Capital Building

Hello. Hope everyone is having a great summer. The weather has been a little wacky but still enjoyable. I randomly do the farmer's market in East Dundee on Saturday mornings. I usually skip it looks like rain for sure. I skipped last week because most of the stuff I had to bring was not complete or already sold. I have several pieces being finished this week that will be for sale the next time I do the market.

Anyways, this piece has been in progress for quite a while now. I would say it was well worth the wait. This piece was made for someone who enjoys biking and lives in the Washington DC area. I was given complete artistic freedom on this one. It took a while to decide what to do. I didn't want to just make a miniature bicycle. Lame. I wanted to do something different. I thought, what if I used bicycle parts to build something.

I made the capital building and then it sat for a bit while I mulled over how to finish it. Eventually, after lots of other ideas, I came up with the idea of making a seal like image of it. I took some design hints from the details on cash. Get it "capital" = money. Not bad right? I was relieved when I was done and it actually worked. Not all of the materials used were from bicycles, for example there is some re-bar used as the pillars.

Another thing I really like about this piece is the statue on the spire of the building. This is made from part of a bike crank that I shaped into a figure. The figure is a bronze by Thomas Crawford named "Statue of Freedom". I found it really interesting to include his sculpture within my sculpture. I only made the rough shape of the figure but there is no mistaking for anything other than a statue.

I am currently looking for some more substantial commissions, as I want to make more large pieces. However no job is too small. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions on anything, or even just comments. If you already own a piece of my art I would really love to see how you have it displayed. Take a couple of photos when you get a chance and send them to my email. Kellensmetalart@comcast.net

Lily

This sculpture is of a water lily floating at the waters surface. I made it look like the leaf and flower are floating on invisible water. I did this one a long time ago as a gift for my mom. If I were to do this one again I would make the underwater part of the plant more detailed, maybe adding a few more leaves that are growing up to the surface.

I hope everyone is having a good summer. You can come and visit me and see my artwork in person every saturday at the East Dundee farmers market. I am available for custom work as well as any handyman/repair jobs. Send me an email : Kellensmetalart@comcast.net.

Bird Trap

I call this piece "Bird Trap". I am not sure why, but it does look like it would snag anything that got too close. 

This small piece is something I made for myself out of some small jagged pieces of scrap sheet metal. I put this composition together very quickly, on the fly, making it kind of an abstract expressionist piece. This is a fun way to work. I haven't shown this one to that many people before, but I like it. It is small and lives on a window sill in my art/music studio.

Art is fun! Please feel free to contact me whenever. Questions? Comments...

Shadow Thrower Martini!

Happy New Year. Finally making a post. After a busy holiday season I got into a fight with a mutant cold/flu. It beat me up for a few days there, but I have almost gotten over it. Anyways...

Here is another piece that looks great on it's own, but with the addition of a candle comes alive. I did this one with bubbles and olives in mind, which i used to hold the strong image of the martini glass.  I let this piece rust. Then i sanded the front face of the martini to a shine, painted the olive and the booze, and covered the whole thing with a protective clear coat.

I will be updating more now, so keep checking back. 

Roadrunner

Happy Turkey Day! Well it's not as tasty as a turkey, it's a roadrunner. My dad wanted me to build this for him because he just moved to the southwest, and I guess these things are everywhere down there. This one is doing what they do best, running. I used to love watching the roadrunner out smart the coyote every Saturday morning. Gotta go. Meep! Meep!

Wine Sculpture

I have just finished this piece and couldn't wait to get a photo of it. My current set up in my studio isn't big enough to shoot this one it's too tall for my bag drop. I had to take it outside and get some snaps of it. This is the only one that is good enough to put up here. I am trying to keep away from putting snap shots on this page, but i had to show this one right away.

I did this as a custom design for my step dads sister. She wanted a bottle of wine pouring into a glass. She told me how big she wanted it and let me decide how i wanted it to look. This is what i came up with. The glass and bottle are represented only by several distinguishing features and the rest of their form is suggested only by the swirling "vino". 

I really enjoy doing custom work. It helps me to flex my skills and challenge me to exceed  my customers expectations. I am running to the end of my current orders, so i am looking to get some more work. You can contact me at kellensmetalart@comcast.net if you are interested in having me design something for you. I will be working this way until i can get a proper website to sell my work using paypal or something. 

 More sculptures coming soon!