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ou8nrtist2 — Spines R Us
Published: 2009-05-24 08:19:09 +0000 UTC; Views: 1853; Favourites: 14; Downloads: 22
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This is a process shot from making the Vertebrae Conference Table over the Christmas holidays 2008.The finished work in the movie studio in L.A. for which it was built:[link]
All the whale vertebral parts were forged,then welded in order on a long curved square tube.
I am beginning to show some exuberance in this shot because I am starting to see how all the parts will come together ,and that it is actually looking like what I intended it to...
Always a pleasant moment.
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Comments: 50
you are everything i aspire to be, especially the mustache
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All your work is fantastic. I see that you make a good living at it. I have looked at you whole gllery and you are very talented. Inspiring.
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Dear Shaun,
I think the term,"a good living"is a relative term and debatable.
While it is true that if one looks at the face value of my existence,I am surrounded by beauty,I have a tremendous amount of personal freedom,and at this point in my career I can work on pretty much whatever
I want to. The sad truth is I have no security,retirement,healthcare,and have been living pretty much hand -to-mouth for the last 18 months(because of the economy).Art being a luxury in most cultures,it is the FIRST thing cut out of the financial diet when there is a money crunch...
Just didn't want you to think it was all fun and games...LOL
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As a goldsmith I hear you loud & clear. Your work is really great though. I have had to sell my soul on a few occasions and make items that appealled to the mass market rather than the one of a kind pieces I truly enjoy. Your burning man pieces were genius I thought. Have ever developed a line that you could perhaps market to places like Pier1 and such? I used to leave items in private galleries in the $15-35 dollar range and it tended to move alomst regularly. You die a little inside but you get to keep eating. *LOL*
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I've never been able to bring myself to enjoy production work.
Those Burning Man pieces were the exception and initially rejected by my client.
I was freaking out inside but kept my cool and he accepted them the next day...
But after that I swore I'd never make production stuff I didn't think was cool myself...
If I had a big shop with several assistants I'd probably do low run limited edition pieces but not actually touch them myself,only the prototype...LOL
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I am suprised the vendor had issue with those pieces, they were an awesome idea.
I have had issues with the production end of things myself. Used to design and make wedding bands with the braided wire in the centre, which of course all has to be hand woven and then drawn flat. Getting it to look good and having the braid come out perfect just slaughtered my eyes, looking for imperfections. If I a couple of lackeys it certainly would have kept the line up moving but eventually I had to stop due to carpel tunnel issues. That and everyone wanted something special woven into the wirework. One guy asked me to weave "I love you" into it. My response was that I was not Rumpelstiltskin. LOL
If you ever do any other production lines I would love to see your take on them.
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I actually do (occasionally)very limited edition multiples.The new technologies allow a variety of precision computer operated cutting which though these are conceived of as industrial processes,I've adapted for purely decorative aps...I.E.Laser cutting,water-jet cutting,and plasma cutting.
Stuff like this:
[link]
and
[link]
This was the design that was almost rejected(after I finished all 250 of them);
[link]
This was the first successful design for the same bazzilionaire client and Burning Man fanatic:
[link]
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Those last ones were pretty awesome as well. Do you do the burning man thing everytime? Or was this just an occasional series for the customer? I really like the hair piece as well. I wouls be saw piercing that for hours. Did a Wedding photo album once for a good friend and saw pierced a floral design in brass on the cover that matched the velum between the pictures.
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I do not go to BM myself. I am an "Ocean" person,and the desert sort of creeps me out.LOL.
I had an extremely wealthy and extravagant client who is a BM fanatic and patronized my work for several years...I have had a few other clients for whom I've made specific pieces destined for BM. I'm not sure if it's just synchronicity or what...
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Funny the ocean wierds me out. Too many things in there think I'm dinner. Takes the whole "top of the food chain" thing and pitches it out the window.
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Thank god we all have different tastes...
and we all taste different as well.LOL
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Someday I'll make a ladder like this...
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You're so welcome 
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The coolest thing is,
when you get to that point,it won't be busting your butt. It'll be like a flourish at the end of a calligraphic signature,effortless and graceful...
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I know you're right, but several decades of hard work separates me from things to be like that. And that's a lot of time...
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It passes in the blink of an eye...
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That's so true. This is why I'm afraid I will waste it
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I love it when things start coming together. You could have stopped right there and it still would have been a great piece.
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It's almost all about doing "one's homework" and diligent pre-planning.
But sometimes MAGIC happens where the result is more than the sum of the parts,and THOSE moments are what I live for...
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Goofy metal guy having fun with imitating Nature...
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yeah....You look like a goof.....
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Good,because your paintings make me want to make sculpture immediately...LOL
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Nice shot! You look like a young Gepetto! Except, I'm thinking that the Fairy Godmother who visits YOUR work is gonna be somehow completely different than what we're used to, eh?
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Hopefully she'll make something other than my nose grow longer.
I think that part of me is big enough...LOL
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Sadly, the nose NEVER stops growing... and, the part YOU'RE thinking of never stops shrinking... it just ain't *fair*, I tell ya!
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Love the look. The matching gloves, NOT. The nice neat and orderly shop in the background. The elegant and matching supports for the piece. LOL It all looks so familiar.
Then we have this stainless back-bone. Are you sure you aren't going into replacement parts for whales? Is there a fish vet or mad scientist lurking somewhere in that shop?
Love the bones.
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Bones have some of my favorite shapes.
I started working on the new DOLPHIN VERTEBRAE sculpture yesterday,cutting out the parts from stainless sheet with my PLASMA CUTTER.I had some magic moments working with that high tech tool,watching it do it's thing...I have a feeling it'll turn into an essay someday soon...
Oh just FYI that spine was forged and welded in STEEL as compared to STAINLESS STEEL. (Completely different materials).
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well its cool whatever its made of. I know most of your stuff is stainless. I know they are different but similar, hey its steel. One rusts the other doesn't. That about covers my knowledge of the material. I do know stainless is a bit harder to work with, or at least that was my understanding.
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Oh, there are in fact two Phds in marine biology that have an influence on my work.
Dr Guy Oliver who has a lab at Santa Cruz (my cousin).
And Dr.Salvador Jorgensen,currently doing Great White Shark research for Stanford and the Monterrey Bay aquarium...
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Hey that is pretty cool. I think it is cool to know a bunch of different people with different perspectives. It makes life so much more interesting to be able to get a little glimpse from other people's lives. You seem to have an extremely rich assortment of people in your life. I've run across a few interesting people in my time but nothing like the associations you have.
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I collect high functioning eccentrics...
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sounds like fun how do you manage it?
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Takes one to know one.
The operative term here is"high functioning".
I think the world is usually tolerant of eccentrics ,as long as they can communicate and function reasonably well in the world at large. My friends tend to be creative,which often can lead to eccentricity,but at an early age I learned that far from being a handicap,these are the things that separate us from others and give us our uniqueness...a trait always favored in my family.
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Yes I suppose I am a bit of an eccentric. I haven't run into lots of others like me though. Whereas you seem to have collected quite a selection of varieties of them.
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I've been at it for awhile,
And my father had a whole retinue in attendance during my childhood.
My parents were like King Arthur and Guinevere reigning at Camelot.
Artists ,writers,scientists,musicians,all were attracted to my father's work and HUGE personality paired with my mother's exceeding demure grace and beauty.It was an idyllic childhood until they split up...
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When parents split up it usually does mess up the ideal picture. Too bad about that. But it was good while it lasted eh?
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Yes,
and it formed the foundation by which all else was made possible...
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That is pretty awesome. If I had mad skill like yours I'd probably be exuberant about my work too.
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Well if your little webcam animation is any indication,I'd say you already DO have mad skills...LOL
That's the best I've seen on D.A. and you should get a D.D. in my humble opinion...
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