“Water” is out of the oven and now has a nice blue finish.

Tags: Commission, Process, Public Art

TD manufacturing in Greeley, Colorado prepping the “Water” piece for powder coating. Lloyd from Master Metal Works and I ran out to look it over and correct any flaws (I point out, Lloyd corrects). The metal looks really good. I’m excited that this project is finally starting to coalesce.

Tags: Commission, Process, Public Art

Back from Little Rock, Arkansas having installed my sixth major piece of public art. None of these installations comes off without a hitch, but it seemed like this one was actually easier than some of the others - perhaps indicating that John* and I are actually learning? Personally, I was able to relax a bit more, which in turn allowed me to communicate better with our crane operator and everyone helping us. The elderly crane owner was there (in addition to the operator) and his expertise made a huge impact - but he was very soft-spoken and had the thickest Arkansas accent I'd yet encountered. It took a conscious effort on my part to pause and really talk things over with him in order to comprehend what he was advising. I think I've finally gotten mature enough to shut off the ego and do what's needed to achieve the goal. About time. Also, the Little Rock Parks and Rec guys were there to help us out, and they REALLY did. The strongest lesson I came away with was that we collectively are much more capable and wise than any of us is singularly.

* - John Kinkade, the Executive Director of the National Sculptors' Guild and my dear friend of 16 years. (That's him on the far right above.)

More pictures here.

Tags: Process, Commission, Public Art, Quality

Good thing it's a leap year. I'm amazed, as I normally feel like Feb is the longest, nastiest, darkest, most miserable month of the year - and it went by so fast, I barely noticed it.

Anyway, managed to ship the "Together" piece off to Little Rock.

Tags: Commission, Process, Public Art

Making good progress now. The base portion has an extra layer of steel sheet attached to it - to set off the main sculptural form visually, and to allow for easy replacement in the event of damage. I drilled all the holes in the 3d model so their locations will be built right in to the cut sheet metal, plus it makes for easier documentation for the fabricators. (You can't really make out the holes in this image, but there are 20 holes in the face we're looking at here. Each penetrates through the outer gray layer, the yellow layer, and into the structural steel.)

Tags: Process, Public Art, Commission

I'm finally getting the virtual model of the Water & Power project squared away. Pictured above are the structural steel components that will hopefully hold the sculpture upright in the Colorado wind.

Tags: Commission, Process, Public Art

Just received word that the Loveland Visual Arts Commission chose me for the Water & Power project. So very, very psyched. We are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss a few design changes. Speaking of which, here are some pics of the models:


There are more over on my Flickr account, including renderings of the site.

Tags: Public Art, Commission, Proposal

Haven't had the time or the motivation to blog of late. BooHoo. The semi-latest news is that we were able to repair the damage on the marble ball and get the whole project wrapped up in time for some punk-ass kids to use the walls for ramps for their bikes. Damaged them pretty badly. Once again, though, the City of Paramount stepped up and repaired them - doing a fantastic job in the process.

Tags: Memorial, Commission, Public Art

Well, made it home from an installation gone awry in Paramount, California. We arrived on site early on Tuesday morning to find the "Upholding" sculpture broken. Our truck driver had done everything he could to try to minimize the damage after he spotted it happening, but things still got pretty messed up. I probably shouldn't get into details at this point due to legal and insurance issues, but suffice it to say that mistakes were made. Everyone at the City of Paramount involved in this project was on the ball and very professional in helping us get through this, and I'd like to say a big "Thank you" to them now. They managed to rent a TiG welder and I was able to reposition and re-weld the plates back into place. The marble ball was bruised and chipped, but should be repairable (we are already scheduled to fly back out in March to finish things up). In addition, a couple of the concrete wall sections shifted on the trailer, resulting in a big chip right near one of the plaques. The pre-cast company did send along a patch kit, so we were able to get most of the damage repaired - but more attention is needed. John and I put in a long, hard, frustrating 12 hour day, but we were able to get all 7 wall pieces and the sculpture itself placed. Not too bad, I guess. (Click on the image below for more pics.)

Tags: Memorial, Public Art, Commission, Doh!

Oh, shit. I suck at sticking to stuff. Except making sculptures. For some reason, I just keep doing it. This year marks my 20th year of it, in fact. I made my first casting (that word almost makes me barf - it's like a shot of cheap tequila) in 1987, and went to work for Dan "The Man" Ostermiller in 1988. I've dicked around with tons of different modes of expression, but the one constant has always been sculptural form. I think I might dig out some old photos and scan them, do a sort of egomaniac's retrospective right here. Stay tuned.

Oh, and the attached pic is a fabrication shot of the "Upholding" piece for Paramount, CA. Scheduled to be installed on the 20th of this month.

Tags: Commission, Process, Stainless Steel