Friday, November 30, 2007
I have a new project I’m working on, thanks to the speedy delivery of parts from K&J Magnetics who sent me some strong neodymium magnets, and Nick’s Equipment Sales who sent me some high-torque clock movements. The plan is to build a clock something like the mockup on the right, where the clock has no visible moving parts (no hands) and steel balls glide over the surface with nothing apparently holding them in place. The way it’ll work is that the hands will actually move behind the face of the clock (I haven’t decided on a surface yet), and those hands will have magnetic neodymium discs affixed to them which will bond without touching to matched neodymium spheres which will indicate the time…
Hopefully it’ll look neat. I have a much cooler clock that I’m building with Caitlin that’s a pair of crocheted robots that point out the time that maybe I can post next week…
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Whew! One more to go… We’re going on a secret mission this weekend (don’t worry, we’ll share afterwards) so I probably won’t have time to complete the last one, the fly (which is being done in a nice iridescent pearl glaze for the wings and a green or blue interference paint for the body), which is the most involved of the set I think.
Oh, and I’ve been asked a couple times where I got my blank Russian nesting dolls — they came from Russian Legacy, who have a number of styles available.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
My eyes are so going to fall out of their head! Continued work on my “I know an old lady who swallowed a fly“ nesting dolls — from left to right (click to zoom), the spider, the bird, the cat, the dog, the goat, the cow, the horse… and… she’s dead, of course! I may get ambitious and try and finish the painting tomorrow and then give them a nice topcoat to seal and protect them.
They really look a lot better in person I think… I haven’t decided yet if these are going to be for sale…
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
I was asked how my Russian Doll project is coming. I must admit that it’s coming slowly because it takes me so much effort to paint small (and I’m not really that good at it), and even doing a little one like the one in this entry is about two hours of work… I expect about twenty-five hours in the whole project. Anyway, I am working on it, and here’s the bird!
The picture doesn’t do it justice because it’s painted in iridescent paints and shimmers from tone to tone from different angles.
Update: And the dog too…
Monday, November 26, 2007
So I was thinking about businesses that we could open on Cape Breton Island, and I had the thought that a nice idea might be to open a “Children’s Art Gallery” — an art gallery for and by the young at heart. It would feature [fine] art with children as part of the intended audience, as well as art created by young people (perhaps by students at the gallery if it was also an art school). With Cape Breton Island becoming an increasingly significant tourist destination, I think the idea has potential (and of course it could also exist online). I wouldn’t be surprised if it could be started with grants, and I’m sure there are many artists that would be open to the idea of donating paintings and other artwork. Definitely something that I’ll think about…
