Angry Cat

I am finally back from my hiatus. Here is a new commissioned piece that I just made for a coworker.

Update Wednesdays will begin again next week, so stay tuned.

Bending Basics: Part 1

After a few delays due to my day job, the first installment of the Bending Basics micro tutorial series: is ready for viewing. In this tutorial series I decided to start from the beginning, with what I consider to be the absolute essentials of wire sculpting. Are you ready to meet the Pliers?

Back on for Tuesday

After much delay, I am back online. I have been quite busy these past two weeks or so, but not with wire sculpture. I will release the tutorial this Tuesday. Expect a small update on Wednesday, as I get back into the groove of sculpting and posting. I also plan to take part in NaNoWriMo, so updates may be sparse this November.

Technical Difficulties

Dear followers and friends,

my main internet is down, and will not be back up and running until next week. As such, Tutorial Tuesday is delayed until next week. Update Wednesday is also postponed, and will return as a double feature next week.

Thanks for understanding,
NSBwire

A Door to My Mind's Eye.

This video provides a window into the rudimentary sort of image that I visualize when I begin work on kinetic sculptures. Outside of scaling for miniatures, I tend not to do any sort of work with pencil and paper; instead, I opt to work out the nuances of my sculptures in wire, because my mental images tend to be three dimensional, and I find it much easier to translate a three dimensional visualization into to three dimensions, than trying to construct a three dimensional component from a two dimensional paper drawing.

Update Wednesday

While I am scaling the penny farthing and the Duesenberg Model J on paper, I will be starting work on a new kinetic piece.

Making the tutorials and videos of my sculptures flipped a switch in my mind, and inspired the idea for my new kinetic project. The cameras I use for this blogallery are all digital, and Hollywood has abandoned film in favor of digital, but not too long ago mechanical cameras ruled the day, and before our modern era of talkies, were the days of moving pictures; Nickelodeons; and, earlier still, kinetoscopes. I know that Kansas isn't quite Hollywood, but let us hope that Kansas is far enough west for me to evade Edison's patent attorneys, because I am producing my very own Edisonian kinetoscope which will be made from one hundred percent black annealed bailing wire. No film required.

In addition to these projects, be sure to stop by the blog on the first Tuesday of October for the first of a three part micro tutorial series covering bending basics.

The Juggler Unveiled!

Sculpture Finished! Unveiling Delayed.

I finished the sculpture on friday, and shot the unveiling video that night and again on Saturday due to my new Phone's camera being sub par. Upon inspection, the video was out of focus and did not meat my requirements for public release. I aim for quality in all of my work, and that means that I will not release this video until I have a camera capable of focusing properly. Expect the unveiling this Wednesday.

Nearly there.

I will be posting the finished product after work, as I still need to attach the hand and make one or two minor tweaks to the mechanisms.

Not quite finished.

I am on the last leg of this project, and I will unveil it this Friday. Here are some current pictures to tie you over until then.

GALIMOTO!

Galimoto, was written by Karen Lynn Williams, and Illustrated in beautiful watercolor by Catherine Stock. It is published by Harper Collins, and available at libraries and bookstores alike. As I stated last week, I first heard about the book through the PBS program Reading Rainbow, which was hosted by Levar Burton.

While I don't recall much about the episode in which it was featured, the subject of the book stuck with me, and serves as a source of inspiration for my sculptures. As prefaced in Galimoto, on the copyright page, "galimoto" is the Chichewa word for "car," but the word "galimoto" also refers to a push toy that is made from various odds and ends, e.g. scraps of wire, cloth and the like.

The story follows Kondi, an imaginative and industrious young Malawian boy who sets out to make himself a galimoto from nothing more than a few spare scraps of wire.  

While I don't have as much trouble getting supplies as Kondi does in the story, I feel we are of kindred spirits, in that both he and I enjoy making things with our hands, and that we want to share the joy of the things that we make with others.

My first exposure to wire sculpture came as a child in the sixth grade, in art class, when I made a static scuba diver, a shark, and some coral using both annealed bailing wire for the framework and colorfully insulated pieces of copper wire that our teacher harvested from stripped telephone and computer cables, as we learned about proportions and golden sections.  I can't say that I remember the first time I saw Galimoto on Reading Rainbow, or even if it had any sort of initial impact on me during my childhood, but I can tell you that whenever I prepare to build a new sculpture, whether it be static or kinetic, my thoughts always drift to Galimoto, especially when I am making a vehicle.

Whether you are a child or an adult, Galimoto is very much worth a read, and I highly recommend it.

And now, an Announcement!

After I have completed my kinetic Unicyclist, I will be making a galimoto, but not just any galimoto, it's gonna be a "Dusie,"  an articulated model "J," complete with rack and pinion Steering! Also soon to be in the works is a bone shaking, Penny Farthing bicycle.

Things to look forward to.

I have taken a short break from working on the unicyclist, which is still on target to be completed by the second wednesday of September, and am working on a book report, which will appear this coming Wednesday. Yes, I know I'm not in third grade any more, but the book I am reporting on ties directly into the subject of wire sculpture, especially kinetic sculpture. The book was even featured on my favorite PBS children's television show, next to Wishbone––The Reading Rainbow with Levar Burton.

I am also starting to do preliminary work on the flapping bird tutorial that I mentioned in one of the unveiling videos.  I will be releasing the tutorial videos in series beginning This November. That about wraps up this Update Wednesday, so I'll leave you with two final statements: Please Support your local public television stations so that they can continue to bring wonderful inspirational and educational programming to both you and your children; and finally, in my own take on Levar's famous closing salutation, "I'll see you, next Update Wednesday."

It's Wednesday Somewhere:

It's not Thursday everywhere, yet. After much ado, here is the tutorial video in the raw, it is about 45 minutes long, so set some time aside if you are going to watch it through to the end. If you decide to make a mobile of your own, post a picture or a link to a picture in the comments section, I'd love to see what you all come up with. Happy bending.

My Phone is Dead. Tutorial to be released on Wednesday.

My watertight box leaked while I was kayaking yesterday, and the few drops of water that got in fried my cellphone. I thought I was smart by installing an 8 gig micro SD card to put my photos on, but I forgot to tell the phone to record photos and Videos to the removable storage device, and as such my video is irrevocably lost on the phone's hard-storage. This being the case, I am rerecording the video tonight, and will be releasing the tutorial video tomorrow as this week's feature for Update Wednesday.

Skeletal Articulations Complete!

I finished building all of the articulations for the skeleton on Monday night, but only got around to some minimal tweaking on the mechanism last night. As much as I hate to, I am pushing back the completion date for this project yet again, since it seems that everyone wants a piece of my time as of late. The sculpture will be completed by the second wednesday of september at the very latest. Update Wednesdays will continue as usual, and I personally guarantee that the simple wire mobile tutorial will be published at the previously designated deadline of Tuesday August 19 (by 17:00 CST).

Friday Update

Today I am posting a small update. I will be submitting the boardtrack racer to the art competition in lieu of the unicycler, which will be completed by the next update wednesday. The simple wire mobile tutorial video will be availible on Tuesday the 19th of August.

Update Wednesday Postponed.

Due to mitigating circumstances, I am putting this week's update off until this Friday. Fear not, Update Wednesdays will resume as usual next week.

Project update, ribcage and pelvis.

The sculpture is nearing completion. After botching the first ribcage, I went back, and started over, and am quite pleased with the results. Since last week, I also finished the sculpture's pelvis and spine. Next Wednesday, I hope to reveal the completed project.

Update Wednesday: A new pair of legs!

After lastweek's update, I decided to take a different approach to this sculpture. As a result the legs needed to be more anitomically correct, and I even built a little play into the patella as an extra little detail. Thanks for dropping in, and I'll see you next week for another update wednesday. Be well.

First Official Update Wednesday!

Here are some pictures of the kinetic sculpture I am working on for a local, jurried art contest. I hope to have the piece completed by July 31.

Contest winner's sculpture!

So, here it is, after much ado (I have been very busy at work recently, and have had less time than I would have preferred for making and editing videos).  The official Moving Wire unveiling of the Commissioned piece that I made for the Contest winner, a miniature of her Bicycle. Check out her facebook page, Clothes by Close on facebook. She makes clothing for plus sized women, and is a good friend whom I met during my days at Kansas State University.  I have decided that I will be holding contests biannually. Check back next week for some pictures of the new kinetic piece that I am working on.

Lion's Head

After several weeks hiatus, I am back in action, with another update. These are pictures of my latest project, a piece that a friend of mine commissioned to remind him of home in Africa.  I originally intended to post a video of the piece, however it was quite dark and did not capture the level of detail I hoped for. The Lion's head proved more time consuming than difficult, in that after forming the head with a coil I made the mane out of individual lengths of wire about three inches long, manually inserting each one into the coil and crimping it into the coil.

I have since completed the sculpture for the contest winner, and will post a public unveiling video on the blog after she receives it. Expect the video sometime in the middle of next week. I also hope to add some pictures of my current noncommissioned project. 

Unveiling blooper!

I know waiting for updates can be tedious, so here is a fun little mess up that happened while I videoed my bike's unveiling. There is only one blooper, but I sure hope that it entertains you. Eat your heart out David Copperfield!  I promise there will be more updates in the coming week, I will take pictures of the piece that I am making for the winner of the contest, and will reveal them after the winner receives the prize.

Unveiling of My completed Project.

Congratulations to the Winner of the Contest!  

The winning guess was a Motorized Bicycle, which is a pretty accurate description of the early motorcycles, only the engines on modern motorized bicycles like mine don't have 1000cc Displacements.

If you want to learn more about early motorcycles and board track racing, check out Wheels Through Time's website. Wheels through time also has some start up videos of some of the old motorcycles. Believe me when I tell you that there is no more lovely a sound than that of an old motorcycle, the way each push rod, valve, cam and spring add to the tympanic roar of the old engines is simply sublime, but as Lavar Burton says, "don't take my word for it." Go and check out the Big Valve X at the very least.

Project update.

The project is finally winding to a close, and this is the last chance to guess what the project is. So if you have visited the site, but haven't thrown in your two cents, now is the time to do so. I will e-mail the winner once I have posted a walkaround of the finished product some time later this week. Once agaain, good luck.

New Project Update!

There is only one contestant so far and only a handfull of updates left until completion, so start guessing. Good luck!

Ballerina

A picture of the music box as promised.

Progress update!

Another update means another guess, post guesses in the comments box. Remember only one guess per update. Nobody has guessed yet, so it is an open playingfield. Don't hesitate, guess today for a chance to win a comissioned sculpture.

MovingWire: Gearbox with Mobile

New Project Update! Contest!

A little slow in posting this, but the real world takes precedence. I will post the video of my kinetic sculpture soon. I just need to figure out how to put it up on blogger without the YouTube app adding in unrelated videos.  Please bear with me on the videos.

I have decided to make this guessing game a contest. Guess what the sculpture is going to be. The first person to guess correctly gets to commission a wires culpture, which I will send to you at my own expense. The commissioned piece will be no larger than 8"x8"x8" when complete.

 Put all guesses in the comments box for this post. Good luck, and let the guesses begin!

New Project!

Any guesses as to what these two components are soon to become a part of? If you have an idea, post it in the comments. I'll keep you all updated with progress pictures as the sculpture progresses, and you can see if you were right.

As far as previously completed sculptures go, expect a video later today.

I am also working on a written piece about wire sculpture. It could take the form of an essay, or it could be a poem––whichever of the two it may be, expect to see it in about a week's time.

Again, don't be a stranger, please feel free to comment if you are inclined to do so.

Digital Difficulties

I apologize for the lack of uploads this past week or so, but due to some common issues with digital technology, ie. dropping my phone into the Ocean's black abyss while on vacation, I have been unable to post for the past several days.  I am back home now, and I promise that new pictures and other updates are soon to follow.

Finished Crucifix

Here is a picture of the finished crucifix, as promised. It is a little late, but I have been a little busy. More sculptures coming soon.

Jesus in wire, Crucifix in progress.

Here is a picture of Wire Jesus hanging on the holding cross while I constructed the spiral cross on which he is now suspended. I will post a picture of the finished piece tomorrow.

Inaugural Address

Hello, friend, and welcome to my little borrowed corner of the web.  My name is Nicholas.  As you might have deduced from the title of this blog, I make wire sculptures, the majority of which are kinetic in nature.  My sculptural pieces are made entirely out of wire, primarily steel bailing wire, also known as tie-wire.  I have found that it has the best properties for my art, stiff enough to be used for structural components yet malleable enough for detail work.

Over the course of the next few days, I will be posting pictures and videos of many of my completed works.  I have yet to work out a set schedule for uploads so expect updates to be sporadic for the first few weeks while I sort everything out.  In the interim, don't be a stranger, please sign the guestbook and check back in a week or so, by which time I should have at least three sculptures featured in the gallery, with more to come soon thereafter.

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If you like my work, please don't hesitate to shoot a friendly e-mail my way, the same too if you have a critique, but please keep it constructive.

Also, much of my work is for sale. If you like a piece and want to own it: put, "Purchase," in the subject heading, and specify in the e-mail which piece you are interested in.  Do bear in mind that my pieces are one of a kind, and buyers will be entertained on a first come, first served basis.  This said, if you would like to commission a wire sculpture: type, "Commissioned Piece," into the subject line, and include a detailed description of what you want me to make.  Finally, if you think up an idea for a sculpture, but aren't wanting to make a purchase: write, "Something I'd like to see," in the subject heading and a description in the body, or just leave a comment in the guestbook.

Have fun looking through my sculptures, and enjoy your stay.