"Ovation"
2010
10 x 17 x 12

Maybe because I was starting with a box, but the idea of how things reveal themselves, was the original concept for this piece. I soon began to think about how hopes and dreams are revealed and the notion of not knowing the future until it arrives. I think the title, "Sometime, Somewhere," captures that feeling perfectly.

The title was found in an old songbook from the turn of the century. This beautiful handmade box was found by my brother at a flea market. It’s an old cobblers box and each compartment was filled with hundreds of small nails and tacks. The lid, which has become detached, was once held on by 2 leather straps and will probably show up in a future piece. I’ve also collected all the old nails, tacks and accoutrements to be used throughout my subsequent work.

Whenever I’m walking in my neighborhood I'm always looking for (and picking up) discarded odds and ends. Sometimes it’s no more exciting than an old rusty washer shed by a passing truck, but sometimes you get lucky. I once found a great vintage key in the street; I polished it up and put it on my keychain. To this day I wonder what lock that key may open and who may have lost it. This piece is about that feeling you get when you have found some long lost item.

A great old box with finger-jointed corners houses this piece. The figure’s dress is actually a portion of an old doll’s dress I found at an antique store. Usually I make all the clothes from scratch, but this one was just what I was looking for and guided the color scheme perfectly.

Even though I currently live in the city, I cherish any time I can get out into nature. I grew up across the street from a large expanse of woods and feel I spend most of my childhood there among the many birds and towering trees. I find the woods refreshing, centering and calming. I never then, and still to this day, felt totally alone in the woods.

This piece is decoupaged with paper from a publication of John Milton’s work in Latin. Collected on the banks of the Ohio River, the branches help provide the setting. The woodpeckers are from a humble collection of wooden birds I bought a couple of years ago at a flea market.

This piece is currently available.

Engine 00

Engine 33

Engine 57

These three engines were more experiments. I wanted to do a different kind of kinetic piece and explore materials I don’t usually work with. These pieces contain among other things, tin cans, driftwood, scrap metal, old toy wheels, a vintage doorknob, old roller skate wheels and various found objects.

Sometimes I build pieces without having a clear vision of their final outcome. Although this follows pretty close to my sketch, it turned into a kind of church-like building that reminded me of the type of architecture I've seen in Italy. The paintings reinforce the Italian feel.

This is a decorative cabinet with fancy-shaped doors. The painting on the inside has a summer scene on the perimeter and a winter version in the center.

This piece is currently available.

Movie
See and hear the movie
915K, MPG

I wanted to make the next music box have some of it's mechanism exposed. I used gears I found at a salvage yard and musical chimes from an old child's toy. I wanted this one to have more of a random sound, so I mounted the eight chimes on a rig that would turn and have three hammers that would strike them as they turned.

Movie
See and hear the movie
921K, MPG

As this was my first attempt at using weights, I wanted to make a simple box that made "music" using bells, chimes, and other clanking materials. I had to figure out, and make from scratch, the governor, which slows down and regulates the speed of the dropping weight. Once all the mechanisms were figured out, I built up and painted the outside.

Movie
See it in action!
919K, MPG

This idea came from my "Mr. Oddball Juggles" piece with the improvement that he can throw the ball from hand to hand. It's operated by striking the feet. Inside is a small, carved book with the title "Learn to Juggle" on the cover.

This one was done around Valentines Day. It's a souped up version of a similar piece I gave Paula about 10 years ago. There's a lovely painting of a sunset inside, and the box has three doors that open in opposite directions: a small door inside the heart opens one way, the heart opens the other way and the black frame part opens the same way the small door does.

Like a lot of my first attempts, I made this box for myself. I put a double-opening door on it; the smaller door, which is hinged on the larger, reveals a small compartment inside and the large door opens to reveal the whole inside. The scenery was painted to seamlessly match, no matter how you look at it.