Release the Kraken

It seems I am somewhat famous for going into the house each evening and announcing that we had a fabulous day in the shop. Janis will then ask me if we finished whatever project we were working on and it is rumored that I ALWAYS answer YES! Then, I reportedly ALWAYS add the disclaimer 'Well, finished except for a few little bits which are so minor they don't really count'. I am then informed that the project really isn't at all done and I reluctantly have to agree.

Peter, it seems has inherited that very same super realistic view from his momma. When we finished sculpting, painting, loading, and shipping the HUGE KRAKEN body I wanted to stroke it off the to-do list but each time we discussed it Peter would insist that it really wasn't done. There were still the four arms to wire, mud and paint. And then I am pretty sure there was this conspiracy to leave them to the very last to test my abundance of patience. Now it seems as I take a few days to travel south the KRAKEN arms were rushed into the shop and finished. Knowing Peter as well as I do I KNOW he took great delight in crossing the KRAKEN off the list as the minute these last bits were done. I could hear his evil laugh all the way down to Florida as he boldly stroked the KRAKEN off the to-do list.

I see other good sized pieces are also ready to load into the containers.

Reporting (unbiasedly) from sunny Florida...  grampa dan

Our shop is soooo small...

How small is it?

Small enough that having four painters bumping into each other is pretty much an everyday occurrence.

Barrels of Fun

In our shop, we often talk about three kinds of detail. Detail, edge detail, and *cough* fake detail.

I am a fan of all three.

Details are all the little extras that make a project sing. Most guests will not notice each and every little detail but taken together they can achieve a critical mass - creating an immersive experience for guests.

At one time my father worked as a fine artist and studied other artists work. On one occasion he was at a lecture of wildlife artist Robert Bateman. Mr. Bateman famous for his exquisitely detailed paintings explained that he actually only put detail around the edges and that "the eye fills the rest in." My dad took that lesson to heart.

Of course there is plenty of detail in the middle of Mr. Bateman's paintings and plenty of detail in our projects - but the importance of finishing the edges of a piece shouldn't be underestimated.

The posts supporting the new roller coaster for Cutlus Lake phase II are a prime example of finishing the edges. We are fabricating these barrels which will be placed around the bottom of many of the concrete pillars that holds up the giant coaster. The top portions of the posts will be exposed concrete but the barrels provide the necessary detail to tell the story in an effective manner.