6600 pounds of Basalt

For those that don’t know Basalt is one of the hardest igneous stones. Harder and more dense than Granite. If it cools slowly enough it has the most amazing way of forming columns.  This is the shape I will be working from. these columns range in diameter from 3 inches to 20 and in length from6 inches to 6 feet. It came on 2 palets and a 4×4 box. this si how it looked after unloading.

Mini colunms

These are the little ones from 3 to 6 inches in diameter. I think every one should have the joy that I felt when I saw all this stone. This is a lot of carving!!!

Lucky # 1

Gonna do this Man

Rubber boots and apron and a hammer of course.That one on the far right is gonna get  it first. But before I show you that I will show you some drawings I did as prelim.

Girl & Boy

Quick sketches just to capture a few of the more elusive ideas Ive got . So at this point I got kind of excited and went nuts just carving and having a really good time. I didn’t get too many progress pics of this first one so here is the earliest that I have.

2 hammers & a saw

So like I said  this is the earliest I have of this one. This is almost done at this point needs polishing and some small refinements. Needs the second arm which will be hanging from the hand that is out stretched. I removed about 120 lbs. This stone is fantastic!! Cuts easy breaks hard and polishes to a sexy black. some close ups for you.

All of the flats will be polished to a high gloss.

This is me Starting the hole in the hand.

A better pic of the upper body and arm as I core the hole.

In this one you can see the ribs and upper body before the holes were cored.

I am really looking for the textural differences in this work. I want the process to be evident. Also wanting to let the idea flow and not mess with it too much allowing for a fast loose  sort of style. Getting a  form thats just there . Some of the pieces will be more refined others like this one will be available for your mind  but almost more of a sketch.

This piece is cut from the mini columns. Its torso is a separate piece. Only about 2 ft tall.  I am cutting again tomorrow. Into the second piece. Maybe I won’t get so carried away and I will remember to take some progress shots.

Ribbon Dance

I made a bunch more of these Ariel Silks type pieces

Odins Totem

Odins Totem got some bling out there in BC!

Surf Boardroom Table Sketch

Got a really cool commission to make a board room table that has a surf board top. This is the sketch I proposed solid wood top and stainless steel wave for the pedestal.

Making waves

The wave part starts with 5/8 round stainless steel bar that I bent to the shape of the wave parts then cut 14 ga. sheet to the same size then hammered and used a blending disc to clean up. Oh yah its welded on there as well.

More wave parts

More of the same. I scaled up the original drawing and had to do some slight changes.

Shooting the Curl

Here the curl is starting to take shape. This is upside down. If you have ever been upside down inside a wave you may have gotten disoriented!

All the fingers have been welded onto a sheet of 1/8 inch steel plate then 14ga. webbing was done in between the fingers. You can see my cardboard patterns up against the wall. These helped me cut out the stainless sheet in the right shapes for the webbing.

Wood

The pattern for the wood changed when I went to the wood store. It ended up being Silver Maple, Cherry and Black Walnut. I thought this look way more dramatic than just two species. This is the before glue layout with the template drawn on it. All of the glue joints and shaping were done by my Father.

That guy looks like he is drinking beer!!

This is the table top rough shaped glued up and getting sanded. The shape was taken from and actual surf board. Scaled up to get some width out of it. 17ft long, 4 1/2 ft wide , 2 inches thick.

Holy Crap it worked!!!

This is the first dry fit. Man was I ever glad it all fit together!  You can see the back part of the wave looks pretty nice too.

Installed

This is the table installed after a lot of sanding some very trick epoxy work (done by my friend Lisa )and 12 coats of clear poly U.

Can you out line your hand?

Tricky I know but very effective as a pattern for a stainless hand sculpture. I also draw on every thing in the studio this counter just happens to be right next to the vice that I use to cut.

Look dem bones

1/2 inch rod cut to length with a bit of exaggeration to get the look I want now to the welding bench.

Lay me some skin brother

Welded, cut at the joints so I can bend them and with the fleshy skin pad ready to be welded.

Yah thats how its done

Just get in there with the MIG running a bit hot and melt the shit out of that rod man thats how I do it its not Rocket From The Crypt. Altho if you haven’t ever heard RFTC you really should check them out. They are cool.

Handy Man

All the welding done just a quick once over with the blending disc and its ready to be used for some thing. Yah I know its not the same hand but I made 4 of them so thats what your getting.

Lava Tube

Something Like holding up an 8 inch dia. by 6 foot acrylic tube thats been painted all fancy . Not just pretty but functional! Sss gonna be a lamp man !

You want more of this kind of stuff more often and in a more timely fashion?  TOO BAD

Ha not really follow me on Twitter @thegorilladidit

oh yah I just got 6600 lbs of basalt columns delivered to my studio so I guess Im gonna get stoned… like with a rock I say… a bunch of big rocks

I carved a bunch of wood this spring . Its Larch or hemlok.

Wood

Sketch and primary cut lines

The first few cuts

got the woman roughed now I need to get going on the man

Chunk of Larch and the sketch

the both of them roughed out

These two ended up going into a show Called “Love Kills”

I did a bunch of Grinding and sanding on them but the basic shape is there at this point. Yes guys that is a cock on him. If your gonna make pretty girls you need to have balance.

This wood was pretty wet and I carved it from whole logs. I did this on purpose so that  they would crack and shrink. This added to the idea of love kills. Showing the damage that one can sustain from a relationship. I also took them up to the back of the property and shot them full of lead!!

Him and Her finished

They ended up selling to a couple from Switzerland.

Gorilla slab and sketch

Then I carved a Gorilla (have to have some gorilla every now and then or life just isnt any fun) This is the slab with the sketch done. I did cut this log right down the middle so it wouldnt crack as much and its much dryer wood. The wood is Larch again.

There is a video of me working the chain saw but it seems to have been abducted by Aliens…. so if I find it I will post it too

This Gorilla just went into a show at Stone Worx gallery in Calgary along with 3 other wood carvings.

Enough talk now on to the good stuff!

This Is "Droplet"

Way better than I usually post hey? Thanks Alicia.

Sketch for monkey sculpture

Second sketch and some progress

If you dont do this you should!! Go ahead draw right on your work bench Its fun!!!! Any how standard process for me. Start with a bunch of Stainless rod and go from there.

Great Line Work

After I finished the monkey I when to Crimson empire in Edmonton and had Chad do some tattooing on me. The Jackalope

Bee Kingdom

Then While my arm was healing I made some stands for these guys. Fantastic glass work from Phil Tim and Ryan at Bee Kingdom glass. ( they actually let me assist them at there open house a few weeks ago, That was super cool)

The Gorilla Did IT

I also did some clay work to bake in the wood fire in BC

New Wings

Then It was back to Real work. I had to make a few new pieces for the show “Angels in the Lava” A show with my good friend Lisa Heinricks paintings and my sculpture.

Ribbon Dance

A new theme. Thanks Cirque

Sound Asleep

This is a body that I cut up to grind. I am just about to TIG it back together.

All the kings horses got it right this time

After reassembly. That brass door knob inspired the whole piece.

Dharma

Found this old planter base, jammed it all together and it looks fantastic!

Sexy Red Ribbon

Ribbon dance done and in the gallery.

What a bunch of bull

And this Bull commission takes me mostly up to date. The Guy wanted my take on the wall street Bull. I thought it needed to be a bit more raw and agressive looking.

“the castle lights are growing dim….there is no one left but me and him….till next we meet in Frankenstone…dont come alone” Vincent Price

This one is in Korea

I am going to give away one of my sculpture books “A Winged Obsession” . Its a book about the genesis of my winged figure sculptures. Its got photos and descriptions of the first seven sculptures in the series. They have now all sold!! Only three of them are in Calgary (my home town). The rest of them are all over the place!

This one is on the east coast of Canada

Normally you would have to purchase one of these sculptures to receive a book. Or get one online through Blurb. http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/983251

Its been a celebratory kind of month! So I am gonna give stuff away!!!

These two are in Texas

Wow what a bad photo!!! much better pics in the book!

All you have to do is start following me on Twitter. My user name is @thegorilladidit

After you start following me send me an email with your user name. So I know who you are and can get in touch with you to get your address ( for when you win)! Then I ship the book… and I am thinking I might sweeten the pot a little bit and send another little surprise.

So lets go over this one more time. You get on Twitter, then find me @thegorilladidit , then send me an email tobias13@shaw.ca , telling me your user name , then you win , I send you the book and another cool little prize.

Easy as pie.

I will make the draw on March 10 as soon as I get up.  Oh man I am excited about this now.

Oh yah If you already follow me on Twitter THANKS  if you send me an email you can be in the draw too!

So I sound like a used car sales add right? Cool!!

just a sketch

I needed to make a bit of copper rain gutter some tubing and a copper fish to finish it off. The customer wanted to have some ting that would disappear over the door and take the focus away from the plumbing. I did this quick sketch of the front door area with the design I had come up with.

The next step is to get a sheet of copper and transfer the drawing to it.

projection time

I traced the drawing onto some transparency paper then put it onto to overhead projector.

too bright...

The projected image on the sheet of copper. Oh yah… man was I ever excited about getting that sheet of copper!! Its 3 x8 feet and about 18 ga. I say about 18ga. because they measure copper on a penny weight scale or some such voodoo. This is .0485 inch or 36 oz.  Just draw it on there 2 times. You need a front and back you know? Then plasma cut and you are left with this…

flat fish

I cut the fins separately . I will weld them on later. Now all you have to do is beat the scales off of it… or is that on to it?

that table sure has a lot of welding holes

You will notice that I have achieved a bit of a patina here.  This comes from the annealing process. You need to get the whole piece red hot to take all the stresses out of it. This is called annealing.  If you don’t do this the copper will tear.

From this point I put some twist into it and mated the two sides together and weld away.  You will notice I left a bit of a margin around the top and bottom of the body .  I did this for 2 reasons. First it gives me some thing to clamp the sides together. Second it gives me something to weld.

Here it is welded, fins attached and the down tube welded on as well.  Great color on the copper. I have tested it to make sure the water will flow through and not drip out any seams. All the welds have been made with my TIG.

Installed

It was a cold day, snow on the ground and roof. I got it in and they were happy!  I haven’t shown the gutter fabrication. Mostly because I have to keep some mystery about the process!!!

I am self taught. This means that I didn’t go to art school I don’t have a piece of paper that states my abilities. This is important because it allows me to work out side of the word art in a very artistic fashion. I feel that this should be common practise for all artists BECAUSE it makes you work in the real world for a time. It will force you to work with people who have set rules and you will have to make your art serve a purpose. Let me give you an example. Lets say you get a commission for a gate. Lets say that you really need some money and you really don’t want to work at that liquor store to get said money. What are you going to do? Smart artist says I am interested. BUT I would like to make this gate look cool. Buyer says…ah OK but I already have some ideas… Artist ” well let me do some drawings and then you can decide if you want me to go ahead” Buyer ” OK that sounds like an idea” Artist “great can I get some measurements and can you send me any ideas you have so far?”
So here you are you have an opportunity to grab some green and eat something other than Kraft Dinner for a change. Now what do you do? You have never done anything that had to fit or function. They never taught you how to measure or install your work at art school. Crap Cant you feel that wad of cash melting out of your pocket already? Now you see my point. You have a buyer that wants something specific. You need to know how to make this happen. Cause really what is a gate but a giant flat artwork? All you have to do is make it keep out or in what ever the buyer has in mind.
Here it is, look at the drawings or ideas buyer gave you. Is it all square and conservative? This is good now you know what sort of gate to design.
I had these lovely people come and ask me to make a gate for them. The ideas they gave me were square and strait lined. He was an engineer or something like that so his measurements were precise. I did drawings not square or flat but fairly ornate. I kept in mind that they are conservative so I designed a gate that was my idea of a grotesque. A creature meant to keep the bad ones out.

The Monster

He placed the posts he placed the hinge bolts all I did was build it to his measurements. It fit well and they loved it! I made some money, exorcised my creativity and built a functional Item. I expanded my portfolio.  NEXT

I have made fire place tools, screens, tables, signs for corporations, mailboxes. All of these things help you as an artist. You will gain new skills, work in a more precise fashion, and expand your clientele. Now we all know its not really about the money! Guess what  after you build that precision mailbox… the one that you have to weld properly and has to be a certain size. The one that has to have square corners and a lid with hinges that work. After that you will love your next sculpture. you will appreciate the freedom sooooo much more. Some times its good to get out of your routine. You have a creative soul, make it work for you.

Past here are some of the other functional items I have made.

business card holder

Granite With stainless steel base.

Range hood

Steel, Copper, Stainless steel

Wood burning stove

Steel, Steel, steel and fire brick.

Head board

Foot board

I could go on but I think you get the point. Functional Items do not have to be normal or boring. Now back to the beginning. Art or not art? I will leave you with a thought… Brancusi made log holders to get through the tough times. I don’t know about you but I would love to have a set of them!  Da Vinci made war machines. He was an artist right?

IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT… ( insert ominous music here)
I Inherited a box of oil paints from a friend who inherited them from a relative. They had been sitting around for a very long time and almost fell into the trash bag when I thought “that would be a shame to not try them” so I did.

What you are about to see is something you should definitely try at home!!

K so you need to get a canvas (get a cheap one to start) then you need some Paint (I strongly recommend inheriting some) and brushes help too. Next step DRAW or not…

I don’t usually draw to heavily. I did this with an HB in my pencil. This doesn’t have to be really detailed or any thing. I would however say that you should start using a babe with a sword for your subject matter.

Ok now we are talking!! blow in some color and a snake and it could be biblical.

She could have been stabbing a pumpkin but where is the fun in that? It looks good but it might need something more.hmmm

AN OWL thats it!!

Oh yah and that needed to be a “not a cobra” snake. This one really just happened to me as I was doing it. I did however have a lot of fun. So much that I did several more.

This one Is an over paint. Its a canvas I have had for years that I decided to paint a goat over. You can see that the drawing is heavier than the last one. Its cause I wanted to show what I was doing. I did this in public.

I didn’t stop to take too many in progress pics. I really got into this one.

Another over paint on unstretched canvas. You can paint on it if you want to. I kind of got used to it.

this is a terrible picture. Good thing I am not a photographer. I have done a wet thinned out runny background cause I like the look of drips. Between this and the finished product I put down two more layers of thinned out oils. Man really sorry about the quality or lack of in this photo. All of these can be seen finished with way better pics in the Flat work section of my portfolio.

If you cant get enough of me and want to get more regular updates follow me on Twitter @thegorilladidit

If you are worried that I have stopped sculpting don’t be. I just stared a new piece today and its gonna be really cool!

You can see the maquette on top and some drawing I have done to start blocking out. I do this by first lightly cutting the lines I have drawn. For this I use a electroplated diamond disc on my Metabo 5 inch angle grinder. I did all the cutting for this dry . I use a water feed for granite or basalt carving but don’t find it necessary for this soft stone. This stuff cuts really fast so I moved along very quickly and got the head roughed out.

Right side

Left side

In this last shot you can see how I am cutting into the stone. Some times I am making parallel cuts then breaking them out with hammer and chisel. Other times I am flush cutting to get an inside curve using the round of the blade then just knocking the cuts out with the hammer.

Way off in the corner you can see the Maquette that I still reference every now and then.

Mostly done here

Tenticalishious

To give you an idea of the difference between Granite and Limestone, that grey Granite in the background weights about 1500 lbs where the much bigger Limestone block only tips the scales at about 600.  From here I only need to cut a bit deeper and smooth it out for it to be finished. The smoothing is done with a sintered diamond cup wheel and a silicon carbide sanding disc at about 60 grit. I rely pretty heavily on power tools to do the hard work . Some like the idea of hand finishing but for me it just takes time and doesn’t make much difference in a piece like this. I am at about 10 hrs at this point with 5 hours of finishing left to do. I will do a final sand on sight at the garden after transport in case anything breaks or gets scuffed during installation.

The Ancient Mariner

Installed and finish sanded signed and thats that.

From the path

Left

Back

Right side

That is my shipping crate in the background. It took 4 days to get from Calgary to  St Andrews by truck. It was a great drive a super fun trip with my Father  and Shadow. The maritimes are beautiful and fun with lots to drink and great food.  The concrete was just poured the day befor so the forms had to stay. A great big thank you to the Algonquin hotel.