Wooden art

Busy day in the woodshop. Tractor wheels take about 17 seconds to draw and two days to build.

Summer = woodwork

Ahhh! Back in dad's woodshop. I have been working on these wooden scultures on and off for some years now. Iv'e been deliberately tryin' to keep from having a deadline for them. Tryin' not to think too much about what I want to do with them when they're finished. A creative oasis. A place to go only to my please my own eyes and hands (and ears - wood even sounds nice when you touch it).

But, it's harsh times and not the time to be picky about such matters so now I'm aiming at finishing some of them. Getting them "exibitable" and hopefully even "sell-able".

Great fun still...

Side project III completed

There! Finally. The Tolex/vinyl was expensive and so was the spray-glue so I'm very happy I got it right. No excuses now. I HAVE to learn how to play it...

Side project III continued

The Lapsteel is now complete. The white pearloid pickguard looks neat, doesn't it? I altered the shape of the pickguard too. I think the little curve I added makes it connect better visually to the "fretboard".

I working on the case now. Plywood box with styrofoam interior covered with velveteen fabric. Sewing the guitar shaped interior was a challenge and it took some time and a LOT of cursing to get it done.

Side project III continued

Back at my parents place and the wood shop. Wooden arms for the Björn action figure in the making. Happy holidays!

Lego project

Me and my daughter decided we wanted to build something with all our Lego pieces in to one single... thing. She got tired of the building part quite soon but made these two little persons out of clay who lived in the thing and started to make up stories about them as I continued building...

Truly a perfect way to spend a Sunday.

Side projekt III

My buddy Björn is a rock star (drummer of excellent band Freak Kitchen) so therefore he should have an action figure.

I have never done an action figure before and I have'nt done much clay modeling since I went to art school 25 years ago so, plenty of trial and error on this one. I tried a brand of modeling clay that could be hardened in the owen. Unfortunally it was too sturdy to work with so I settled for flour clay. Cheap, always at hand and I could easily adjust the thickness by adding more water or flour. The first wire skeleton was to weak though and the flour clay too sticky so my first attempt ended up in a messy little lump. I noticed that the flour clay is unable to carry it's own weight so if I build it too thick it would slowly start sliding off. At last I made this really sturdy skeleton and started build it up in segments. Building and baking, buildling and baking... In my attempt to make it as steady as possible I made the feet a bit too big. but hey! it's steady now.

One of the arms eventually went broken. Like I kind of knew it would -the elbow joint's a weak spot. Apparently baked flour clay is not well suited for moving parts - it cracks easily. So I will make new, wooden arms as fast as I get to my parents place and the wood shop during the holidays.

Side projekt II

I built this as gift for my good friends Lina and Per who got married this summer. Originally a drawing (based on a sketch from years ago) that I made for their invitation card. I thought a clockwork tandem bike was a good metaphor for the concept of marriage. A delicate machinery but yet powerful, if carefully maintained, and if the partners are agreed about the direction.

Clever huh? And yes, I had a great time building it.

Side project I continued

My long time buddy and work space companion, the ever so generous Jerker Andersson gave me a digital camera the other day (!). So here's a couple of more pictures.Thanks J!

The black hardboard pickguard will eventually be replaced with white or grey pearloid. That'll be so sweet!



And; Yes, "Jerker" is a quite common Swedish name; Skandinavian form of "Eric".

Side project I

Spent a few good weeks in dad´s woodshop this summer building two lap steel guitars. They're hollow bodies sort of like an ES 335 with a solid piece troughout the hole length of the guitar and some hollowness on the sides. Neck and sides are made out of birch. Top and back is pine. Maybe not the types of wood a luthier would recommend but it sounds ok to me - and, I can point out the spot, in my parents yard, where the birch stood. If I ever do another one I will make sides, top and back thinner to see if I can squeeze some more acoustic volume out of it.

I had a great time building them. Now I have to learn how to play...

Thanks Anders J for glue and support. Thanks dad.