About a dozen years ago, just after we finished our new shop, I was asked to design and help build our first truly international theme project. It was an adventure golf on the third floor of Mall of America in Minnesota. It was no small task. They flew me down there and within two weeks I had finished the approved design and selected a local contractor to help me with the onsite portion of the project. We built all of the signs and features in our shop and they filled two large semi trailers for the trip down to the site. I flew down to supervise the installation - about five or six trips in all. One of the large features was a twin engine plane with a twenty-four foot wingspan. As the plane had to hang from existing girders, the engineers instructed me that the it was not allowed to weigh more than two thousand pounds. We came in fifty pounds underweight! It was an engineering challenge as the wings and tail had to come off for transport and everything had to pass a strict fire code. The job was completed in about two months from start to finish.
The hook
Back when I first started as an artist I decided I needed a marketing hook. I had no money for this kind of idea but came up with a novel solution. I would tie my name to one of the most famous brands of the world - Coca Cola. Each time I had a photo opportunity (and there were many) I would make sure I had a Coca Cola in my hand. I kept an antique cooler in my studio and served Coca Cola to all who visited. I even had the Coca Cola truck make deliveries to the house. I started a collection of bottles, cans and other memorabilia. Customers, friends and family took notice.
Soon, friends, family and business associates were picking up Coke items wherever they travelled around the world. They would present them to me on their return, saying they saw Coke and thought of me. The collection grew extremely fast and soon hundreds of Coke cans, bottles and items of every sort took over my studio space. It was pretty amazing! Coke even sponsored a few of my mural projects. My plan had worked beyond my expectations!
But eventually I needed shelf space to showcase the growing collection of my own work and samples. The Coke items began to get packed away in boxes and eventually I decided to sell of the collection. I profited one last time from my association with this remarkable brand. Only a few of my favourite Coke collectables remain. Rumour has it I still enjoy an occasion can of an ice cold Coke as well. :)
Laying the base
Our MultiCam CNC plasma cutter got it's most thorough workout since we took delivery of the magical machine last fall. We were cutting the base plates for the targets for the Viking ship project. Eight 5/8" thick sheets of plate steel were precisely cut to the shapes we required for the base. Four more sheets of 3/8" thick steel were cut for the dragon head and tail of the keel. We then moved them with the forklift into position and began the process of welding them and many other pieces together.
