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Game of life

3/16/2023

 
In 2022 I was commissioned to build a large outdoor sculpture. For the initial proposal I came up with three designs from which the client would choose. My only constraint, besides budget, was that I wanted to use a large steel frame made of 3-inch angle iron from my supply that I would wrap with redwood 4x4, like an enormous picture frame. I presented three designs: a giant bucket of flowers set behind a farmhouse window; a game box/magic door exploding outward with all of its parts swirling out and dice strewn around the ground; and an abstract geometric series of rings and spheres.
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Being avid gamers, I anticipated my clients would choose the game box/magic door design, but they surprised me and chose the flower bucket instead. It made perfect sense though, since the sculpture was going in their yard, amongst their flowers and bucolic landscaping. And it turned out beautiful.
The rough design sketches:
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A few months later, they came back and said they wanted me to do the game box design as well. But this one they wanted indoors as a wall hanging, about the size of your typical board game box. This sounded like a fun challenge, being that I would be working with much more delicate metal and more intricate -- i.e. easier to screw up -- design elements.

I got to work on the new piece. I built a mock-up out of cardboard and foam board, giving the design depth like a shadow box and adding shelves for them to display their favorite dice and RPG figures. For me to get the dimensions right and for them to develop a sense of acceptance with my design before we dove into the hard, expensive stuff, I had them hang the mock-up where they wanted it in their house.

After a week or so, they suggested some minor changes to design and gave me the green light to build the final piece. Since the shelves were going to hold RPG figures, I decided to hand paint the back wall so it looked like the interior of a dungeon. Also, the meeples and resource cubes on the rings are magnetic, so they can be moved and interchanged.

Racoon Friends

3/15/2023

 
Mid-2022, I was commissioned to create two bookend racoons. The style and color was determined by several examples the client provided from various ETSY/Pinterest photos of other types of metal animal sculptures. "Panel" construction and rusted, not too realistic and not too cartoony. They wanted one racoon sitting, with its front paws raised over its head. (Like a thief caught in the act, or a "WOOT WOOT!" raise your hands in the air pose.) The second racoon needed to look like it was in motion, climbing down the books.
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​Before I cut and assembled the final metal versions (seen here in front of the Polynesian head), I wanted to make sure that the individual segments I created from my sketches would work when I started assembling them. To test my engineering, I printed out paper versions of each racoon and assembled those with hot glue. Lifesize paper models of the finished design assured me that my metal versions would work.
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This was a fun project! And now those two scamps are living in their forever home in London, England.
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Rainbow flower

6/21/2022

 
There is a beautiful flower inside of you.

​Find it, water it, and let it see the sun.

This piece was created out of a single eight-foot plank of yellow pine, hand cut and sanded, then assembled using dowels. Acrylic colors--some craft and some professional Golden--plus clear coat complete the process.

​Our place is a safe place.
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Curious Photo Contest

10/7/2021

 
Here's your chance to win a piece of art* from Thom! Only one entry will win.
​Have fun and Be Creative!

Details:
  1. Go to Art 111 Gallery and Art Supply (at 111 E. Bijou, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903) -- during business hours, of course.
  2. Take a photo of yourself (or someone else) with my latest sculpture, "Curious".
  3. Before Halloween** of this year (2021) add the photo as a comment to this Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/1379168108/videos/269912748333262/
If you can't make it to the gallery, you can use one of these photos to "Photoshop" yourself into the picture:
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The person who posts the photo will be the person who wins, not necessarily the person in the photo. So, if you make it a group photo or have several people in the picture, only the person who posts the photo gets the prize.
By posting a photo to my Facebook page, you are granting me permission to use your likeness in promotions or announcements regarding this give-away. It is presumed that the person in your photo (if it is not you) has also given permission.
Judging will be by anonymous, likely impartial persons, but no guarantees. This is for fun, folks. Depending on the judges' schedules and how much coffee they need to review photos, the winner announcement will be sometime in November (2021).

​Changes to this contest will be posted here and/or on Facebook.
* Piece of art is To Be Determined. Chance of winning is based on number of submissions received with little or no certainty.
** Based on number of photos submitted, the cut-off date for entries may shift in either direction, without notice.

Good Causes

3/10/2021

 
PictureThat's me on that cement truck.
​Donating time, skills and artwork for worthy causes has long been a part of who I am. Over the years I've tried to do what I can to help veteran community service organizations like Concrete Couch, CASA of the Pikes Peak Region, Citizens Project as well as new organizations or upcoming organizations looking for a little help to succeed. If your organization is interested in my work (for auction or other fundraising) or would like me to help judge a contest or needs some art direction for a project, please feel free to reach out to me to discuss how I can help you.

​I also have artwork available to donate for fundraisers! Please Contact Me if your worthy organization needs a piece of art for an auction, prize drawing, etc.

​In 2014 I had the pleasure of getting a design chosen for the Downtown Colorado Springs Rotary Club's annual fundraiser, which at that time was called "Butterflies and Friends" and is now called, "CS Flight." This annual event has raised  hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Rotary Club and for Colorado Springs School District 11 art programs by calling artists to create designs for large landscape art butterflies (from a blank template they provide) which are then auctioned off to attendees at a gala event. 
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​In 2015, the organizers approached me and two other previous year artists to create butterflies for the developers of the University Village Colorado shopping center to have 3 custom, permanent pieces on display at their property. The piece I created for them was "Spitzweg Yellow".

​German romanticist, Carl Spitzweg's 1840 painting, titled “der Schmetterlingsjäger”
(the Butterfly Hunter), inspired this design. It depicted a butterfly hunter stumbling across some giant butterflies in a tropical forest. I thought that it would be a nice homage as well as apropos since these landscape butterflies are gigantic.

Food Fight

3/8/2021

 
A friend of mine mentioned that he was going to submit several paintings for the inaugural "Make It So" fan art exhibit and cosplay event at the Cottonwood Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs (see the "Doom" painting). It sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun, so I decided to submit a piece as well... Watchmen themed.

One of my favorite scenes...

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Rorschach (Walter J. Kovacs, played by Jackie Earle Haley in the 2009 movie), in the prison cafeteria queue, is being taunted by other prisoners.

​Unflappable, he responds,
 "None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me."

Bedlam ensues. ​

​And I still get goosebumps.*
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​My vision was of a chunk of concrete -- a remnant from the prison, like a column -- with a battered cafeteria lunch tray atop it. Maybe the tray was stained with the blood of its victims. Maybe it had a comically distinct impression of a person's face embedded in it. Embossed in the concrete slab were Walter's immortal words.

Construction
​I knew it would be nearly impossible on my budget and in the limited time I had until the exhibit's intake (9 days) to pour a column of concrete the size of which I had in mind and then have any hope of it curing in time or of me moving it, so I decided to scale down the idea to the size of an end table. I built a form frame out of two-by-fours and heavy particle board, designed to support the concrete and a flexible sheet of Lexan plastic, which would serve as a smooth, curved surface for the front of the piece onto which I would set letters for the embossed quote and credit. (Plexiglas, I learned, broke when bent around a curve this tight.)

For a pour this smooth, to maintain the integrity of the embossed letters, I went with Portland cement and sand, which provides the optimum strength while guaranteeing a smooth finish and reduced air bubbles.

​I added a cubby hole to the back to help reduce the weight of the piece and also so the owner could make use of the space (for their Rorschach mask, grappling-hook pistol, fedora and overcoat).

​The letters were laser cut wooden craft letters, which I hot-glued to the Lexan, upside down and in reverse, since I was working from the top down. I used hot glue so the letters would not pop off under the stress of the Lexan being bent when inserted into the form frame.
​I ordered the stainless steel lunch tray online from a restaurant supplier, beat it up with a sledge hammer and welded a peg onto it so it could be mounted in a hole in the concrete and appear to be balancing on one corner.
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​After curing, I hand painted the embossed letters with black acrylic.
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The Piper Series

3/6/2021

 
Overcoming an obstacle.
A new direction.
Taking an adventure.
A desire that needs fulfilling.
Looking for love.
Gazing beyond the horizon.
Searching for something lost.
A journey.
​Bravely climbing.


These are the stories of my new series of sculptures I call "Piper."

Piper is represented as a person on stilts, taking that step, climbing over that obstacle, with their heart bare to the world.

Vulnerable but strong.

​Intrepid and determined.
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Piper I (SOLD) + "Hartman" (Piper II, SOLD)
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Hell or High Water

Twisted Pine to Remember Colorado

3/2/2021

 
My clients -- from Canada -- have been living in the United States for the past few years. When they knew they were moving back to Canada in August, they approached me to create a piece of art that would remind them of their time in Colorado, something that was similar to some of my previous "flagstone and steel" pieces. They asked that I incorporate the image of a twisted pine growing from a crack in the rocks.

I came up with this design, titled appropriately, "Twisted Pine."

The frame holding the tree is sandwiched between two Colorado sandstone flagstones. And it took nearly 130 feet of coiled 1/8 inch steel round to make the body of the tree. The clumps of needles are hand-cut flat steel. Patina and enamel paint for the color.
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Bringing Africa Home

3/1/2021

 
Completed one year ago, this project thrilled me.

​My client used to live in Ghana, where she purchased several doors at a market. The doors used to be on village rondelles (round huts) and had family patterns carved into them. She asked me to make her a cabinet for her home office and incorporate the rondelle door into the door of the cabinet.


I was thrilled at this challenge, as the original door was carved from a single block of wood of uneven thickness which twisted at an angle. I completed the commission, working the stylized patterns of the door into the metal body of the cabinet.
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The wooden door was so heavy, though, that I had to add a 60 pound steel shelf at the bottom to act as a counter weight, so that the cabinet did not topple over when the door was fully open.
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Front
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Inside
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Back

Greeting Cards Available!

3/6/2020

 
Now you can buy my birthday doodles as individual greeting cards through my Zazzle store online.

Starting with my silly "Happier Than..." collection of characters, along with the Avocado + Toast drawing (one of my top twenty favorites). Check Zazzle often because they post discount coupons frequently, sometimes as much as 50% off.

Pick your favorite design, choose the size of your card and select from a matte finish or a semi-gloss finish. You can customize the card's message or content, too!

Each month I will continue to roll out other favorites of mine from the 2019 Facebook Birthday Doodles, as well as come up with new cartoons and card designs.
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All the birthday doodles in one video

3/6/2020

 
This is the full compilation of all 195 birthday doodles I did in 2019.

11 minutes is kind of long for an online video, but that barely gave each cartoon 3 seconds of screen time, so I couldn't make it any faster.

​Music: https://bensound.com

The Last 8 Birthday Doodles

12/10/2019

 
Well, I have fifteen of my Facebook friends' birthdays left for the year. Those fall on eight days, so technically, only eight doodles remain to be posted and I've already drawn five of them. In fact, SIX friends are on just two of those days, December 14 and December 22. Quirky nonsense doodles, some of them and some so far have been winter-themed, since I tend to stick to snow-related themes when I'm looking at snow falling outside my window.
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[Come to think of it, I believe I have a friend whose birthday falls on Christmas Eve, but it's not showing up in the Events/Birthday list on FB, so he must not have the birthday notification set up. Hmmm... do I break the rules? Maybe. Just maybe, for Christmas.]
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Like I said in my last blog post, I was hoping to have some of the doodles leap off the page. I guess I took myself a little too seriously with this one. So much happiness. That little amphibian is jumping out to give a big birthday hug!

24 To Go!

11/21/2019

 
If my calculations are right counting upcoming birthdays for Facebook friends--and barring any new friends coming on board--I only have 24 doodles to go before the end of the year. Eight of those are already in the can, waiting for a birthday to pop up.

A couple of my new favorites are in that batch of eight, not so much for their great cartooning, but for the expressions of joy and sheer weirdness. Like one that has a happy dinosaur being "fed" a birthday present by a time-traveling mad scientist.

I'm a little sad that this project is coming to an end. It makes me want each of my last sixteen FB birthday doodles to really leap off the page. But, sticking to my original rules, no pressure, just fun!
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Happier Than...

11/12/2019

 
November is upon us with its cooler weather and leaves blowing around in the streets. Last week, after being particularly happy with how this doodle of a pickle on stilts turned out, I decided to create a new series of FB birthday doodles this month, titled "Happier Than..." as in, "I hope your birthday is happier than a pickle on stilts," or maybe, "I hope you are happier than a taco chugging Tabasco Sauce on your birthday."

Maybe they will make sense. More likely they will be non sequitur, which is OK because that makes me chuckle. Both, non sequiturs and the phrase non sequitur make me chuckle. Like duodenum or underpants. They're funny. Hmm... another idea just popped into my head. Vegetables wearing underpants might be a theme for later this month!
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All the Spooky October Doodles

10/31/2019

 
Happy Halloween!

Well October is over and the Halloween-themed birthday doodles are all done. Twenty in all and I am pleasantly satisfied with the outcome. The first doodle was technically drawn in September before I had decided on having a theme for the month, but it was a robot doodle and robots are perfect for any holiday.
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Also, there were two doodles on October 28: the primary "for anybody whose birthday falls on this day" doodle and a special stand-alone doodle for my loving wife who asked me a month or so ago, "Am I going to get a special doodle on my birthday?"

Of course, that would be breaking the rules, but this challenge isn't about sticking to the rules, it's about drawing something fun for people on their birthday. So, she got a special Sausagey Charles Dickens doodle, because she is a voracious book reader and I love her. 

​I'm a rule breaker, baby. A bad boy. A tough guy. That's why she fell for me. (yeah, right.)

October Birthdays are Spooky

10/23/2019

 
For friends and loved-ones with birthdays in October, I typically try to avoid making any connection to Halloween when celebrating their birthday, since they've had to endure that their whole life, especially those closer to the end of the month. But this year I've got a bug up my butt about doing some ghoulishly whimsical Halloween-themed birthday doodles.
On another note, based on what November and December look like, I think I have about 55 birthday doodles left to do for the year. Whoa, if I've done the math right, I may surpass 200 drawings by New Year's Eve!

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Summer Birthdays!

9/9/2019

 
Boy, the last post in May had us at 66 doodles for posting on friends' Facebook pages. I've DOUBLED that over the summer, hitting 136 as of this week (#135 and #136 will be posted next week). It helped to have two vacation trips and a camping weekend during that time where I could spend hours doodling.
I've been having a lot of fun with some new designs, like experimenting with funny little robots and diving into a series of Victorian characters.
Also, this batch had me experimenting twice with a brush and even posting a birthday doodle on my own FB page -- in response to requests by FB friends -- which I did in pencil (#108). So far, it's the only one done straight up in pencil only, no ink.
Interestingly, I found myself dipping into my "weird" box more than once with really strange narratives or verging on creepy imagery. Hey, my friends get me.

A Huge Success

8/31/2019

 
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The opening night in August, 2019, of the "Farewell to Bees" show at Art 111 Gallery and Art Supplies had 460 attendees! Up to that point, this was a record for the gallery. The pieces in the show were wonderfully diverse, as you can see in the slideshow, below.

This show featured the 2019 Peak Arts Prize winner for Individual Artist, Thom Phelps’ sculpture, “A Farewell to Bees” and many other artists from the Pikes Peak region as well as members of The Unsteady Hand, an artist collective. The participating artists explored the ubiquitous and unnerving imagery of bee die-off and had the freedom to delve into causes, importance, hoax or not, impact on civilization, culprits, other pollinators, or how the bee has been historically depicted.
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Two weeks later, on August 16th, we hosted an artist talk at the gallery, with theme discussion and acknowledgement where we handed out prizes for People's Choice and Best In Show. (Video is 24 minutes.) Guests were welcome to participate in the dialogue. See the video, below, for the whole show.

The Peak Arts Prize is a program of the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, funded by The Fund for the Arts, a fund of the Pikes Peak Community Foundation.

The Gifts Keep Rolling In

5/10/2019

 
Or, more accurately, rolling OFF (my pen). Still trying to be random, but have to admit when I post a doodle to someone's wall and FB shows me "upcoming birthdays", that little bit of knowledge sometimes influences what I draw next (like the farmer or sheriff Annie Banannie). This project has been such a mind-quieting exercise.
It's been almost exactly three months since my original blog post explanation about this and I'm already up to 66. Here are the 42 I did over the last 90 days.

Everyday is a Gift

2/12/2019

 
Happy Birthday! or other written sentiment
or [Celebration emoticon]
or [Typical Birthday Gif]
or [Platform-provided Birthday Image with ribbons and confetti]

You've seen 'em, or used them. I like getting a "happy birthday" message on my birthday and I like handing them out on other people's birthday. It's a nice way to say I value you and I'm thinking of you. But, after years of socializing on social media, it feels a little rote.
So, I decided to make a slight change to my birthday messages in 2019. This year I am doodling a random birthday cartoon and posting it on friends' pages. To keep it fun and spontaneous, I draw the toon right out of my head, sometimes add color, and don't care about fine-tuning, content or recipient. Then, when Facebook tells me it's somebody's birthday (or multiple peoples' birthdays) I post the doodle on their page.

The rules I'm giving myself on this project:
  1. Fast draw, quick ink, no computer clean-up besides scanning.
  2. Only post where people have allowed Facebook to announce their birthday (except in the rare cases of very close inner circle friends whose birthdays I know)
  3. Don't look ahead. I do the drawings first and the doodle falls to the next recipient.
  4. On days where the birthday is shared, they share the image.

It's not every day that someone I know on Facebook has a birthday. Once a week, three a week, one on a given day or multiples. So, there's no "draw one every day" pressure. 
​When I have some down time I draw a birthday cartoon. If I have a chunk of time, I might draw two. Then I number them and scan them in. ​So far this year, I've done 24 and it has given me a renewed sense of gratification and delight, like handing out treats on Halloween.

    Thom Phelps

    Thoughts on sculpting, cartooning, designing, writing and the general joys of being an artist

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