Tiki Karvin!!

I started this a few weeks back...it's a block of expanded foam that I bought from a sign maker I know.  So far, I'm learning a lot more than I'm getting done.  First off, what defines a tiki from just a usual sculpture and, secondly, how foam cuts with the various tools.  For now, I'm using a hot knife and hot wire cutter.  The keys here are patience and ventilation.  You don't want to go fast and accidentally burn yourself and you need the ventilation due to the fumes that melting foam causes.  Overall, though, I'm having a blast and the work is coming along well enough given the amount of time I've spent on it...just about 2 hours for now.

Legacy of the Cinderbots

 

A long while back..well, more like 5 years actually, I had gotten the idea to start creating robot sculptures out of a batch of old kitchen stuff.  I made about six in the first batch and was pleasantly surprised by how well received they were! I had given them names, like 13-O-13 (believe it or not, no one has figured out that reference!), DŪK (think phonetic) and Alpha-1 or AL-1 (another reference no one seemed to figure out as well!)...yet I hadn't called them anything in terms of a series of work.  All that was established was that they were on a mission, like all characters in any story, and were already lost...

Until Greg Pond Photography opened his doors to them through his 2nd Saturday one night show extravaganzas!!    I sold all of them immediately and requests for more were coming in...so...what to call these characters as a collective?  My wife offered a suggestion: Cinder Bots.  The name stuck and carried over to my paintings, paper models and short stories.  

The mission of the Cinder Bots remained a mystery for some time, until Cool Cat Gallery in midtown hosted a three man group show we daubed the Late Night Science Fiction Triple Feature (can you guess the reference?!?) comprised of two of my artist buddies, Mark Fox and Nic Caesar and myself.  The show was a great success!!!   The best I had done yet and, unfortunately, since.  Nearly all my paintings and sculptures sold!!  Jennifer Keller, one of the gallery owners and promoters, did her job most excellently!  The paintings I did for that show told the story of the Cinder Bots and what their mission was through titles and subjects depicted.   Sadly, both Cool Cat and Greg Pond stopped having shows and the Cinder Bots returned to their nomadic state...

Then, I met Char and Cy at Side Show Studios Custom Tattoo and Fine Art!!  I've been showing there for nearly three years now and yes, the story of the Cinder Bots has continued to be told through all the works I've sold through the shop...it's a great place with people who are just as passionate about what they do as the clientele is about what they want. So the Cinder Bots continue...but I haven't made a metal," kitchen stuff" version  in quite some time.  Mainly because people just don't seem to be interested in them and other projects have taken over my time.  What brought on all this rumination?  A visit paid to an early Cinder Bot who was adopted all those years ago.  He's a bit rusty but DŪK still stands vigilant on the patio overlooking a flourishing urban tomato garden and fruit trees...for DŪK, his days of wandering are done...he's found his place...and I'm grateful that his Humans have cared for him.

Cinder