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Finished this project a few weeks ago, but with these Christmas spiders now in familial hands, I can share. Crafted them from a rust-eaten carriage wheel that spent most of its life leaning against the woodshed at my grandparents’ place as a memento of ye olde homestead; the eyes are from hex nuts found in their basement. My grandfather was a biology professor and spider expert/otaku, hence the arachnid final form. Wanted to add turquoise, as my grandmother was an insanely brilliant silversmith, but I, alas, am not.

metal_0069 :: scribble01

First in a new series of experiments, merging Ivan Brunetti and Lynda Barry cartooning scribble exercises with metal work. First, I take 30 seconds and draw a scribble on an index card; I then spend the next however long it takes turning it into metal sculpture. Only two rules: one, I can’t deviate too much from the scribble; and two, it has to be freestanding without any additions. Digging this first go - and will definitely do more of these.

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Had some scrap lying around from failed experiments and smashed earlier works and found it more fun to build something new with them than to throw them in the filing system (read: bucket). Nice palette cleanser therapy snake before getting to work on a new wave of pieces and commissions.

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A little one-day Christmas challenge. Pardon my filthy hand.

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snowday metal

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Warpless Midlife Mario, round 01

Seems my midlife crisis has manifested in a desire to beat the original SUPER MARIO BROS without using a warp zone by the time I hit 50. I'm 44 now, so I've got a bit of runway. Other than the "no warping" rule, I'm also - since I'm playing it on my little NES mini (pork chop Nintendo, as I fondly call it) in The Shed and with it, the option of saving and walking away - instituting a single-playthrough rule: once I start, I don't stop until I die or win, just like those long evenings of perpetual failure that ended 20 years later with a (warped) victory and subsequent blackout drunken revelry. So, in that spirit, round one:

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