SAMPLES!

The first thing most people notice when they come in my shop or studio are the scores of sign samples hanging just about everywhere. Some are copies of projects I have done in the past. Most are examples of the types of work we can do. Some folks wonder why I would go to such lengths to have so much work on display. The answers are many.

It would be impossible to describe the things we do to a customer and have them visualize the same thing I do. Showing them with a sample is a whole lot easier. And since we can do so many things, a lot of samples are necessary. The samples are also cool decor. Coming into our shop is a visual feast of monstrous proportions. Thank makes me feel happy - and more importantly CREATIVE!

Samples also are a showcase of past projects. While the portfolio is a wonderful tool, samples are a hundred times better. Many of the samples are also creative excercises that stretch our abilities and skills. With no real deadlines and no customer's work at risk we can be as adventuresome as we can possibly be. While we are learning we are creating wonderful sales tools for imaginatie projects down the road.

Creating samples is of course plain old fun!

-grampa dan 

Fine details.

So much of what we are doing these last days is currently top secret. I wish I could show it here...  All will of course be revealed in due time. Rest assured the projects in the design stage are pretty cool, most likely to be among the best we have ever done...  exciting enough yet??

In the meantime we are also busy doing the last of the preparations for the Sculpture Magic Workshop that officially starts Thurday afternoon. The shop was cleaned and then set up to suit the next workshop. I was busy cutting boards and steel in readiness. Tomorrow the first of our guests arrive for two days of private lessons. Thursday the rest will arrive.

The name plaques got more details painted on, some subtle - some not. Dustin's got two more colors of glaze and we decided it looked so good (and suiting to his business) that we declared it done! But then again we'll give it one more careful look tomorrow and make our final call.

Kurt's name plaque got the final coats of silver and then some glazes to age it down properly. It is ready for action. When I see the plaque it makes me want to speak a little pirate -  AAAARGH!!!

Becky surprised me as she laid the paint on Doug's (pronounced 'DOWUG' - heavy on the DOW - light on the UG) name plaque. The tops of the letters got some random orange, but carefully applied to look like the green paint had flaked off. This is very difficult to pull off and make believable... but it fooled me on my first and closer second look. Then she applied a dark glaze to age it down, but with a hint of iron paint mixed in. When whe applied the acid wash the rust gathered but just enough to make it look like it had been sitting out in the weather a long time - but not too long. This 'genuine' alien artifact looks like the real deal - just like my good friend Doug!

Gary's name plaue is also done and Chris' name plaue will get some verigated gold leaf tomorrow for that little extra bling. Stay tuned.

-grampa dan

What's in a name(tag)?

With the Sculpture Magic Workshop now only a few days away we are busy putting the last touches on the name plaques for our guests. Each needs a little more work but they are looking pretty cool already. There are six name plques in total. Here's the first three.

Dustin's name plaque has a distinctly Western feel with the stars, shape and typeface but it is well suited to his occupation, owner and operator of a turn of the century railroad themed adventure park, called Loco Landing.

Gary's name plaque is modeled after a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Why spaghetti? Just for fun. It looks simple but was a tricky piece to design and model for the CNC router.

Doug is a science fiction affectionado. His name plaque had to be alien in every respect. It does say Doug but you'll hve to study it  bit (or know the alien language to figure it out. Look close and you will see a 'D' with an 'O' beside it. The 'U' and 'G' are underneath in the second row. The background texture is called Klingon Chicken - something only Doug and a select few others would truly appreciate.

Stay tuned for the next three.

-grampa dan