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!
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.
What happened?
If you follow my wife’s blog chrissie.blog you know that this summer we have moved from our Western New York home of 25 years to my mother’s family home of 70+ years in Northern New York .
Also, all three of our children pretty much left the nest in June.(Coincidentally all on the same day!)
Purging everyone’s (some of us are/were hoarders) combined collections of everything for roughly 100 years is overwhelming. If each person’s years of storing stuff were added together there could be thousands of “hoarder years” accumulated.
A good blogger would have fun with this. I just want my life back.
My old garage/studio is almost moved.
The bigger new barn/studio is now a dysfunctional mix of everything imaginable. At least the avalanches of random collectables have become a less frequent hazard!
The cars (6) were not even visible buried under the “treasures”.
So far two of the cars and everything in, on and under them have been extracted.
Meanwhile there was this building project. I know it will be stuffed full soon.
Needless to say more artwork has been stored than made lately.
The good news is that artist part of me is leaving clues as to where he is. Surely he will show up soon, right where I left him, in plain sight.
Finally finished, delivered and installed this for a friend!
This mobile is about 2-3 feet long and cut from weathered copper. I’ve made a few of these over the years. If anyone is interested in having one or learning how to make one let me know or comment below.
Some of the artwork this winter was making a few of these black and white mobiles. They are very much like the mobiles I remember seeing years ago that caught my eye and inspired me.
Two of this style were commissioned, delivered and installed. The one pictured makes me very happy since it is hanging in the place where my artistic awakening happened.
My seventeen year old, rather non-artistic, self met a unique person who was just about to begin building house like no other. Being on that job and others that followed saved me from a “normal” life.
Most of what you see in this picture is work we did. Not just building the objects but cutting and debarking the trees, milling the exposed framing, gathering the limbs and branches for the railings… I could go on and on. Basically every step of every process from the ground up. (some below ground!) Sadly my photos do not do it justice. 
This object came to me as a brass kick plate on an old door. It is possible this piece was some other brass object before it was recycled into the kick plate. Now it is an activity sensor disguised as a mobile that hangs in my living room.
It hangs from our ceiling and the top two “s” shaped plates are not attached. They just balance on a recessed point. They have lots of movement.
My children and their friends seem to manage to send it crashing to the floor more often than they think I am aware of.
Regular inspection of this object revels when it has been knocked about the living room. Often the clues are subtle irregularities in the wires or balance. I sometimes am happy the boys are so good at mobile repair and balancing. Other times I just imagine what kind of misbehavior has been taking place in my living room!
So you may have noticed that the Christopher Pollock Art posts have slowed down some.
The problem is that snowboarding is too much fun!
There is an art to play. Sculpting a good life is artwork too!
Right?
May never know exactly how many of these dancing stick art pieces I’ve made. Making myself try to Continue reading Another Dancing Stick Sculpture #012116