Art is an exploration of ideas. The operative word here is exploration. This means following paths that are not necessarily well worn, just to see where they lead.
Focus and Development
My collection of sculptural work is a product of developed craftsmanship and process. While many of these have included light sources, my recent works in process do not. Lighted or unlighted, I welcome any opportunity for commissioned work where I can apply the craftsmanship developed over decades toward realizing the desires of customers. This includes art as well as commercial model making.
I generally don’t reveal details from customer projects publically. My approach has always been that it is the choice of the homeowner to expose their homes, not mine. This has left me at a disadvantage in promoting design services, as many projects I have done the most extensive work on are custom homes. I have made a few exceptions over the years, mainly construction process images of details, or projects in which the owners have later given tours of for various reasons.
When a home is put up for sale, the proverbial cat is out of the bag – so I feel it’s fair to share what is being published at that time.
A special thank you to those who attended my presentation on 3D Printing opportunities for Bespoke Lighting at Lightfair. I enjoyed delivering the course and the dialog that followed.
I am fully committed to assist anyone who attended, as well as others interested, in building their own strategy and approach for integrating 3D Printing into their design processes. This includes answering any questions, or assisting by sharing information and information sources I’ve accumulated over the years at no cost. As noted in prior posts on this topic, my approach is targeted at practical end uses today, for creating unique low volume items, making study and approval modelas and use of 3D printing for iterative processes in design. My approach includes use of accessible technologies that modest budgets can afford. If this is of interest, contact me through email, and I will get back to you right away.
If you are attending Lightfair this year, and are interested in the use of 3D Printing in deploying custom and special lighting ideas, I hope you will have to time to attend my presentation:
Course Description: 3D printing is poised to re-invigorate the inclusion of bespoke lighting solutions beyond conventional manufacturing. From the creation of a one-off feature art object, to printing optics to produce taylored light distributions, 3D printing eliminates the roadblocks of tooling costs and wait times, to go directly from concept to end product. Further, designers already adept at 3D modeling, can directly participate in the design of a finished product, with fewer interpretive steps by others. 3D printing can deliver components, or complete finished works, in a myriad of materials. The revolution is coming, and it is going to be amazing!
As of this month, I have been selected by the following venues to present in upcoming events.
The Other Art Fair by SAATCHI ART – April 21-24
This is a fine arts exhibition featuring selected artists from around the world, that is being held in the Fulton Center in Chicago on April 21-24. See The Other Art Fair for more details. I will be exhibiting a range of lighted architectural objects, as well as a few unlighted works being completed specifically for this show.
Lightfair 2022 – Wednesday June 22 – 5:00-6:00PM
I will be presenting “Opportunities for Bespoke Lighting Using 3D Print Technology “ exploring where and how 3D printing fits into realizing custom and special lighting product needs, and where it is headed with emerging new technologies.
You can review more details on this presentation on the Lightfair Conference information page under the technologies sub heading. Course number L22T14.
I am preparing and collecting physical samples of various production methods and materials to include in the presentation.
More to Come
I am in the process of securing other opportunities to exhibit and present, as well as pulling together a few videos during the year on methods of using new technologies in the design and final production process.
I am hopeful that 2022 will be a break out year from the restrictions and lock downs that have damped efforts to get out and interact with people live.
To me, New Mexico architecture is personified by the pueblo and Santa Fe style. I am also attracted to spanish country villages, with their all white exteriors, and collection of forms clustered with minimal formal organization.
Spanish Country Village
On a trip to Spain, we rented a sports car to drive the roads that wind through the hills of the countryside. On this tour, I was stuck by the cleanliness and simplicity of the dozens of small white villages settled into the hill sides and valleys.
In Minneapolis, there is what I consider a truly remarkable building. It was once called the Northwestern National Life building, and opened in 1965. The colonnade is striking, and sours. The columns are somewhat reminiscent of Doric structure in there number and flared capitals, but far more slender and exaggerated. Walking through them is interesting, as the light strikes the 4 sides of each to create a mix of perceptions, some in shadow, others lighted directly.
In my interpretation, I created three layers of the columns to create the vertical height, then rotated each layer 90 degrees counter clockwise. When lighted, the presentation of the columns lighted from the front, and in shadow are evident from a single vantage point, similar to what you see walking up to the building itself.
There is a lot of noise today about folks changing career paths and how it is changing the landscape of employment. I question whether what is happening is actually new. An interesting article on careers from Apollo Technical 17 REMARKABLE CAREER CHANGE STATISTICS TO KNOW indicates that job and career changes are pretty common, and have been going on for some time.
Key takeaway: Change is the norm, it is only the attention of media that cycles in and out of making it a “story.”
The article states that the average number of jobs an individual might have is 12, and infers that most have perhaps just one career change. So, I decided to do a bit of a retro review on my own path. What I came up with was 5 significant career paths (often overlapping), and 11 jobs over a period of 44 years. The following is a run down, counting only adult age jobs.
Foundation
For me, art was going to be a part of what I do. At a very early age, living in campus housing where my dad was studying Electronics Engineering, my daily path to school included the halls of the art department at the UofI Moscow, ID to escape the cold winters. There, I saw paintings, sculptures, and graphics. The imagery and smell of linseed oil were compelling. While others played with their sticks and balls, I chose sketching and doodling in notebooks, and painting murals on walls.
Early notebook sketch 1973
Career One – Graphics and Job 1
Most careers are a mish-mash of financial need, emotion, opportunity, and focus. My early interests in art led to a graphic design path, which led to joining the USAF as a graphics specialist.
The story told here is real. However, I have added a bit of humor to it for entertainment purposes. The actions taken, timeline, and responses to it are real, the description of it is a dramatization of actual events to make it more fun to read. No names have been changed.
Background
As a kid, I glued and painted everything. Making stuff from wood and found objects was the greatest form of entertainment around, next to stinking up the house with unsupervised chemistry set experiments. The reasons are pretty obvious:
No computers or video games
3 channels on antenna TV
The only thing streaming in 1969 was water, down actual streams
No smart phones and all the trappings that go with them
So, I made things. Gokarts from wood and lawn mower take-off wheels, to walking stilts made from scrap 2 x 4’s. Wenatchee was the center of the Wenatchee Youth circus, so you walked on stilts and rode unicycles – including delivering newspapers on them. The place was a bit bizarre, but wonderful to grow up in.
Problem Definition
The glue of choice in those days was Elmer’s Glue-All. The problem was, at the time, the stuff came with one of two caps designs. The separate little press on cap, and the twist cap design.
There is a very real concern that plastics are harming our environments. To some, this means that anything made from the stuff is to be avoided as dangerous. Which is unfortunate. As it is with any raw material, there are pros and cons to be considered – so objectivity is key to understanding.
Since a great deal of what I make uses 3D printed plastic, I am sensitive to how potential customers perceive it. I am also aware of the role plastics play in improving our lives, as well as the damage being done by abuse of the material.
The following is a brief of how I see plastics use as it relates to what I am directly involved in – founded on 12 years of development.
