Mastering Craftwork

Side by side with my painting and sculpting I have always done craftwork. In my younger days, For a time, it had been the main source of my income, mostly leatherwork and silversmithing.

Over the years I have tinkered with many different forms of craft. I have always liked working with natural materials and still tend to use things that come from nature over the synthetics. Working these many materials into a finished object can be a form of meditation. It is not just the care taken and the precision required that makes the process enjoyable.

The careful thought given to the right order to do the work in and the mind and hand communication that produces the work, also add to the pleasure. The joy of working with tools that have a beauty of their own is also a factor. For those of us who like the feel of a well-worn tool handle, no more needs to be said. For those of you still looking for that experience I have a few suggestions.

Remember that craftwork has no time frame. In our busy lives we need to get things done to a timetable. Do not allow you crafted pieces to be mantled with the same restrictions. Having a love affair with your tools also helps. Enjoy the thought of the hundreds, if not thousands, of years it took for that tool to be born into its present form. With an artist’s eye, look at the curve and shape that the designer has created. If it’s a tool you have made yourself you can enjoy the memory of how you took a rough bit of material and shaped it into a useful object.

The same is true of the materials you build your project with, the texture and feel of materials from metal to wood to leather. The way they shape and form to the desired contours. If you are going to do craftwork, make it a meditation. Not the mind clearing kind, but the mind engaging kind.

(By clicking on one of the images you will open up the gallery. You can right clicking on the image to save it for reference or scroll to another image. I am happy to allow you to save the images to your device; I would ask that you do not publish these images as they are copyrighted. Should you wish to use an image for any reason, please contact me using the email at the bottom of the page).

Model Making

Our local model shop guy had a deal for us kids. He would put aside a model and we could bring in a little money every week until the model was paid for and we could take it home. For me it was mostly airplanes with the occasional tank, but that’s where my weekly allowance went. As I got older I graduated to planes with gasoline engines that went in a circle on the end of wires. For me the great challenge was to take the time to get the paint job just right, down to the engine exhaust and oxidation marks. Getting the sheen right was important too. It meant having a large selection of paints in mate, semi and gloss.
The great thing about model making was the ability to make cool stuff with small tools that fit in a small case and only needing a small work area. As a boy there was no way I would have a workshop and my desk was enough. Later on I would share my Dad’s workbench in the garage but that would come with the mastery of power tools in my early teens. As I was always looking for new challenges on a limited budget, I soon got into inventing models. This usually involved buying two models and swapping parts to create something like a tank with wings.
Over the years, whenever I’ve needed to chill out, I buy a model. Here is one I put together a few years ago. The idea came to me after seeing a picture of a centaur. They have a special paste that can be sculpted to blend parts that where not meant to go together. I call this one “Man & Machine”.
At one point an architect friend of mine asked me if I could do some model work for him. Most model making can be done without power tools and as I lived in a Spanish farmhouse without electricity I saw no problem obliging. I used balsa wood for most of the construction of the “Dusseldorf” project and had no trouble finding other bits and pieces in Malaga. Thin cardboard helped with the embossed effects and an airbrush got the paint on smoothly. Paffard Keatinge-Clay (the architect) does incredible work and it was a great honour to be able to create models from his plans. It greatly added to my knowledge of architectural planning. The models enabled him to show his clients what the finished structure would look like as many people can’t visualize what something will look like, from a plan. Some models were made to show how something might work structurally. This was true of large sculptural pieces he designed. Pictured here is “The Six Swans”. Our first model was one I made in wood. The next one was larger and in metal, see first picture. The second picture is the full scale finished piece. Another fun project was “Expo 92” in Seville. Although the plans of the pavilion, model pictured here, was not accepted by the client, they did end up using most of its elements. I did get to go to Seville and work with Paffard on pavilions he did create, just some small stuff but it was lots of fun to be involved in the wonderful world of fantasy structures before they opened the gates for the public.My lady and I also got to spend a few days seeing the sights after it opened.
Another aspect of doing this kind of work is seeing the raw terrain turned into something man-made and wonderful. The unused “quarry” behind a Costa del Sol village would make a fantastic gathering place for concerts and other functions. Although the town didn’t go ahead with the project it was still a very fulfilling experience to see someone with vision at work.

Puppet Making

Many years ago I got the yen to make some hand puppets. They were portraits of my ex and me. This is just an exercise in sewing skills. For the longest time I have used a treadle sewing machine. I had my first Singer in Santa Monica C.A. at the age of 20. It took pride of place in the living room as it was one of those vintage wasp wasted black ones with the gold lettering and make a great decoration, it also worked perfectly. These old treadle machines are tough and strong enough for sewing leather. They also can go at a very slow speed which gives you lots of control as in the case of sewing something small like hand puppets. I still use older machines today though one is electric and they both do zig zag.
I suppose the inspiration for these puppets came for working with a good friend who did puppet shows. She did the local Ferias and we even did the American Embassy in Seville once. She had the puppets made in Germany when she was working in France. We did the classical fairy tales, Jack and the bean stalk or little red riding hood. These were exquisite sewn hand puppets made with felt and cloth.
My puppet heads and hands are made of thin pink blanket material. This works better for me than felt because it takes a shape more easily. When I was in High School I made some heads to be worn by the Community Players in a production of Alice in Wonderland. Using blanket over shaped cardboard turned out to be the best solution. A creative paint job and they were ready to go. These days they tend to use sculpted foam for everything but I still like the look of sewn fabric for hand and string puppets. These ones were stuffed with cotton and a tube up the head for your finger. The hair is just wool threaded directly to the blanket material, an advantage of using material with a weave. The wool was not knotted but seems to hold well in the tight weave. The glasses are soldered wire. I could get ready made doll or kid stuff for some of my projects, as with the glasses, but I tend not to. I like my work to have a crafted hand-made look.
When making the body for hand puppets it’s important to give enough room for the hands to fit comfortably. You want it loose enough for the hand shape not to show too much and tight enough for the fingers to stay in the arms, a little experimenting with scrap cloth is a good idea. When you get it right you can make a template. The mouth and eyes are just painted on. Again, you can go for dolls eyes but remember the look will be completely different. If you are handy with a sewing machine or even like to hand sew you can go on to string puppets. The bodies can be stuffed cloth with flat seams at the joints. The fun is in creating heads hands and feet, and then the clothing.
Great authors like Garcia Lorca originally created some of their productions for puppet theatre. It simplified the problem of creating elaborate sets and fantasy scenes. With puppetry the only limit is your imagination.