THOTTY SHOTTY

[thoughtshotgun]

[thoughtshotgun]

Final got some work up. Been too busy making slingshot for airplanes to keep up. Fortification! Endurance! Foresight! Aerospace!

[thoughtshotgun]

So.. I usually do not say much about my life in this blog…. I kinda made a point of it early on. But cat skulls are rare. And fortune, fate, or the sheer infinite randomness of the entire universe this arrived at my porch, when I arrived on my porch… I moved.. this was in the garage. I had no name for it, but in homage to my new home.. it’s name is Colla. It’s owner, my current flat mate’s lost cat.

Anyway.. I get a chance to really follow through with my original concept..



[thoughtshotgun]

The lil Kit Kat skull is finished being gold leafed..

[thoughtshotgun]

Gold leaf rabbit skull ✅

[thoughtshotgun]

Gold tomorrow

[thoughtshotgun]

Someone I met in Detroit over the weekend asked me if I could gold leaf their deceased cat’s skull. The piece was immaculately cleaned by the owner. A beautiful specimen. I hope to make it unique and glorious with gold. She offered me a rabbit skull in exchange for the work, so I will be doing them simultaneously.

The cat’s name is Einstein.

[thoughtshotgun]

I can’t pass down the commissions I am getting from the hotspot GR. Look it up, that’s my studio.

This started after being handed a bucket of tusks and asked to remake an 1850s African trophy. I created a steel frame and bonded epoxy clay around that to make the center form. The finish is 23k gold leaf. The hardware is hand turned brass and polished. The base is African mahogany. I really got connected with the animal while I was making the piece. I felt like I was bringing out its glory and beauty. I could smell the tusks, it made me feel like a hippo dentist..

The piece measures 30”x30”x7”

[thoughtshotgun]

Silver D&D Dragon pendant!

This was a commission I received a minute ago. It's a lost PLA type casting. Very stinky in the furnace, but the PLA left a beautiful pattern akin to Damascus steel.

[thoughtshotgun]

Last month was a big month for me. I finished this historical preservation commission after 5 months of planning, designing, and building. It is a finial that adorns the tip of a conical turret on an beautiful 1920's Victorian home in the Heritage Hill area of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This piece tested my grit and was one of the hardest things I have built since college. It required multiple tricky metalwork techniques. Rolling conical shapes (the tricky one is on the top, only 1 opening for the slip), metal casting, rolling 2" tube at small diameters, and more.

The pieces stands 32" high and I made out of brass. The original was made from galvanized sheet steel and zinc/pot metal cast "bulbs." I decided to use brass because holds up so well over time. I finished used a verdigris patina by request of the patron.

I will be added more posts with process photos and explanation over the coming weeks.

[thoughtshotgun]

#sculpture #process #broken #thosho https://www.instagram.com/p/B1buVN4hPof/?igshid=a6kadq9395df

[thoughtshotgun]

"Soul Light” embodies the concept of hope and the rebuilding a broken person. Beginning in April of this year, I began volunteering at a homeless shelter in Grand Rapids, Michigan called Heartside Ministries. They had a wood shop in the basement that needed a serious overhaul to make it into a working space again. The dusty, old shop was in disarray. Filled with piles of scrap wood, strange half finished projects, and clutter of all varieties, but some of the things I found while clearing out the space were truly gorgeous. The glass used inside the piece “Soul Light” was sourced from this homeless shelter. Taking lost objects and scrap materials, and then repurposing them to create something beautiful really speaks to the nature of healing a damaged soul. The light within the sculpture represents hope. Hope for a brighter future. Hope we need to hold on to and realize. Heartside Ministries now has a clean working/teaching wood shop to heal the residents of the shelter. Workshops will be held there help them learn a trade and discover their own potential. Hopefully saving at least one person from homelessness. Because even helping just one person matters. It matters a lot. #art #sculpture #artistsoninstagram #lighting #design #homelessness #grandrapids #grandrapidsmi #thehotspotgr #salvage #reclaimedmaterials #hope #thosho https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Zf72_BWz0/?igshid=1hkxpyhmytegy

[thoughtshotgun]

Night time post for those who need a night light. #sculpture #art #design #handmade #lighting #hope #nightnight https://www.instagram.com/p/B1X10JGhJ0z/?igshid=1dhe8w8fxwhyi

[thoughtshotgun]

Total madness is overwhelming me in wiring this sculpture... #process #sculpture #ledlights https://www.instagram.com/p/B1RHx6wBg9v/?igshid=rodw6ld04kn3

[thoughtshotgun]

So, I hear you want more patina on your metal roses... well here you go! This is a saturated blue copper rose with a brass stem, sitting on a walnut base, which is sitting on a walnut table that I built in conjunction with Abbey Hunter. Who took these gorgeous pictures for me! Come check out the hard work at the Fulton Street Art Market Sunday 11-3. Get your hands on some of this beautiful handcrafted goodness. #rose #metalrose #patina #metalwork #copper #handcrafted #grandrapids #thehotspotgr #thosho #makersgonnamake https://www.instagram.com/p/B0kZvdBg8E-/?igshid=12x0dql4km2eg

[thoughtshotgun]

I don’t think I have ever posted this oldie. It’s called Hooks. #art #artistsoninstagram #body #mannequin #sculpture #grandrapids #thosho https://www.instagram.com/p/B0aFBWahYa9/?igshid=1rujkbyj9d3k

[thoughtshotgun]

This lil thing #art #craft #design #reclaimedwood #brass #artistsoninstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B0UZcfmha3C/?igshid=ingr3m4etbzk