Large wall piece

Another large wall piece with our new system.

Changes needed to accomodate new smaller laser cutter

Since getting our new smaller laser, I have had to redesign many pieces to fit the 12" x 24" working space that has replaced our old 15" x 30" working space.  Making larger wall pieces has meant creating a new version.  Above is the new layout - basically about 23" x 23".  In this piece we painted the upper and lower halves different colors.  Sometimes we paint the whole piece the same color, with the curved joint line sort of disguising the fact that it is not all one piece.  The dancers are our regular size - about 15" tall each.  We like it.  Having to rearrange our designs and our cutting layouts has made us re-think a lot of our designs, which has been a nice creative challenge, and has resulted in some new designs.  The main problem has been that if we are working with current designs, we seem to end up with a lot of odd leftover space on the new smaller blanks.  Thus the reintroduction of Art Start mentioned earlier.  Lots of cool creative shapes to be made from the "scrap".  I have posted a picture of one of the layouts below, showing all the miscellaneous parts that end up in Art Start!

Order some of those cool odd parts here --- https://www.etsy.com/shop/louisesdaughter --- and make your own stuff!

CJ's 5th Birthday Top

 Each of our three grandchildren gets a custom made birthday top each year.  Most recent was 5 year old CJ - Caesar James Sams.  He wanted to have a top with a "squiggle".  I showed him how to draw a "squiggle" on the computer in Corel Draw, and then with some grandpa magic I turned it into a top design, added name, date, etc. and we cut them out on the laser.  CJ chose the colors, and we had this year's birthday top!  Grandpa is thinking about Stella's first top now!

Kissing

I am thinking that I (Don - Cheryl still does not do computers) need to get back to posting on this blog more regularly.  I went and looked at our traffic info, and discovered that 20 or more folks check this blog out each day, and end up getting very old posts!  Thus, this post, and hopefully more.... Cheryl is at the Paradise City show in Marlboro, MA this weekend.  You can check out our things there today from 11 to 4?.  The above piece is a special creation made in response to the Paradise City folks challenging exhibitors to create pieces related to faces.  There is always a new challenge at Paradise City shows, and there is always a special display area featuring the various artist's creations.  Move the heart at the upper left back and forth to see our couple kiss --- you have to be there in person to do that.  Maybe I'll get a video posted when she gets home if the piece has not sold?  Check us out on Facebook too.  https://www.facebook.com/don.olney.9

Magic!

Cheryl will be doing the Paradise City Show in Northampton, MA
this holiday weekend - Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!  I think that clicking on the link to the show can gain you a discount on the admission price!

These shows usually feature a challenge to the artists to create a piece for a special exhibit that is part of each show.  This weekend's challenge  was the theme - Magic!  (or Hocus Pocus?)  The piece above was a collaboration between us as usual.  She is about 28" tall, and I think will be priced at around $200?  Check her out!
I'm particularly pleased with this piece - love the top hat!   The plan was to create a moving piece with her popping out of the hat, but the mechanism was too time consuming, so she just has to POP on her own, and I think she does!

Custom Designed Baseball pieces to raise funds for Young Audiences.

 We get lots of requests for artwork to be sold to raise money for worthy causes, and while we often do it, we aren't always very pleased about the idea because the auction price is usually less that what we charge for the item, and while the winning bidder is pleased, and  the organization is pleased, we are a bit annoyed at sort of losing a sale?

However, this time it was a challenge to create a piece of art using a baseball!  It could be as simple as painting a baseball creatively ( a lot easier than doing one of those full size "Horses on Parade" ) or whatever we wanted.  We love Young Audiences, because  they work very hard to expose kids to the "Arts", and we loved this challenge.  Cheryl was already making a piece we called "Women on the Ball" using some left over wooden parts from The Toycrafter, so it seemed natural to create a "Woman on a Baseball" with some adjustments of course, and Don thought it would be fun to create one of his "Balancing Acts" using the ball as the weight on the bottom.  After several false starts using ball bats and gloves, and even a strange idea using an image of the diamond, the design below emerged in his brain while on a bike ride!  A video can be seen here!  --- http://vimeo.com/72527698     Rockin With The Red Wings!

Come join us for a Red Wings ball game, and a great fund raising event celebrating 50 years of Young Audiences!   Buy tickets by August 19th - www.yarochester.org  or  585.530.2060 

The event is Friday evening the 23rd of August 2013 - see you there?

If you didn't figure it out, The Red Wings are our local baseball team.

New Ride for the Grandchildren

 

 My Worksman Industrial Tricycle came with a small metal "basket" on the back platform that the grandchildren loved riding in last fall.  In the firm belief that they would outgrow that space by spring, I have created a larger wooden seat area that allows for their continued growth for a while.  Our friend Mike who has an upholstery business created a very nice cushion for them to sit on.  I asked him for some scrap foam, and got a professional cushion instead - Thank You Mike!

 With their names on the back,

 

and the name of my new movingwoodstudio.com
 on the sides,

they now have a much larger and more luxurious ride!
Maya and CJ haven't seen it yet - maybe tomorrow if it gets a little less snowy and a little more spring like?

Custom piece created recently

We were recently commissioned to create a family piece for a wedding anniversary gift.  Above is the result.  Customer was very pleased. Don created a new figure to be used for the Dad! (third from the right).  I'll post a better picture of the new male figure soon - we need to make more!  With some secret muttering under our breath, we actually enjoy the challenge of creating new designs to order.  This one needed a new male figure - some of our male figures are not all that interesting, but this fellow, while not exactly dancing, still manages to exude some class!

This piece uses a background a bit larger than our usual 20"x30" background.  The figures are our standard 15" tall size.

Trash Talk - Marlborough Paradise show

 

Each Paradise City Craft show features a "themed" area where exhibitors are challenged to create some work in keeping with various interesting themes.  This spring's Marlborough show - next weekend - features work on the theme - Trash Talk.  Cheryl has been making paper "beads" for a while now, and rather than stringing them as necklaces, or other usual uses for beads, she has been decorating note cards, etc. with them.  She took this year's Trash Talk challenge to heart, and created these three figures - the bodies are designed using left over pieces from our many projects, and instead of painted wood clothing, these feature paper rolled beads.  The larger one (33 inches tall)  is called "Oprah - September 2010", and is decorated entirely in beads made from rolled pages of the September 2010 issue of Oprah magazine

 

The larger figure will be featured in the special section of the show devoted to "Trash Talk". and the other two will be in the booth.  Come early and get all three to adorn your home or office?

 

  Paper bead detail below.

March 22 - 24 - Paradise City - Marlborough, MA - MAP

click here to get a $2 off admission charge coupon

2012 Family Christmas Tree Ornaments

Every year we create a special Christmas tree ornament for the folks at the annual holiday party.... mostly the Palmeri side if the family - our daughter-in-law's family!  Just a quick question - Why isn't there a name for that group of folks?  They are our son's in-laws, but no term for what they are to us.  I can tell you that they are family, and we are very lucky to be related to them!

 

I recently created a one of a kind Candy Corn Top for a friend's birthday!  Being a "production" sort of guy, I don't create very many "one-of-a-kind" things, so  this is unusual.  I'll probably make one for myself sometime... I'm thinking about other candy tops, including trying some with Christmas Candy?

Dreidel Balancing Act

I'm very excited about my first three dimensional Balancing Act!  Previous designs, while layered, were still basically flat designs in the plane of  the rocking motion.  This one features a full three dimensional dreidel on top that rocks back and forth very smoothly and pleasantly!  I find the motion interesting additionally because while a dreidel is supposed to spin, this one moves but does not actually spin, which my brain finds pleasantly confusing?  See the video below.  Cheryl will have the first three of these at the upcoming show this weekend in Marlborough ( clicking on the link will enable you to print out a $2 discount coupon for admission!)  - stop by to see them if you are in the area. For the remainder of the year this design will be $40.  They are about 9" tall.  I'll post them on our Shopify on-line store sometime over the weekend.

Laser cut paper ladies

I love the patterns created by our cut lasered parts -- peel away the left over paper (or wood), and the above happens!

Current show at Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union - Part 3

 Our show at the Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union is still up, and  we are gratified at how many of our neighbors have stopped us to say how much they have enjoyed the color and energy of our work!

 They even let us share our politics at the opening, but our famous fund raising handmade campaign buttons are not on display now.  You can contact us directly to get some, and have all the proceeds donated to the campaign!

395 Gregory St, Rochester, NY 14620-1327

Stop by to see the artwork, open an account, and support our neighborhood!  I'm not sure when the show ends, but it is at least a couple of weeks more!

New designs - Business Card Holders

 We have made business card holders for years, using our signature no glue assembly with spring pins to hold the parts  together.  The decorative elements are of course glued in place.

 These new ones incorporate three of our dance figures as part of the back panel.  The figures are the size of our wooden pins - about 3" tall.

 Below is a detail picture of Don's special spring pin that holds  the card holding section together.

Basic card holders are $20, and pins are also $20, 

We'll try out these new combination pieces at $30

Remember that as always, we can customize these pieces for your organization, business, church, dance school, or whatever!

Current show at Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union - Part 2

 Some more pictures from our show at the Credit Union.

395 Gregory St. Rochester, NY 14620-1327

Current show at Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union - Part 1

Sankofa

Nice to have some of our pieces hanging in our neighborhood!

395 Gregory St. Rochester, NY 14620-1327

Some more figures in the hall

Outside the paint room.

The guys ready to join them!

Some of the fellows lined up in the hall ready to join the ladies at the show!

Ladies ready to go out!

Some of our figures standing in the hall outside the paint room, waiting to head out to a show!