Another new piece in the works

So I'm having some fun time with the engineering.  It's a difficult thing to make some large scale works, especially when thinking about transportation (small truck bed and no trailer yet).  All of my larger pieces so far can be put together with cold connections.  I enjoy the aspect of building and rebuilding pieces when I take them apart and put them back together.  It's as if the work is regenerating or being re-born in a new space or location.  The current fun is my new idea. It's based off a truss system I was thinking about when I was reading about timber framing.

The maquette above, when finished, should stand around 15ft tall.  It's at a good scale, 1" to 1'. I first mapped out all the angles and lengths.  Then built a 3-d model in Google Sketchup (shown below).

After the Sketchup model confirmed my measurements and angles from my maquette I order my beautiful steel square tube; 3in 11gauge wall. 

I primed the tube to prevent rust and it was easier to prime in full lengths.  I cut my angles and sizes and now I'm just waiting on a weekend to bust out the welding and recutting for assembling and disassembling the piece for transport.

My idea for the assemble/disassemble ability is to use a 2/34"OD 3/4" wall round tube inserted in the square tube with plug welds and cold-connections to hold it all together.  I'm hoping it works well and I figure I might as well paint the thing red since it's already big. Why not, right?

Stay tuned for more to come.

Salmagundi Install

My piece, "Swoosh," is now installed in Rocky Mount, NC at the Thelonious Monk Plaza down town. Here are a few pictures of the install.

New piece nearly complete

I've got some images here of a Cast Iron, Steel, and Aluminum piece I've been working on for a while now.  I got myself rather motivated and finished it up quickly in these last few weeks.  Hope you enjoy it.  A lot of photos. As of right now I'm just referring to it as a test of Height, Weight and Torque.

Sculpture Salmagundi 2013

I am pleased to announce my sculpture, "Swoosh," has been one of 10 chosen to be displayed at the Sculpture Salmagundi Outdoor Show at the Imperial Arts Center in Rocky Mount, NC.  Installation for the show is from August 15th to September 30th and the exhibition begins October 6th with an opening reception and awards ceremony announcing best in show(2:00pm - 5:00pm 10-6-13) .  This all takes place on the grounds of the Imperial Arts Center in Rocky Mount.  I am quite excited and congrats to the other artists who were also chosen!

Rudy Rudisill               "FS.959"

Cathy Perry                 "Bramble Tunnel"

Brian Glaze                 "Lean to"

Jim Gallucci                "Arrow Arch"

Robert Coon                "Merlin's Compass"

Carl Billingsley            "Three Stele"

Adam Walls                "Figures"

Kevin Vanek                "A Carpenter's Dream"

Jordan Krutsch              "Swoosh"

Joni Younkins-Herzog  "Delirium"

Andrew Yff                  "Eat the Rain"

The piece I entered is shown below:

"Swoosh" 2013 Jordan Krutsch

Making cuts, making sculpture

I left my art in Boone

Friday June 7th, I installed my piece at the Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition in Boone, NC. Following in the footsteps of friend and great professor Shawn Morin, I'm excited to earn my "I left my art in Boone" sticker.  My piece, Entrapped Imagination, is located in front of the art building on the Appalachian State University Campus until the 23rd-ish of this month.  The Turchin Center (Rosen people) will be moving my piece nearer the front of a building that is currently under construction not far from its current location.
Anyway,  you can check out the piece and works from the other people who are showing @ http://www.rosensculpture.org/.  If you're in Boone stop by and check it out; let me know what you think!

Kevin helping out with final prep

Thanks Kevin (www.kevinvanek.com)

Install location in front of the art building.   Moving to new location soon.

Unrelated to art but still fun

So, I'm buying myself a canoe. A 16 footer to haul around on my 16ft10in Ranger xlt.  Looks like I'm going to have to build myself a homemade rack.  Now, I do have a trailer hitch and I could utilize my welding knowledge to make one of these adjustable hitch mounted racks that hold the canoe from the hitch to the cab, but I think I'll take a different route and pack one on that fits in my truck bed and is a little sturdier.  Any suggestions?  Please, feel free to leave some ideas.  Here's the canoe if you're wondering, fiberglass, paddles and seats included.

Rosen National Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition

I'm excited to announce that I was accepted today for the Rosen National Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition in Boone, North Carolina.  My piece "Entrapped Imagination" is going to be installed sometime during the first week in June, probably the weekends of either the 1st or 7th.  Im quite excited to earn my "I left my art in Boone" sticker.

The Aluminum Propeller (still thinking about a title)

Here are some final shots of the Aluminum Propeller piece I've been steadily, too steadily, working on.  I'll be applying this to the Rosen Outdoor Sculpture show in Boone, NC.  Fingers crossed it will get accepted.

To add to this propeller fun here are some videos of the mold wash burn. Thanks to Pandora on my phone at the time of taking the video for a soundtrack. (Warning, it's a little loud)

I've also been working on the cast iron pieces and will hopefully have some in progress photos coming soon!

Down East part two

Yippee! I received honorable mention for my outdoor piece in the outdoor section of the Down East Sculpture Exhibition!  Mad props to Kevin Vanek (www.kevinvanek.com) for winning first place.  I've not heard who won second or third but congratulations to those folks as well.

Down East Sculpture Exhibition (Indoor)

The Down East Sculpture Exhibition indoor portion awards were announced by juror and visiting artist Thomas Sayre (www.thomassayre.com) and I was announced first place with my piece, "An artifact of the departure from the biological old regime."  The piece is cast iron and it is one of my favorites made under the tutelage of Araan Schmidt, now teaching at Colorado Mesa University, my last year at BGSU.

Also congratulations to Kevin Vanek (www.kevinvanek.com) for second place, Talyor Browning (www.mc1design.com) for third, and Hannah Brown for honorable mention.