Christmas ornaments have become an annual artistic activity. Little sculptures (usually kinetic) that often represent some part of life or type of artwork from the year prior.
We have been learning to swing dance and that is why the dance design.
After some sketching and experimenting, some balancing and bending, this swinging dancing mobile ornament emerged.
This is another example of when I was stacking up circles as these standing mobiles. People were calling them azimuths and planetary alignments. I just called them fun. This is the only one that spun around like this. It is made of painted sheet metal and wire. It is about 2 1/2 feet tall.
This one has some color. So far there has been only one of this kind. It sold very fast. I probably should make more! It is painted sheet metal and wire.
This copper mobile is one of the ten plus pieces recently made from an old washing machine tub I found in the scrapyard. I didn’t really know what to do with it. There has been some time to fool around with artwork lately and this is what happened. The old greenish brown cylinder was cool looking but I think you would agree these mobiles are cooler. It almost became a dinosaur! Maybe next time!
It has been a long move from the last studio to this new space. More time has been spent packing, moving and unpacking tools and artwork than actually making things.
I think some downsizing and focus will help.
There are new shops and galleries looking at my work and it seems to make sense that the first images that appear on this site are available for sale.
So there will be a bunch of re-posts of pieces that are still in my possession.
Also, it will be good to spend more time with the WordPress community!
Remember this one?
Bright orange! No black on this one.
There are five or so new circle mobiles from last winter that are being finished and painted now that the weather is better for paint to dry. There is a make-shift spray booth in my studio that is small and not great to use so waiting for good outdoor conditions is better for me.
There will be more effort to include colors this round thanks to input and encouragement from helpful bloggers and followers. Thank you!
Kinetic sculpture is one of my favorite art forms. Not just because the sculptures move and change. It is also because of the balance. Balance to me is art.
Balance is one of those concepts that seems to be expressed in all aspects existence.
Physical balance is how many of us love to play. Whether it is counterbalancing artwork or shifting one’s weight doing a favorite activity. Without it we are doomed!
Balance rewards us in many ways when we maintain it. Losing our balance also has many, often painful and destructive, ways to remind us of how dependent we are on it.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite lines, “it’s all about balance”.
The 2017 Christmas decoration came out like this.
I was not very excited about it this time. The design usually comes from the forms of recent artwork projects.
This year more time was spent packing and moving art than making it.
So, it makes sense that this is an old shape with a little holiday add on.
The good part is no one hated it and a few thought it was the best yet!
Somehow the Christmas gifts for last year were not documented in this blog.
They were done on time for distributing to their various locations. There were about 50 made this year.
Santa’s workshop!
This week there was some time to get ahead on the Christmas gift design for this year. The next idea is pretty much chosen. Being this far ahead of the game is rare and helpful.
Looking back at past productions it became clear that there were no records of last year’s gift.
This post attempts to remedy that.
Fifteen years of making stuff instead of only buying things has helped balance the experience of the whole gift frenzy season.
When a design works and the gift is received well it feels really good for multiple reasons.
Roosters seem to be everywhere.
Recent trips abroad have proven the popularity of the rooster motif as seen in homes, shops, advertisements, graffiti, glassware, jewelry, sculpture, painting…..
Yes, even ChristopherPollockArt has made and sold a few rooster pieces.
During this trip to Lisbon, Portugal, there is time to do some artwork while my wife meets with some coworkers (The main reason for the trip).
Tools and materials are limited basically to wire and pliers. So why not ad a new spin on the rooster design?
There was this rooster design.
There were a few incorporated into mobiles like this. (Notice the rooster on the wall paper in the background of the home the mobile is installed in.)
There were some others in mixed farm scene mobiles as well.
The inspiration to make a kinetic rooster design came from seeing this large moving sculpture in Lisbon.
These hands have bent many kinetic birds that stand and move like that rooster.
Mixing the rooster and bird designs seemed like it would be a good project for Lisbon.
So it began.
Some of you kind readers have asked to see more of the process, so here goes.
It starts with an coming up with an idea, as just described.
Then there is usually some doodling.
Then the prototype is started.
The prototype stages are where you really learn the most. This one has not gone well from the start. First of all it should have been larger. Small is very nice, but it is much harder to do, so it is a bad idea for a prototype.
Step by step you go. (I forgot to mention the use of image searches like you see on the computer.)
Just keep bending, bending,bending….
At this stage it was clear that the wings were too small to counterbalance the design intended for the head and eye part.
There was to be a slightly different beak and a “waddle” hanging below the balancing loop of the head and eye piece. Larger wings should add enough weight for that to work in following attempts. You see the rejected part in the foreground.
There you have it!
The oil containers make good stands and points. There are several pieces (and more in progress) with this theme. “Term Oil”, the very first blog post is by far the most hostile. Tomorrow’s post will be “Get a Grip”, another oil statement. Really it’s just about less dependency and more liberation.
This post is mainly to try out the new theme.
We are traveling at the moment and there is plenty of time to play with WordPress.
Getting far away from most of “it all” is allowing opportunities to focus on the projects that are more portable and intrinsic than recent workloads.
Before marriage and children life was more nomadic. It seems like we are edging back to a less rooted existence. Boats, cabins, trailers, tents, B&B’s, worksites and more have been fine temporary homes. We knew that was not our vision of raising a family. So we stayed put and tried to do the “normal” family thing for 20+ years.
There were a few places that served as get aways during those years. Places where we would spend some time traveling, working and visiting. Robin’s cabin was one of those places.
It is included in this site because I helped build it. It sits in the woods not far from the main house and is used as a guest house and studio. It is perfect for a quiet, private respite. It is also a great place for writing and artwork. Several of my pieces have been made or designed there.
More photos would be nice. Maybe an update someday. Just wanted to document it in this blog/site and test the new theme.
