Tuesday, December 22, 2009

ETSY STORE NOW OPEN!

It only has a few items so far. In the next couple of weeks there will be more!

New for 2010 ~ Leather Clutch

Friday, December 11, 2009


I'd like to thank all the sites that linked or wrote up my site: Wired.com,

Urban Velo.com., DrunkCyclist.com, & TucsonBikeLawyer.com!



Origins

I moved to Tucson in September 2001, I had been there before, with a band I was in, in the 90's. I really liked the downtown area and I noticed the bike culture and art scene. I started hanging around BICAS in October of that year and one day I was asked if I wanted to try and make something for their art auction. I gave it a some thought and decided I'd try to make a clock. I picked out some gears and figured out how I wanted them to be arranged and Alan Reilly ( former BICAS director) welded them together. It sold at the auction for $38.00. I was hooked enough to start thinking about all the different things I might be able to come up with.


First piece from 2001 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auction
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The first pieces I made were mainly wall pieces. I didn't know how to weld when I first started making recycled art and I did a lot of work with a two part epoxy that bonds metal ( J B Weld ). The first wall pieces were building blocks for the parts collage pieces I would do in a few years.




2002 B.I.C.A.S. Spring Art Show*
This is one of the first frames I made, actually 3rd if my memory is correct. It started as a wood frame which I gutted and then glued spokes in for a matte. After that I glued ball bearings, cable housings, and rusted chain on to the wood. The photo is one of my own of a road going off into the distance and mountains as the horizon (one of the few images I can draw without tracing). The technique is interesting. I glue the photo to 1/4" foam board and then glue a piece of glass on the photo. After that a matte is glued on top of the glass making a "matte on glass photo".

*The photo is a scanned paper photo that is slightly out of focus.


This Wall Mirror is probably my favorite early frame. Not much to it, just a wood frame, spokes, reflectors, and a mirror. The simplicity and the elegance made me feel like I was on to something, however, there aren't that many equal square frames at thrift stores, I came to find out. And that's kind of required for this piece.



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This is the first lamp I ever made (2002). It was made of spokes and gears and it was completely glued together with J B Weld. It didn't last long....

But as far as style points and originality, it's the starting point!

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&

COMING SOON! A NEW ONLINE STORE ON ETSY.COM!

~

Saturday, May 9, 2009

recycled sculpture



silver lock fish




this piece was for the 2008 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auction

this piece is made from u-locks, dropouts, flattened fenders, fork ends & seat springs

with a marble eye

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roadrunner

this piece was for the 2006 B.I.C.A.S Art Auction

body is large seat springs, legs of u-locks, flattened fenders, headset wedge

and a few other parts

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saguaro

this piece was in the 2007 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auction

the saguaro is kickstands, gears, forks, handlebars & spokes woven through the piece

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spinning flowers


this was a commission piece i made in 2006
interactive garden art



each flower is on a working cassette/free wheel and spins in one direction

this flower is brake arms ~ chain ring ~ seat spring



this flower is brake springs ~ gears ~ headset cup




this flower is spokes ~ chain guard ~ seat rail ends




this flower is fenders & gears ~ brake arm pieces

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

the art of function

the first piece of recycled art i ever made was a clock
since 2001 i've made many different types of clocks that have been available to the public at events like the B.I.C.A.S. Art Auctions & GABA Bike Swap meets in Tucson, Az.


from left ~ disc brake with gears! hybrid clock /
industrial gear clock / full campy clock

around 2002 i started to come up with a clean style of clock
i don't typically mark my clocks but some of my signatures are the gear shaped washers in the center and painted red or black hands















this is a built wheel clock / the gear that the clock is on is built into the wheel
psi 100



campy rim built wheel clock





this is a chain ring wall clock




this wall clock is a 12 hole motorcycle gear , a bicycle gear
and a vintage computer hard drive that make up the main elements of this clock



blue anodized motorcycle gear with a bmx chain ring

for this wall clock



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Tables



this is the first end table design
built wheel with bicycle frame tubing and bicycle rim legs
16" rim/tire and tube ~ 40 psi
glass or lexan top

height 19"


next design featured a motorcycle gear, this piece
has a bicycle chain ring and vintage gear base 20" rim / tire table top ~ glass or lexan top



center detail



i made this cafe size table with Kathy Eldred
i made the table and Kathy did the dragon mosaic on the top
26" rim/tire ~ solid tube
height 29"


blue dragon


Kathy did the glass work in the motorcycle brake rotor



main tube of the table has down tube shifters


this is an end table Kathy and i did together ~ smaller version of the previous piece

20" tire rim ~ solid tube ~ height 19"



two styles

mosaic top ~ built wheel w/dual oval panes



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handlebars & rims
i'm sitting in this chair as i write what you're reading



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bicycle racks

i made this piece for the Empire Market on 9th st. (east of 4th ave., tucson) it was painted by Heather Wodrich /i also have bicycle racks in back of Rocco's Pizza (near e. broadway, tucson) & Wingspan (7th st. at 4th ave., tucson)




drop twist




u-locks descending




handlebars ~ hub
fire sprinkler tubing ~ tumbling ball ~ salvaged steel plate

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stratsophere plant holder
bicycle rims ~ bicycle gears ~ motorcycle chain ring

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commission from 2002

chain body ~ face door sculpture

crank arm & gear flag



i would tell you to go and see it but someone spray painted it white , yes that's right this piece would have rusted in certain places and not in others and looked so cool / at least i've got pictures


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i made this lunchbox for the 2004 Urban Picnic




closes with a cotter pin





flattened rim cigar box purse
i changed the chain to a more heavy duty one after these photos



black fabric lining



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this piece was designed by Ignacio Rosales
i made this and all of the coffeemakers for the 2004 & 2005 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auctions



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incense burner
hub ~ bent spokes
ball bearings ~ gears
headset cup ~ bottle cap

Sunday, April 26, 2009

collaborations & wall art


the first recycled art frames i made were actually clocks that i put in frames with vintage chrome chain guards for the clock face and a square of rusted chain around the edge / more gluing was involved to put things together and i was just learning to weld / but i put things together like that even after i learned to weld and i still glue some today but, for the most part , everything's welded / after a year of using images and trying to put them under glass, i met filmmaker / photographer John Sheedy / he came up with a way to glue photos on to metal and we set out to make 10 frames for photos he had of vintage bicycles / we ended up with nine total but had an issue with one piece that ended up becoming a painting / the following photos are all but one of the original eight / this group was originally shown at the 2004 B.I.C.A.S. art auction


PHOTOGRAPHS



autocycle

one of the few pieces i've kept for myself

parts collage inside of flattened & mitered rims







in the garden
this piece was stolen from Brooklyn Pizza (tucson) while on display in their dining room / but what can you say ~ who can resist all the derailleur squares i cut up to make a square around the matte of spokes with the awesome garden photo ~ but , what can you do




fox's place

first heavy frame with old school cranks and hammered flat rims






olivia

perfect blurred photo and also a true built wheel to impress all you bike shop folk out there

each spoke is cut and tightened to hold the photo matte in place









murray monarch





classics

this frame is also a built wheel and there are holes drilled into the metal square behind the photo and each spoke is cut to size and tightened to hold the photo's metal canvas in place / this frame also has a tires that has a tube that needs to be pumped up with air every now and again


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this piece was made for the 2005 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auction


it's the first frame using rusted bicycle parts / sepia photo is a street scene from China



photo by Barbara Seyda



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on the move


this piece was in the 2005 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auction



photo by Christine Schneider

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Climbing Swine

This piece was started in 2002, completed in 2009. The photo is by Chris Espenola. The frame is wood with a matte on glass technique, flattened rims for the main matte. Chain pins surrond the photo! The piece was in 2009 B.I.C.A.S Art Auction.



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PAINTINGS





this piece was made for the 2004 B.I.C.A.S. art auction



painted by Gavin Troy





riding with the river


this piece was in the 2006 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auction




painted by Gavin Troy






baja


this piece was for the 2007 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auction



painted by Gavin Troy









monsoon ride



this piece was in the 2008 B.I.C.A.S Art Auction



painted by Gavin Troy





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banderas de los muertos
this frame has an interesting history/ originally, this frame had a photo and was in the first group of frames with the other pieces i did with John Sheedy / the photo was damaged and there was no photo to replace it / when the 2005 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auction came around, i asked Matt Cotton to paint a frame and he made a painting of a float that i pulled in the 2005 & 2006 All Souls Processions / i was the grim reaper and i pulled a long float with banners that had names of people who died that year / it's currently on display at BICAS




march of the creatures


this is a piece for the 2007 B.I.C.A.S. art auction / i really like the shape of this and how the handlebars turn into fork ends



painted by Matt Cotton






close up


also a All Souls Procession theme




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gates pass


the painting & frame is 26" X 26"

2009




Painted by Titus Castanza








gates catus


this is a catus on the hill on the south side of gates pass rd.

6" x 8" frame & 5lbs.




painted by Titus Castanza







derailleur


piece for the 2007 B.I.C.A.S art auction / this frame is mostly made of springs from seats & brakes and seat rail clamps




painted by Titus Castanza












close up





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eva


this one is one of my favorites from the 2005 B.I.C.A.S. Art Auction / the frame started life as a typical glass frame / i gut everything , then cut and glue all the spokes (on the bias [angled] , i might add!) what's hard to see is the frame detail , the edges are all covered in inner tubes and the edging where the spoke and tubes meet is cable housing ~ add a super cool painting of a girl wearing bicycle glasses and there you go!




painting by Chiara Caballero

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untitled


this piece is from the 2004 B.I.C.A.S art auction



painted by Lauren Maglanga




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ride at midnight


this piece is from the 2004 B.I.C.A.S. art auction




painted by Marilyn Volkman



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WALL ART







this piece is also from the 2004 B.I.C.A.S. art auction / almost everything you see here is a bicycle part , this is a great example of the earliest style of work i did when i first started making recycled art frames / the badge is from a vintage Raleigh and the face of the frame is covered in toe straps , spokes & bearings







resistance


this piece is from the 2004 B.I.C.A.S. art auction / this is a piece i make with a spoke cutting machine , 1/2 of a pressed hub , some paint , some metal , and a bearing









Saturday, April 25, 2009

paisley shadows & polished metal (lighting)



lamps , that's a good place to start... i seriously started making lamps in 2002 , but, it wasn't until the next year that they really started to gel / i had been trying many shade designs and then i started using perforated metals ! the first few lamps had shades of stainless steel and I really liked the effect but something was missing / soon enough , i started mixing things up and making some pretty interesting shades in a number of sizes











after a while , i came up with the idea that using two pieces of perforated steel a inch apart would make really good shadows (but only with a clear bulb) / and this is an idea that i used to make a lot of lamps for a number of years / some were sold locally at b.i.c.a.s. art auctions and some at retail locations and a few on the web







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nickle plated table lamp

this lamp is made of an automobile / motorcycle / & bicycle gear & parts, for the base / bicycle tubing and ceiling panel vents , all of the parts are then cleaned and or polished and plated welded and assembled


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this base includes a bicycle drum brake hub with bearings in the spoke holes for decoration



industrial pulley base
industrial gear / bicycle tubing / bicycle headset cup



side view of shade




industrial gears / bicycle tubing / headset cup



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recently (2009) , i've been making sconces out of u-locks this all came about when i started to get a steady supply of them and i thought i could come up with some interesting art deco looking designs / a friend said that he wanted some indoor and outdoor wall sconces and asked if i had any good ideas , and after a few days i came up with the what became the following photos

this view lets you get a look at the piece when it's daytime / this piece is made from u-locks , cut so that they are staggered and angle out as they rise up / behind the u-locks i did what i call parts collage / this is random bicycle parts welded in ways to fill some of the space and it creates some nice shadows as well / the light from the indoor sconce is directed upward


this is what it looks like with a clear bulb

owner prefers blue compact florescent






this is the outdoor version / a little more subtle and not angled / backing the u-locks are flattened fenders with a curved gear in between / the light from the outdoor sconce is directed downward



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~thanks for checking out my site~