Part 3 - New Sculpture - Tom Otterness Automata piece

Well had a busy day today. Finished carving the Tom O figure and then drilled it and added all the string to make the animation possible.

Here is the string and carved bits with the glue drying.

Under all that string and junk is my Tom O.

Here is what the Tom O figure will be doing. Falling down and getting up, over and over. Lets hope that the string that I used holds up!

Base made, first hand cut gears made and ready to be installed. Now all the magic and swearing begins as we try and make all the mechanical stuff work as dreamed about.

Gears are in and working. Man that was a lot of fiddling around. I need a drill press!

Part 2 - New Sculpture - Tom Otterness Automata piece

Well I have been working on this one all day and here are some progress shots.

Puppy is put together but missing ears but all that will come after the mechanics are all done and working

3/4 view of the Puppy

Legs and arms carved and before sanding

Detail of hands 

Tom O's head and body carved. Hands are sore!

Part II -New Years Painting Marathon @ Shoe Factory Art Co-Op

Went for the last of the “A New Year’s Painting Marathon!” was held yesterday. Noon till 4pm. Here is a pic after an hour of futzing about.

More play with colour

Here is were I stopped to take it home to the studio. It still needs work and I will be working on it next week between all the other projects. More later!

Blog look change

Sorry that I had to change the design of the blog page back. I liked the new look but .... none of my tools worked (widgets) and it was very annoying. So until the Dynamic HTML5 design is ready for prime time I will stick with this template.

Thanks for understanding!

New Sculpture - Tom Otterness Automata piece

We have a new show at the Shoe Factory Art Co-op (http://www.shoefactoryarts.com/CallforArtists.html) with the title of "Unconditional Love: Cats and Dogs". Due to the Tom Otterness sculptures going up here in Rochester this show is a tribute to our feline and canine best friends!


"Otterness is being exposed as a killer. In 1977, he made a film in which he "rescued" a dog from a shelter, tied it up and, as the animal wagged its tail, shot it dead. The movie, which Otterness called "Shot Dog Film," repeatedly shows the brutal execution.

Otterness has been apologizing for his despicable act ever since it came to light a few years ago and began to threaten his lucrative public support. In 2008, he said, "Thirty years ago, when I was 25 years old, I made a film in which I shot a dog. It was an indefensible act that I am deeply sorry for. Many of us have experienced profound emotional turmoil and despair. Few have made the mistake I made. I hope people can find it in their hearts to forgive me." By James Panero - Daily News

So I have decided to do a Kinetic Sculpture piece where you turn the crank and a dog stands up, raises a front leg with a gun it it, shoots a carved Tom Otterness with a bang. Then the Tom Otterness figure then collapses. As you continue to turn the crank it all goes back to the setup and then repeats. 

Should be fun! So I have working on my Tom Otterness Automata piece this week and after a day of thinking, I tinkered for a couple of hours and came up with this method to have the dog stand up point its leg at the Tom Otterness figure so that it can shoot him! Ouch!