas here. We are constantly building joyful art for others to enjoy. Does not get any better than that.

HO!HO!HO!

The difference

I have just come to a realization  Wait ...... the art of writing is  approached differently than the rest of my art! Now.... DUH!!!!! Pretty much what I do is not planned it is spontaneous. Hmmmmmmm I remember a point in time when I said " well you have to be completely comfortable with the procedures, tools and materials to be able to really catch and portray what floats in from the universe". I was taking about painting a picture and how practicing all the classical ways of doing paintings were very necessary to successfully capture a spontaneous creation. Simple put, you must know, with out conscious thought, what and how to do what needs to be done because you have done it so much that it is a subconscious part waiting to be used when the feeling requires it and not the thought.
No kidding you say! All of everything in life is this way! Jump in then Practice practice.
I used to climb at a climbing gym. Great fun! Loved it! I had been doing it for a while and one night I noticed a young father sitting watching his son, 6 years old or so, climbing, I could see that the father wanted to be up there climbing. Every part of him was completely craving to be up there. I sat down next to him and asked " Do you want to climb?" He said " I can't climb" I said I will show you it's great fun" With out taking his eyes of the wall where his son was having the time of his life he said " I would look funny and everyone would know I can't climb". I guess that he did not want to look bad in front of his son. I always remember that when ever I hesitate on doing something new. I was about 45 at the time of the conversation and it had not been that long before that I had been looking "funny" as I learned to climb. I had looked funny practicing and practicing and always had great fun.
So why am I getting all worked up about this writing thing? ( Stamp foot with hands waving in the air and screaming.......). The question is, am I willing to let others control what I do by the, solid as smoke, pressure of what "THEY MIGHT THINK!"
Thank you for letting me share. If you will excuse me I have to get back to work now.

Now where did I leave that key? He thought."Ahhh there it is" he whispered. And gathering it up he set off down the tunnel that was all comfy and warm to the door by the beautiful blue stone. Mr. Mouse did indeed have the key to what lay beyond.

The day after the day after.... maybe

Well it seems that today may be the end of the world. It seems that there is some discussion and disagreement on when the end of the word was supposed to be with the Mayan Calendar  Isn't that the way it always is with the end of the world things. I mean if your going to have an end of the world prediction at least have a backup plan to make it true. I mean your credibility is at stake here.

(Pregnant pause as in place foot in mouth silence)

Well your credibility can take a hit you know. I really do not think that the conclusion of the world is really worth saving someones credibility. A bit pointless really, don't you think?

 Bit of an awkward moment there. OH WELL at least I'm not predicting the .... oh never mind.

Any way I am getting ready for Christmas and ...... we don't really "do" anything for... like gifts and such. We hang out with friends and family just giving and receiving the love. That's what it is all about. Right?

So if we are hanging out here then here's a little love...... oh what the hell .... have a whole bunch and have a great family and friend loving Christmas.

He gently placed his paw in her hand and looked up into her eyes. Stars just forever filled with stars is what he saw. He was home.

Day Two or Weasels

Another post for the get up and go I need. I am trying to establish a bit of procedure in the day. This is why the posts. I want to get into the habit of writing down the stories that fill my head all of my life. I can draw and paint, make all sorts of neat things but the stories escape my ability to capture. They are filled with so much emotion and adventure. Some of the people in these stories have been with me for 30 or 40 years, developing and entwining in other stories. There are whole worlds with social and political structures that have evolved. I have been accused of using this to escape reality. So?
I just want to bring what is inside and show it around using a medium that is better suited for the complete story. The places and people show up in pictures and my metal sculptures but the story of who they are and why they are, where they are, at at that moment in time when they are put in a picture is not there.
Soooooooooo............. Now you will never see these stories untill they are done due to legal reasons. No instead you will get to be part of the never ending "BEHIND THE SCENE" exclusive whining.
Damn I started...... Amazing.
Now off to the day.

He moved one small rock a day and when the King arrived he  found a paved road to the greatest fishing spot ever. ( If you figure that one out get back to me, will you?) ( we could use another close fishing spot)

I keep starting!

Well I'm still in the start mode it seems. Oh well better than the not do anything mode. This applies to this blog. The art, on the other hand, is constant and just keeps on going! We have done a few little community shows and have been selling a tremendous amount of Cheri's jewelry out of the house. So much in fact that we do not have enough to take to the stores. Just means more to make and this means more beauty to see!
I have been working on new display's (picts. soon), ornaments and a new Altoid picture! Just having great fun, fun, fun!!! The Altoid picture # 2 is in pieces right now as I let things dry and work through the permanent assembly steps. Takes a while. Then pictures!
We also had our first snow. Here in Oracle Arizona that means 1/4 inch and gone in an hour. It then rained for two days. We call that a BIG WINTER STORM EVENT! Tells a lot about our weather doesn't it?
Oh well off to the art factory.

"I be wanting to dance in the winter sun, in the dappled light, in the golden day." said the elf with a wicked grin to the maiden quite fair. She smiled her sweet quiet smile with arched brow. She knew about elf's that danced in the winter sun with maidens fair and little ones with summer smiles that appeared that same year. She held out her hand....... and they joined their smiles for all the rest of their years.