I can’t believe I’ve lived in my apartment for 5 years and I’m just getting to this now. A simple built-in to be used as a hamper and storage. I rested the front panel against the frame (that’s why it’s so crooked) before painting, so I could get a good idea of what it will look like. So far so good.
We had a Pinewood Derby at my office last night. It was fantastic. We had 15 people build cars, which is about 11 more cars than I thought we were going to get. I came in second but won Best-In-Show.
The highlight for me was racing my original Cub Scout car that my dad and I built twenty some years ago (we built it, right, like I was allowed to touch the thing) in an exhibition match. I blew its doors off. Granted the car had one broken wheel and has been collecting dust for over two decades. But a wins a win.
I admit it, I put way too much time into this thing.
Every year I take a week off to go to my parent’s place and do nothing but eat well, kayak, and build stuff. This year two trees fell on their property (one oak one birch) a week before I got there, sucks for them, great for me. I had plenty of material to work with.
This year I built lamps (of course), some cabinets, and a pinewood derby car. More to come on all of those projects.
I’ve had this idea for a character for years now, and all I’ve come up with is this wallpaper.
Saw Anish Kapoor’s exhibit at the Gladstone Gallery. There are only four pieces there but they are so much fun. Basically, they’re fun house mirrors and you act like a face-making 10 year old.
Kapoor is probably best known for the Cloud Gate (The Bean) in Chicago.
Finished the magnetic ping pong ball eyes last week, since then I’ve developed an odd habit. I’ve been attaching them to metal objects to create instant faces.
Pretty much anything can look like a Muppet if you stick eyes on it.
My office is having a pinewood derby in early September. The kits just came in.
I’ve recently seen a couple of artists who “paint” with wood. Veneer inlay, to be more exact.
I saw Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s work at the James Cohan Gallery in New York and Rolf Hook’s at the Great Blasket Centre in Ireland. Using only different wood grains, they create some incredible pieces of art.
They’ve inspired me to try this technique. Time to break out the old box o’ veneer.
Last Friday turned out to be a pretty fantastic day. I had a half day at the office so I thought I would check out David Byrne’s Playing the Building. The exhibit was great. Playing the organ was a lot of fun and the building was incredible. If this video doesn’t make you want to see it, then nothing I say will.
From outside of the building that you can play, you can see three of the waterfalls in the new Waterfalls exhibit. I’m sure the best way to see these would be from a boat, but since I was boat-less at the time, I figured I would just take some crappy far away shots.
After the waterfalls, it was uptown to the Metropolitan Museum Sculpture Garden. Home of some of the best views in New York (and home of some expensive drinks). There are currently 3 sculptures by Jeff Koons on the roof, Balloon Dog (Yellow) was by far my favorite. I know it’s made of steel, but it really looks like a giant balloon dog.
And to cap it all off, the Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibit in the Met. They have the Superman suit from the original Christopher Reeve’s movie, Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman suit, both the red/blue and black Spider Man suits from the movies, even the Dark Knight Batman armor. But the most impressive was the silver Iron Man armor from the recent movie. It looked like it could fly and take on heavy gun fire. By comparison, the rest of the costumes just looked like rubber and spandex. The comic books with all the first appearances of the superheroes were also on display. Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #27, Amazing Fantasy #15, Tales of Suspense #39… Ok, now I’m just geeking out.
Just a typical New York afternoon, I love this city.
