The latest

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:07:31 -0700

In keeping with my current fascination with bits of wooden furniture, I have been working on a larger scale figure. This one evolved from an old radio cabinet, and a photography enlarger lamp that I found a while back.
Note: I’ve also been posting these images (and more) as I take them on my Facebook page.

My brothers portfolio

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:34:52 -0800

I have a brother in High School who is currently putting his portfolio together to apply to art schools (we’re so proud). I’m of the opinion that the work is pretty exceptional regardless of my family bias. Check out these images, if you agree let him know: Ben Gould.

Into the Pixel opens in S.F. this Thursday

Tue, 9 Mar 2010 18:41:38 -0800

I’ll be participating in a show themed around “The Art of the Video Game” this Thursday. If you come, don’t tell anybody there that I don’t know anything about video games.
I’ll be displaying my “Above it All” piece.

Hotel Des Arts 447 Bush at Grant, S.F. 6-10 pm -Facebook-

Two new pieces for sale

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:03:31 -0800

Well, they’re not entirely new if you’ve been reading my previous posts, but they are now properly documented and have been added to my for sale page. The image above is of “Acoustapus”, and the images below are of “Homunculus” (be sure to scroll down to see his accompanying video). Clicking each image will take you to each piece’s permanent page in my portfolio with additional images and information.

Art from the dump show in Pacifica this Friday

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:54:28 -0800

I’ll be at a reception at the Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica CA this Friday for a show of art from the S.F. dump’s growing collection. They will be exhibiting my “Guzzler” sculpture, along with work from other previous artists from their awesome residency program.

Acoustopus

Sat, 6 Feb 2010 15:01:58 -0800

Its no secret that I have a soft spot for cephalopods (Giant Squid, Octovarius, Waste Deep and many more). This one came into being as a result of a gift of a broken acoustic guitar from my mother in law (thanks!). People often give me broken and unwanted things, and in this case it proved quite useful. I just recently destroyed several rocking chairs for my “Nowhere Fast” piece. The remaining parts paired perfectly with the guitar to form the creature pictured above.

Homunculus

Sat, 6 Feb 2010 14:20:43 -0800

Homunculus, from Mirriam-Webster dictionary:
1 : a little man : manikin 2 : a miniature adult that in the theory of preformation is held to inhabit the germ cell and to produce a mature individual merely by an increase in size
This has been a recurring theme for me, most notably in my “Little Big Man” sculpture and to a lesser extent in “Above it all”, “Beetle”, “Crab” etc. For whatever reason I am fond of big scary things being driven by meek little things. The sculpture I am working on currently will explore this theme yet again.

I am finally on Twitter

Sat, 6 Feb 2010 14:13:45 -0800

What more do you want me to say? I’ve resisted the pressure for what feels like ages now, but it finally got to be too much. You can find me here. Be gentle.

Applied Kinetic Arts Facebook group

Sat, 6 Feb 2010 14:05:59 -0800

As you may know from my previous posts I am the proud co-founder (along with CTP) of Applied Kinetic Arts. This is a collective of artists, primarily sculptors, who work within the general realm of “kinetic” (loosely defined below). If you are a frequent abuser of Facebook, join our group and stay in touch.

Oh Deers

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:22:19 -0800

As you may have read from recent posts I have been working on a number of commissions lately. The last two to reach completion are oddly enough both Deer sculptures. Since they are both finished now I have final photos to share both here, and in the “Creatures” section of my portfolio. Enjoy.

New toys

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:42:05 -0800

Well, not toys exactly. More like heavy, noisy tools, but just as fun as toys as far as I’m concerned. I’ve been fighting off the urge for years now to learn sheet metal forming techniques. I’ve always loved old airplanes, race cars, motorcycles, airstream trailers etc. The reason I’ve resisted all this time is that these harmless tools actually threaten my world of found objects. I’ve become so used to relying on found parts to produce curved shapes that I worry that the ability to make them from scratch will take something away from the finished product. None the less I firmly believe in moving forward and developing new skills. I’d rather risk a period of less than awesome work than face stagnating into something totally predictable.

Copper dot org article

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:38:50 -0800

A little while back I did a phone interview for Copper.org. I can’t claim to have much working knowledge of copper, but the article provides a nice little background on Kinetic Art in general. Check it out online, or find it archived in my press section.

New piece for sale, new photos

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:24:34 -0800

With the recent completion of a few pieces I have some final images to share. While the work itself may be familiar from previous posts, I always feel that good photography marks a piece as “finished” and ready for the good ‘ol internet.
The piece above is titled “Wildwood” and can be found in my portfolio as well as my for sale page. The two pieces below were commissions.

More Commissions

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:16:54 -0800

I can’t really say why, but sculptures themed around Deer seem popular lately. Above is a recent example in process.

2009 Portfolio reel on Vimeo

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:22:11 -0800

Every few months I update my portfolio reel to be current with my favorite pieces. I typically burn this to DVD to share with prospective clients and galleries. Youtube limits video uploads to less than ten minutes so I have not typically put this production on the web. Thanks to Vimeo I can now share this with you, and you can help me share it with the world. Viva la Internet!
You can see the video above, or find it in its permanent home on my portfolio page.

Keeper of the Garden

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:40:32 -0800

As you may have gathered from other pages on this site, I was once the Artist in Residence at the San Francisco Dump (A truly fantastic program). That was a little while ago now, but I was recently approached by them to make a piece for their sculpture garden, yes the dump has a sculpture garden. The condition was that the piece be made from materials collected at their facility. Since I am out there collecting often anyway this was not much of a stretch.

Commissions

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:42:45 -0800

My time lately has been focused on a couple of commissions that people have requested. The first is nearly finished and is shown above. The objective in this case was to come up with a pretty classic “Robot” feel. Well lit, but not necessarily including mechanical motion (this is typically a cost saving concern). In order to still give the piece some character, the eyes blink rapidly on and off. He comes across as kind of manic.

New site navigation, prices now listed

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 09:27:46 -0800

After much consideration I have made some changes to the organization of this site. Primarily I have decided to break my portfolio into six different categories to make navigation easier. You can now choose from: Robots/Figurative, Creatures, Locomotion, Inner Worlds/Boxes, Large Scale, and Abstract/Misc. I have also left the old structure intact so you can still find all works listed by order of creation date.
The other change I have made is the posting of prices on my For Sale page. I had previously required that you contact me and request a price list. I hope this new approach is less mysterious.
I hope that these changes make using this site more enjoyable. If you notice any broken links or if you have any thoughts on the matter please contact me, I’d appreciate the feedback.

New Beastie

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 12:59:27 -0800

The end of the year is always a bit hard. Between all the family and travel plans it can be difficult to get anything done in the studio. While the past weeks have felt particularly unproductive, I seem to have produced this nasty creature none the less. I had originally hoped to mount his head and arms with springs so that they would sort of wiggle around (much as I did with my “Stick Figure” sculpture). However, in the interest of quicker results I simplified the design and went with solid arms and a pivot mounted head. A vertical pin keeps his head balanced in place, but it can be turned to face different directions.

Boomerang settles down

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 12:47:58 -0800

As I mentioned in my last post, Boomerang (above) has had a long journey. This journey finally brought him to his new home in Santa Barbara last week. While this may not be news in itself, I wanted to take a moment to share the supportive environment that he has found.
Boomerangs new home is also that of Tal Avitzur. Tal is an artist himself and shares my enthusiasm for collecting anything not nailed down. He showed me around his home and his wonderful collections. Below are a few images from the trip.

Boomerang

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 14:11:09 -0800

The piece shown here is the recent reincarnation of a previous one: The Performer. The Performer was nearly destroyed in shipping, due to careless packing on the part of a gallery and what could only have been violent handling by UPS. This was around 2 years ago. Many months later, I started receiving emails that the piece had appeared, broken and headless on ebay! There were some bids, and the carcass was purchased. I was then contacted by the new owner about possible repairs. After some time he concluded that he could not afford the repairs and put the sculpture up on ebay again! This time it was purchased by someone else who went to the trouble to actually drive the poor broken fellow up to my open studio a few weeks ago. Moved by the distances and hardships that the sculpture had endured, and the enthusiasm and commitment of its new owner, I recently undertook the task of making the piece whole again. Due to its strange tendency to return from the great beyond I have re-named it “Boomerang”. I feel the attitude in his facial features reveals some of the mischief that no doubt lurks in whatever passes for a soul in the case of roots.

8 new works posted in portfolio

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:01:48 -0700

Its time once again to share a new body of work. I’m particularly proud of the large piece shown above, but of course I love all my children equally.
Click on each preview image to be taken to its corresponding page for more images and video.
All of these pieces can now be found on the portfolio page, those which are available for sale can be found on the for sale page.

The making of Nowhere Fast

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:03:48 -0700

Typically I like to post progress of new work here as it happens. For this piece however I was trying to save the element of surprise so that I might “unveil” the piece at my Open Studio Show. Now that this is out of the way it would be a shame to omit some of the stages that led to the completion of the sculpture.

Photos from my Open Studio Show

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:56:49 -0700

Last weekend was my Open Studio Show. It was very satisfying for me to have so many pieces displayed so well at such a fine event! My shop mates Quantum Builders really pulled out all the stops and together we transformed their humble workshop into the place to be! Many thanks to them for enabling me to shine, and many thanks to all who came out to show support, and lets not forget Bacheeso’s for the awesome food. Unfortunately I did not document the event as well as I had hoped, but I still have a few images to share. Below are a few of the best (I posted the whole set on Flickr as well). If anyone reading this has additional photos please contact me so I can add them as well.
For those who couldn’t make the show and are eager to see the new work you can now find it posted on my portfolio page.

Open Studio Show Oct. 24

Sat, 3 Oct 2009 15:34:11 -0700

Its time to announce my Open Studio and Show Saturday October 24th from 4-8 pm.
I have a number of pieces new and old to share, including a brand new big one (see attached flyer)! Expect good food and drink as well.
My shop-mates Quantum Builders (green homes) will also be having an open house so you have that much more of a reason to come.
I don't get many opportunities to share this many pieces at one time, and even fewer opportunities to meet and talk with you all, so I hope you'll come if you can
Click here for full details and directions with map.
I thought it would be more fun if I kept the new work semi-secret so I won't post final photos until the week following the show (sorry out-of-towners). If you just can't wait, click through some of the previous pages here and you can see some of the works in progress.