Teaching Paper Mache Summer Camp 2010

My daughter, Kierra, testing the paper mache Giraffe design

I had a fabulous experience teaching a paper mache summer camp class at the Calgary Jewish Centre August 2010.    I designed a giraffe for the 5-6 year olds and a fish for the 4 year olds.  My daughter, Kierra, was a great helper, testing the designs.  It was a lot of fun - thank you to the Calgary Jewish Centre for having me out!

Kierra's paper mache fish

Kierra's Paper Mache Giraffe

The Summer Camp paper mache Giraffes made by the 5 and 6 year olds - paint drying

Summer Camp paper mache  - school of fish made by the 4 year olds

Bird Bath, Salmon, T Rex

Here are a few pictures of recent work I have completed.  It's been a busy summer and I have also been experimenting in stone, ivory and plexiglass.  I also included a picture of T Rex (finished a couple of years ago).  My wife and I decided to unwrap and enjoy it in our back yard until it finds a home.  We also have the pleasure of letting one of our client's birdbath rust to the right patina in our yard.  Its almost at the right point, and the birds in our yard and we will miss it when its picked up.


Jeff and Tanya's Bird Bath Commission tucked in the Iris's in our yard.

Mario's Salmon Commission

T Rex (for sale $5000.00)  Made from Caterpillar parts and found metal

Posts - new and old

Greetings!  To help you learn a bit more about my work, I added a seach engine to my blog, to help find older posts. It's near the top of the blog.

Some of the highlights over the past few years have been:

Aliens I and II
Totems and Tractor scuptures at the Creative Kids Museum (CKM) at the TELUS World of Science,
Boy and Girl butterfly sculpture made collaboratively at the CKM for their first birthday party
Great Horned Owl sculpture
Fang Tooth Sculpture
Salmon Sculpture
Fisherman's Dream Sculpture
Predatory bird illustrations, such as the Red Tailed Hawk, I have been doing.
 metal sculpture  and drawing inspired by children's art
The warrior series images will be posted shortly.

I made my first large scale piece back in 1994.  The design won first prize for a sculpture competition. Its "Spawning Salmon" installed at Carhenge, in Alliance, Nebraska http://www.carhenge.com.  Carhenge was named the 2nd wackiest attraction in North America last year!

I also have a website at www.sandhurstsculpture.ca and will be updating it this weekend.

I hope you enjoy learning a bit more about my work.  Drop me a line if you are interesting in learning more or sharing ideas at cgsandhurst@shaw.ca.

Cheers,

Geoff

Red Tailed Hawk drawing completed

I finished the character drawing commission of a Red Tailed Hawk.  The predatory features are emphasized.  I enjoyed working on this project.

More plexiglas and Steel Bases for an Inuit Sculpture Collection

I have been working on more bases for a good friend's fascinating Inuit Sculpture collection.  Some are plexiglas bases and some are steel stands.   

Red Tail Hawk Pencil Drawing

Red Tailed Hawk Pencil Drawing

I am working on some preliminary pencil drawings for a Red Tailed Hawk drawing for a client.  The bottom one shown here is not finished yet.  I can draw for hours and hours. I am currently listening to Lee Aaron's "Beautiful Things" cd.  Pink Floyd, Junk House, Brazilian Girls are other favorites.  Drawing in my studio can be lonely, but with good music for company, I don't feel so alone.  Of course, my family is always dropping by to see how I am doing! Sometimes my 7 year old daughter will join me and pull out her pencil crayons and draw on the floor.  I love that!

Above  - Red Tailed Hawk #2 Medium: Pencil- Based on a photo by Guy Shulhan

Current Work

I am currently working on commissions of a life size Steelhead trout in Reeds (outdoor sculpture) , a pencil drawing of a Red Tail Hawk, and sketches inspired by Karoo Ashevak which will eventually end up in a steel sculpture.

The recession hit hard, and to fill the time, I decided to take a course at ACAD - Fundementals of Design. It's been a long time since I was at school. Long homework hours... I have new appreciation for the amount of work students must have to do when they are taking a full course load. I learned quite a bit and enjoyed the experience.

Here is a picture of the Great Horned Owl on the pedestal that was created for it by a talented wood worker.

Learning a new medium

Since April 09, I have been working on a number of commissions but sadly, the digital camera card that I took the photos on is not downloading the photos. So here is a partial list of the work I have completed:

A "Tiger Paw" sculpture for Mary Carroll High School in Corpus Christi, Texas

A rustic Bird Bath for a client in Edmonton

A Salmon Fish that is available for purchase at Arts on Atlantic Gallery in Calgary

I am currently working on a series of pencil sketches for an upcoming show. I am also starting to take courses to develop my computer design skills.

Thank you for your interest in my work, and I hope to post pictures again soon.

Kitchen Spice Rack

I also made myself a kitchen spice rack for over my stove. For anyone that knows us, I continued my fish theme on the spice rack. I have a number of fish sculptures that I made in our kitchen. Fish are one of my favorite themes.

Magazine Rack

I finished a newspaper and Magazine rack recently for my own home.

Kinetic Tractor for Creative Kids Museum at the TELUS World of Science, Calgary

I have now completed 4 sculptures for the Creative Kids Museum at the TELUS World of Science, Calgary. Three of them are pictured here - the kinetic tractor that I call "Spirit of the Storm" and two rotating totems, one textures and one with animal tracks that I carved into plastic tubing. The tracks tell a story about encounters of animals at a marsh in Alberta. The yarn tree gives visitors the chance to be part of a growing sculpture by tying on strands of yarn.

These sculptures were contracted by The CKM for the Mindscapes area. It took 6 months of research, design, locating parts and then actual sculpting to bring the sculptures to completion The final sculpture was installed on Jan 30 09. The kinetic tractor is driven by a gear to spin. The totems are in 6 sections and are rotated by hand. The yarn tree is not pictured here yet. The totems were designed collaboratively with staff of the CKM. The kinetic tractor I designed fitting parameters given. I very much appreciated being given this opportunity by the Creative Kids Museum at the TELUS World of Science, Calgary.

Kitchen Shelf and Back splash

I enjoyed the challenge of designing, manufacturing and installing the following Kitchen shelf and back splash this past summer. Here are some pictures:

Glass Blowing Tools

I have a friend that is a glass blower and he asked me to make him some tools for glass Blowing. Here are a few pictures of them.

Salmon Sculpture

I finished this sculpture Salmon wall sculpture a while ago for a client. Here are a few pictures showing the part of the progress and the final sculpture, as well as some detail shots.

Progress on the Totems for the Creative Kids Musem at the TELUS World of Science - Calgary

Update on the TOTEMS for
The Creative Kids Museum at the
TELUS World of Science - Calgary


My name is Geoff Sandhurst, and I am a full time sculptor. I usually work in metal, and I am enjoying working with a new medium – recycled water pipe for the Totems project for the Mindscapes Exhibit at Creative Kids Museum at the TELUS World of Science – Calgary.

The raw material for the Totems is recycled water pipes. They are heavier than they look!

The first Totem ready for delivery – if my son’s army of Bionicles can be defeated! This Totem will have Textures applied to it at CKM before installation.

The grid drawn out as a guideline for the animal tracks on the second totem. I planned the tracks on paper, but I had to keep in mind that the flat paper pattern was telling a story on a totem in the round in spinning sections.

There are many different kinds of animal tracks on each piece of the second totem. I am carving the totems with a variety of carbide burrs on a hand held drill and a foredom drill (like a dremel).

The sections will spin on each other, and when matched up correctly, you will be able to see the path that each animal has taken around the totem.

Thank you to the CKM at the TELUS World of Science – Calgary for the opportunity to work on this fascinating project. I am looking forward to keeping you updated on its progress. You can subscribe to updates on my blog at sandhurstsculpture@blogspot.com.

Sincerely,
Geoff Sandhurst

Acadia School Presentation to Room 22

I am looking forward to meeting the students of room 22 at Acadia School in Calgary tomorrow. I am honoured to be invited to present to their class.

Thank you for this opportunity to share with you.

Cheers,

Geoff

Kinetic Sculpture for TELUS World of Science, Calgary

Update on the Kinetic Sculpture for
The TELUS World of Science, Calgary

The Junk Yard where I found the Massey Harris Tractor for the Kinetic Sculpture

My name is Geoff Sandhurst, and I am a full time metal sculptor. I have been passionate about working with found and formed metal since I first experienced welding at Speedy Muffler King as a muffler installer in 1982 when I was 17 years old. I find it interesting to learn how people started in careers. It can be an intentional path, like my sister-in-law. She knew from a very young age that she wanted to be a scientist and she maintained a pretty consistent career path to become one. Sometimes, people are born into families that run their own business and have the opportunity to continue within it. It can be a career path started in the education system, as one experiences different options, or core subjects that are of interest. It can be a role model or a mentor that encourages someone in a direction. It can be a chance encounter that sparks an interest that was previously unimagined. That’s what happened to me. I always loved art, but didn’t have the opportunity to take art in high school. I think I would be an artist working in wood, if I had found a job as a cabinet maker, or an artist working with paper, if I had worked at a photocopying store. I feel driven to create and use what I know or what resources I have available, or experiment to try to do something new. I was exposed to metal work in my job, so I am a metal artist.

I ‘m honoured and excited to be contracted to create this kinetic sculpture for the TELUS World of Science, Calgary. The project developed through conversations about an interactive sculpture demonstrating the use gears and pulleys. The theme of the tractor was suggested as a man-made creation that has an impact on nature to tie in to the “Mindscapes’ area at the Creative Kids Museum at the TELUS World of Science, Calgary. This man made creation was given a twist – it was to transform into something else to show how man can interact with machines to cause change. Man’s impact can develop into something new, interesting, and helpful. It can also be terrifying and the impact not known for years to come.

I started the development of the kinetic sculpture with many sketches, taking the ideas discussed at the meetings and combining them in a variety of ways until the ideas started to gel together. I researched different gears and pulleys and looked at the work of other kinetic sculptors and found some amazing websites on the internet:

I recommend checking out following websites that I came across in my research:

Boston Museum of Science, The Clark Collection of Mechanical Movement Models http://www.mos.org/exhibits_shows/current_exhibits&d=1781

Theo Jansen, Kinetic Sculptor - http://www.strandbeest.com/

Arthur Ganson, Kinetic Sculptor - http://www.arthurganson.com/pages/Sculptures.html

The next stage was to create a small scale model of the sculpture. I first made one to work out the general movement of the artwork. Then I intended to create a full working model of the kinetic sculpture. After trying to source metal gears and pulleys to create a working model, I realized that it was not realistic to create a full working model. It was time consuming and was resulting in a model that would not be able to be replicated in large scale. The same types of gears were not necessarily readily available or cost effective when going from small scale to large scale. It was time to move into creating the actual sculpture.

1st maquette to work out movement of artwork.


Incompleted 2nd maquette with some working gears. My Daugher Kierra is turning the gears.

The sculpture has 3 main parts:

1. There is the gear box that drives the entire sculpture. It is to be encased in clear plastic so that everyone can see and experience how turning the valve with human power, drives the gears that move the sculpture.

2. The framework of the sculpture rises from the gearbox and attaches to the ceiling beams. It supports the kinetic artwork as well as allowing the movement of the sculpture.

3. The kinetic sculpture is the third component and the most challenging. It is made from found tractor parts and purchased new and used mechanical parts.

The Gear Box: The gear box phase is ongoing. I have sourced and received most of the gears for the gearbox. I am not satisfied with the size of the beveled gears that are the first gears to be driven by human power. I want something with more visual impact. I am looking for a crown and pinion now from a large truck or tractor. This is a photo of the sketch of the gear box on my drafting table.






I have started gathering parts for the artwork of the Kinetic Sculpture. Because I am working with found parts, I have to be creative and take the opportunity to purchase it while I can. I can’t go back and buy it later – it will be crushed or shipped elsewhere, like China! I have picked up lots of interesting items. Here are some of the parts I have found so far using a Massey Harris Tractor:

My daughter, Kierra’s, school is working with the students discussing “Legacy”. I have been thinking about what Legacy means to me. My great grandfather was an inventor with patents registered to his name. Both of my grandfathers were artists. One worked in wood and one drew in pen and ink. My father was also an artist drawing in pencil. My son, Caelin, is taking art classes on Wednesday evenings and I wonder – would he be doing this if I wasn’t an artist? Is he compelled to create as I am? Will he continue on as a professional artist, or just dabble with art as an adult? I don’t have the answers, but I do see a family history of artists standing behind my daughter and son. I imagine this older generations watching over the shoulders of these two young artists as they create.

I recently saw a video by Dewitt Jones, a photographer for National Geographic, http://www.dewittjones.com/html/keynotes.shtml . He talked about acting “as if”, when we think that we are not interested, do not care, or feel that something is beyond our abilities. I found this very empowering. I often work “as if”. I go on the internet and act “as if” I am a researcher. When I start with my first google search, or library visit, I often don’t’ know exactly who, what, where I am looking for. But I continue, acting “as if” I know how to find the information that I need. I learn more and more with each search on the internet and discussion with the librarians until I find what I am looking for.

When I am building a sculpture I act “as if” I am an artist. I don’t feel that I am one. An artist to me is Salvador Dali or Leonardo da Vinci. I act “as if” I know what I am making. I have an idea, but I don’t know if I will be able to find the parts, or have the time I need to make the parts. Many times my initial drawings come close to the sculpture, but sometimes the sculpture evolves into something completely different.

This kinetic sculpture is challenging, interesting and fun. I am looking forward to keeping you updated on its progress. You can subscribe to updates on my blog at sandhurstsculpture@blogspot.com.

Sincerely,
Geoff Sandhurst

The search for Gears

I have been looking for bevelled gears 15-20" diameter for a large kinetic sculpture for the last couple of months. It's been a challenge. I have tried a number of local scrap yards, gear suppliers, repair shops, with no luck. I am now following some leads from contact at the CR4 The Engineer's Place, http://cr4.globalspec.com/

Thank you to all the people that responded to my inquiry for gears. I am pursuing their leads and have appreciated connecting with their group.

I work in isolation in my studio, and I am finding the internet an amazing way to feel connected in the world wide community.

If anyone in the Calgary area has gears of this diameter please email me!

Thank you,

Geoff

Fang Tooth (Deep Sea Fish) Sculpture

I recently completed Fangtooth, a sculpture of a deep sea fish. I am thinking to keep it in my personal collection.