Movie #1
"2 Hats" in action.
2.98 MB, QuickTime

"2 Hats"
2004
6 1/2 x 11 x 8 1/2

This piece is similar in concept to "Comedy and Tragedy," but with this one I wanted to try something different for the base, so I put her atop a hatbox. I thought about calling it "Indecision."

Movie #1
"En Pointe" in action.
2.09 MB, QuickTime

"En Pointe "
2004
6 x 10 1/2 x 6 1/2

After thinking about a simpler female figure to make I thought a dancer standing on her toes would be a good challenge. When the key is pressed she raises her arms over her head. Isn't she beautiful?

Movie #1
"Time Machine" in action.
2.98 MB, QuickTime

Movie #2
Close-up of "Time Machine" working.
3.15 MB, QuickTime

Movie #3
Look at the mechanisms.
2.85 MB, QuickTime

Movie #4
Close-up of the complex "readout" mechanism.
1.38 MB, QuickTime

"Time Machine"
2004
14 1/2 x 29 1/2 x 20 1/2

This piece was made for a professor who had seen my "Man vs. Machine" at a previous Ann Arbor show. He commissioned me to do a time machine version as he was into mid-century science fiction and such. The mechanisms got more and more complicated as the piece developed (see detail photos of mechanisms). The most complicated and time consuming part was the 'year' with the 4-digit readout. It was one of those things that sounds easy but turned out, to get it to operate properly, more difficult than I had anticipated.

Movie #1
"Billie" in action.
2.06 MB, QuickTime

"Billie"
2004
14 1/2 x 32 1/2 x 20 1/2

While thinking about unsung performers one day, I heard a Billie Holiday song on the radio and thought she would be a great subject for a piece. I decided to slant the roof to give it that old amphitheater feel. The dark blue ceiling and gold stars complete the effect. When you press the right key, she swivels her hips. She was one of a kind.

Movie #1
"Roebling" in action.
1.84 MB, QuickTime

Movie #2
Close-up of Roebling in action.
1.47 MB, QuickTime

On a recent journey, I saw a great painting of a bridge and a bridge builder. My wife suggested I do a bridge builder piece. After a little research, I decided to do it about John Augustus Roebling and the Suspension Bridge that crosses the Ohio River in Cincinnati, my birthplace. The painting is taken from a photo taken around the turn of the 20th century, and I set our hero off to one side so you could see more of it. The blue on top is the color the bridge has been painted for about 100 years. I think there is some discussion to repaint it brown or beige, which, I think, is a huge mistake.

Movie #1
"Handshake" in action.
990 K, QuickTime

This one is influenced by the kind of sideshow banners that tend to exaggerate the world's "oddities." I decided these two should be dressed the same to show that people are the same on the inside no matter what size they are on the outside.

Movie #1
See him swallow a sword!
1.66 MB, QuickTime

Another classic act, I decided to have him stand on one leg after I figured out the rod that is attached to the sword has to run up one of his legs. I love this guy's precarious pose.

P.S. Don't try this at home.

Movie #1
See Strongman lift weights!
1.56 MB, QuickTime

Movie #2
Close-up of Strongman at work
1.63 MB, QuickTime

A classic sideshow act. I really tried to make his body muscular and barrel-shaped. The carving is much more advanced than my previous work, but his body and tight outfit demanded that I spend more time getting it to look right. I really love the way the figure came out.

Movie #1
See a mini-me in action!
1.66 MB, QuickTime

This was a commission I received from a couple at the Kentuck show. I never considered doing a self-portrait before and it turned out to be fun. The piece is about me in the studio. I fabricated miniature versions of my tables, woodpiles, stacks of paint, various boxes, and even a painted scene out the window. A small landscape and a key-operated work in progress sit on the tables. A lightbulb pops out of my head when you press the right key. "Hey! I have another idea."

OK, that's enough about me.

Movie
See "Mark Twain" in
action!
2.2 MB, QuickTime

Someone left me this note and it seemed to be a great idea. I decided to make the man at the helm Mark Twain and put him in a fancy suit. I painted an Ohio River scene behind him that is reminiscent of the area where I grew up.

Since I wanted the floor to be curved on the outside, I decided to steam-bend the 6 smaller outer boards. This learning process took a whole day to finally get the pieces I wanted, but I really think it was worth it.

People sometimes ask whether I'm sad when I sell a piece. Usually I'm not, but with this one, selling only a few days after it was complete, I was sad to see it go so soon.

Movie
See "Fortune Teller"
in action
3.7 MB, QuickTime

This piece is a little darker, in both color and theme, and more refined than my previous pieces. I wanted to make her face more realistic and to carve her dress and headdress to look more natural. Originally I wanted her to hold a crystal ball, but tarot cards turned out to be a better idea. The candle on the table 'floats' up and outward in a very mysterious way.

A man in Kansas City was interested in "Woody Guthrie", but asked if I would make him a version with Bob Dylan. He told me, "I like Woody, but I like Bob even more, could you make me a Bob?" Normally, when I make my pieces, I stay away from modern themes and figures, but when someone request a special subject, I usually bend the rules. This piece surprised me; I really like the way he turned out and I especially like the marquee.

Note: Although this Dylan commission and "Bob Dylan Wheel" were made back-to-back, they where completely unrelated, honest.

Movie #1
"Bob Dylan Wheel" in
action, wide
1.6 MB, QuickTime

Movie #2
Closeup
2.3 MB, QuickTime

My friend Aaron, who is a huge Dylan fan, saw "Predictions" and was interested in buying it, until my wife, Paula, suggested I make a version with Bob spinning the wheel. We all agreed it was a great idea. When it was completed I think it came out better than "Predictions". I made the wheel bigger so I could fit 20 of Aaron's favorites songs on it.

Movie #1
"Abe" in
action, wide
914K, QuickTime

Movie #2
Closeup
918K, QuickTime

Abe is seen here tipping his stovepipe hat and standing on a huge copy of his famous Gettysburg Address.

Movie #1
"Predictions,"
Wide-shot
1MB, MPG

Movie #2
"Predictions,"
Close-up
755K, MPG

For a while I've had a drawing in my sketchbook of a "prediction machine" that hangs on the wall, and thought it would be interesting make a smaller piece where a figure is actually spinning the wheel. It took a while to figure out how to make him spin the wheel with one press of the key. Though it works rather well, you can really get it going if you hit the key multiple times.

Movie
"Leap of Faith"
wide shot
619K, MPG

This piece was inspired by all those inventors who have ever dreamt of flying. A dream so strong, that they took it upon themselves to construct, and test, a contraption that they believed would enable them to soar with the birds.

Movie
See it in action!
1 MB, QuickTime

I love the way this one turned out, so simple, yet so elegant. Her arms and legs are proof of my improved carving skills. The floor is made of small planks of wood and I even turned the table and carved the books.

Movie
See it in action!
1.18 MB, QuickTime

This guy switches his mask from Tragedy to Comedy when you press the key. It was challenging to carve the masks without cutting my finger off; (they're so darn small!).

Movie
See it in action!
850K, QuickTime

I never entertained the idea of making small pieces because I was afraid they would be too simplistic, but after I made a small thank you gift for a friend, and it turned out so well, I decided to explore the idea.

This is very similar to that original piece, except that I gave our hero a cowboy hat and boots and I just had to carve two cacti to keep him from getting lonely. Yee-Haw!

Movie
"Woody Guthrie"
wide shot
1.3 MB, MPG

Since the action of the "Snake Handler" worked so well, I thought of using that same idea of having the figure be more interactive with the object he's holding. I've always wanted to do a series of unsung heroes, so Woody with his guitar turned out to be a good choice.

Movie
"Snake Handler"
wide shot
1.3 MB, MPG

The idea for this piece came from my fascination with the unusual practice of snake handling. I also thought it would be interesting to have the figure interact with the snake. He can let the snake slither through his hand but also, he can hold it straight out, as if to offer it to the viewer, and then return it to his other hand. The "stage" is fashioned to look like a primitive church.

To date, this is the most sculptural figure I have produced, obviously I had to carve her much more realistically than a fully clothed figure. I wanted this piece to have more of a sideshow feel to it.

For a while, I toyed with the idea of using other materials for my figures and I had this idea of a robot, made of metal, named Rusty. My wife Paula suggested I make two figures instead of one and make the robot out of wood, not metal. Of course, she was right, as usual. The two figures are strung together so when you push down a key they both do the same thing, My story is that Mr. Oddball designed and built Rusty, and is now teaching him how to move. I really like how the "detail drawings" on the chalkboard came out.

Movie #1
"Down Boy"
wide shot
924K, MPG

Movie #2
Close-up of "Down, Boy"
412K, MPG

This piece is based on one of my silly drawings. I added a lever that turns the plate that hold the strings, so the dog can move from side to side. Since the plate turns, I had to run all the strings up through a hole in the center. Really quite simple once I figured it out.

Series Of 5

Somewhere, someone suggested I could save a lot of time if I make multiples of my work. So I decided to make 5 Mr. Oddball themed pieces. I'm not sure if I really saved any time and I haven't made multiples since.

In this piece Mr. Oddball has a nice bottle of wine, a fresh baguette, and a beret as he tours around Paris. I made all the floors in this series different; this one is made of walnut. Fancy!

I made the front of the floor curved and the backdrop to look like the interior of a house in Mexico, complete with santos. Although I've never been to Mexico, this is probably what all the houses look like.

*This piece is Currently Available.

Here, our hero is an archeologist / Indiana Jones type looking for treasure. I really put a lot of time into the hieroglyphics on the side, but the results, I think, are worth all the work.

I always try to think of themes that have a lot of movement involved, and I had this idea of him juggling in a circus. The wooden balls have holes through their center, and when you "hit" the right key, the balls go flying up the strings. Wow!

Movie #1
"Man vs. Machine"
wide shot
919K, MPG

Movie #2
Close-up showing dials and controls
445K, MPG

On my original Mr. Oddball piece, I thought maybe I could use the movement of the strings to make decorative items, on the stage, turn around. With a history of sometimes having ambition end in frustration, I decided to focus solely on the motion of the figure. So when I had this idea of a figure operating some sort of time machine, I thought, finally, I had a chance to use the idea to make the dials turn around. The time machine idea was way too specific, and I got so caught up with all the nomenclature, that I finally decided to make it a generic machine instead. Still cool though.

This is the largest and most involved key-operated piece I've done so far. They all can play their instruments but they really don't make music. The piano player and the title are inspired by Tom Waits.

What could be cooler than a dancing skeleton? This piece started out as a haunted house with a skeleton out front, but in my sketches the skeleton looked huge, so I changed it to a mausoleum instead. I even put grave markers inside and if you look with a flashlight, you can see them. Cool.

Movie #1
"The Hacker"
wide shot
922K, MPG

Movie #2
Close-up of "The Hacker" attacking his computer
446K, MPG

In reaction to the Men Fighting's size, (somehow it got really huge), I decided to make a "small" piece. I painted the background full of books to contrast with this guy's attempt to extract information from his computer. I'm sure there's some sort of ironic message here.

Movie #1
"Men Fighting"
wide shot
889K, MPG

Movie #2
Close-up of "Men Fighting"
476K, MPG

After finishing my first piece, I thought it would be only natural to make a piece with two figures, and what could be better but two business men fighting Rock'em Sock'em robot style. This piece was done with a folk art-type moral message in mind.

Movie #1
"Mr. Oddball"
wide shot
919K, MPG

Movie #2
Close-up of "Mr. Oddball"
446K, MPG

This is the very first piece of this type of work, created way back in 1994. When I was making it, I really didn't know what I was making, or how it would come out. When it was finished, I felt like this thing I stumbled upon was something I could make more of, and expand upon. I finally discovered a type of artwork that combines my primitive style of carving, my love for assembling and working with wood, my sort of folk art/naivete way of painting, my skill for making things look old (aging), and my fascination for mechanisms. The combination of all these form something I think is truly unique and is all me. This is still my favorite piece.