©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • In this relaxed position, the man's mouth is closed, his arms rest on his knees, his feet dangle freely just above the ground, and the shark's tail and mouth are up. Interactive mixed-media sculpture measures 28'' h x 24'' w x 20'' d.

OK – I’ve finished my automaton! The obvious answer to my earlier question ‘One Shark + Headless Man = ?’ is MAN EATING SHARK. And, if you look closely at the photo above, you’ll notice that the man’s head does float above his neck! So, in a way, this dude is headless.

I shot the photos below from various angles and have included a few closeups. Have fun viewing these images. If you want to see additional photos and some of the construction steps for MAN EATING SHARK check out my posts of February 3rd and March 7th. This automaton is for sale – click here for details.

©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • When you turn the crank at the lower right, the man uses his hands and arms to raise the shark, his mouth opens hungrily, his legs move up and down and back and forth, and the shark's tail and mouth wriggle up and down furiously.

©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • I sculpted the head from papier mache and molding paste with eyes from a thrift shop doll. I made the cap and eyebrows from recycled tin and formed the teeth from steel wire inserted into 'jaws' made from foam board covered and texturized with Golden Molding Paste. I coated the recycled wood body with Golden Light Molding Paste, and painted the head, body, chair and base with custom mixtures of Golden Acrylic paints.

©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • Close-up of man's face with mouth open. Wires visible at rear are screwed to head and back of chair, so head 'floats' slightly above neck.

©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • Close-up of tin cap with killer shark on crown. I pop-riveted the band to ten textured tin pieces that form upper part of cap, and I added texture to the bill with a ball pein hammer.

©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • Close-up view of right side of crank mechanism. Main shaft consists of three 16-gauge galvanized steel wires bent to identical shapes and wrapped with 18 gauge copper wire.

©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • I modeled these copper hands after my own hands. The thumbs and fingers on each hand are movable, held together at the center with a copper pop-rivet. The hands themselves are slightly movable, too, and are joined to the wooden arms with looped wire pins, which I also used to attach the shark to the arms.

©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • Close-up angled view shows delicate balance of shark's body on arms.

©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • Detail view of shark's head showing hinge join to main body.

©2009 MAN EATING SHARK • Recycled tin plaque at rear of base. I used a ball pein hammer to create texture over entire surface, punched holes to create title with a nail, then painted the interior of each hole black, and hammered my name and date into the tin with steel punches. Four aluminum risers, from Boeing Surplus, raise the plaque about 3/8" from the surface of the base. I formed a 16 gauge wire frame to fit the curved edges of the plaque, and steel screws hold everything securely to the base..

ALL THAT AND A BAG OF ROCKS by artist Mary Coss is one of 16 outdoor sculptures located on First, Second and Commercial Streets in LA Conner. Eight of the sculptures are for sale, ranging in price from $1,000 (for the one pictured here) to $20,000. The sculptures will be displayed through November, 2009.

Judy is pictured here in one of three park areas on First Street overlooking Swinomish Channel. The parks provide excellent viewing of the boating activity in the Channel and are great spots to eat a relaxing lunch or dinner, or to hang out and feed the sea gulls. Behind her are the San Juan Islands to the North.

For My birthday on March 18th we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to do a day trip to LA Conner, Washington, about 60 miles north of Seattle. This small, Victorian-era town, founded in 1869, hugs the banks of the Swinomish Channel in upper Puget Sound, and is home to approximately 800 residents.

Swinomish Channel is LA Conner’s gateway to the San Juan Islands for tug boats, fishing boats and pleasure craft, and has always played a big part in the town’s history. Rainbow Bridge, the ‘Golden Gate of LA Conner’, connects the town to a small peninsula of Fidalgo Island, the reservation and community of the Swinomish Indian Tribe.

LA Conner's famous Rainbow Bridge crosses the Swinomish Channel at the South end town.

LA Conner is a tiny town - 0.5 square miles, and 0.1 square miles of that area is water! Nonetheless, it is loaded with historic buildings, galleries, museums, restaurants, inns and shops. Time seems to slow to a crawl in this quaint little village when you walk along First Street, which is where most of the action is. ‘LA Conner time’ is a welcome counterpoint to ‘Seattle Time’!

On top of that, LA Conner is nestled in some pretty spectacular scenery, and this is especially true around April, when the acres and acres of tulips, daffodils, irises and lilies are in full bloom and provide a veritable feast for the eyes.

Judy is sitting in front of the Calico Cupboard at the South end of First Street. Most of LA Conner's galleries, inns and shops are on this street.

We’ve always enjoyed our occasional trips to LA Conner, and this one was no exception. This time we visited our favorite galleries, the Museum of Northwest Art, and did the self-guided Walking Tour, an outdoor sculpture exhibition consisting of 16 pieces made from a variety of materials including granite, concrete, steel, aluminum, stone, bronze, cedar, glass, vinyl, limestone and more!

The Fire Engine pictured below is housed in the ‘LA Conner Volunteer Firefighters Museum’ (formerly the Wainwright Livery Stable) on First Street, presented to the town in 1963. This is the smallest museum I’ve never been in. In fact, no visitors are allowed inside – you view the three vintage fire engines through the front and one side window. The sign partially visible in the image below states:

This vehicle was manufactured by Ramsey & Co. of Seneca Falls, N.Y. in 1850. It was the most modern firefighting unit in service at the time. Shipped around Cape Horn by sailing vessel in 1861 to San Francisco, this pumper was used during the great fire in 1906. Later it came to Olympia, WA, and then to LA Conner. After many years of yeoman service in this community, it was finally retired as a historical unit. May Its memory of nobler days linger on evermore!

The Museum of Northwest Art is currently hosting two shows:

‘FINDS REFINED’, March 14, 2009 – June 14, 2009 – Group show features 15 artists who use found matter in their work as intrinsic elements.

‘PHILLIP LEVINE SURVEY: Sculptures, Drawings, Paintings’, March 14 – June 14, 2009 – The exhibition features smaller-scale sculpture in groups that explore the human form in terms of balance, mythology, movement, and abstraction, and rarely seen drawings and paintings.

The La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum is currently hosting two shows:

‘ALL THINGS NOT QUILTED: A Look at the World of Textiles’, January 16 – March 29, 2009; includes works by local, national, & international fiber and textile artists.

‘FARM LIFE: Treasures from Pakistan and India’, January 16 – March 29, 2009, with guest curator, Patricia Stoddard.

Skagit County Historical Museum

‘HARVESTING THE LIGHT: Images of Contemporary Skagit Farm Life’, now through September 27, 2009

‘THE WAY WE PLAYED’, featuring Skagit County sports and recreation, 1880-1960, now through September 10, 2010

If you are planning a trip to LA Conner, check out this website.

On the way back to Seattle, we drove across Deception Pass Bridge, which spans a deep and wildly turbulent channel connecting the Strait of Juan de Fuca with Saratoga Passage. The bridge is 180 feet above Deception Pass and more than a quarter mile long, and the views from the sidewalks on either side are breathtaking (literally). We then proceeded down the length of Whidbey Island, stopping off in Langley to rest and recuperate from the arduous walking we did in LA Conner. Life is tough.

"Jul 31, 1935 - The Deception Pass Bridge, and its island-hopping neighbor, the Canoe Pass Bridge, were dedicated on July 31, 1935. There aren’t many bridges in this corner of the country that do a better job of inspiring motorists to park their cars and get out for a walk over the water" Quoted from the Bellingham Herald (Note: Canoe Pass Bridge is visible in background)

Yours Truly hanging out with 'Boy and Dog' and gazing out over Saratoga Passage - (sculpture by artist Georgia Gerber was installed in First Street Park in Langley in 1986)

I’m not quite finished with the interactive sculpture I blogged about in my post on February 3rd, but I’m close. In that post, you saw a great white shark, meticulously crafted to scale in 16 gauge wire with tin fins, a jointed wooden man and his partially completed head, as pictured above.

In the photo below, I’ve remounted the chair to a temporary base the same width as the final base (shown above), to work out the placement of the crank and guide supports. The articulated shark is attached to the headless man’s arms, and I’ve removed his left leg so I can work on the cranking mechanism. The man’s head and partially completed jaws are visible at top right.

In the photo above, I’ve painted the man’s head, tongue and upper and lower jaws, and added coat-hanger mounting wires down the back of the head and out through the neck opening. I’ve since adhered the hinged jaws to the head over the exposed wire area with Golden Heavy Molding Paste and am waiting for it to dry. This rather thick application of the paste will add strength to the head and mounting wires and hold them securely in place when the head eventually bobs back and forth on the completed sculpture.

I fabricated this tin baseball cap yesterday, and now have all my components, though I have more sculpting to do where the head meets the jaws. Once I complete that, I will finish assembling my automata sculpture and post images. Stay tuned.

The Twenty-seventh Annual Letters of Joy Calligraphy Conference takes place on May 1 & 2, at Edmonds Community College, in Lynnwood, WA. This is always a fun conference and Judy and I have taught classes at lots of previous LOJ’s.

This year, Lisa Englebrecht, internationally acclaimed artist, calligrapher and instructor, will deliver the keynote lecture and teach classes. Lisa’s an amazing lettering artist, and I’ve had the privilege of seeing her vibrant work and her students’ work at various conferences over the past decade or so. She is the author of ‘Modern Mark Making – From Classic Calligraphy to Hip Hand Lettering’ and is the featured artist on a DVD titled ‘Hand Lettering on Fabric’. More info on her website.

When you sign up for the 2009 LOJ conference, your all-event package includes admittance to the trade show, slide lecture and reception Friday evening, and three 2-hr classes on Saturday plus lunch! Click Write On Calligraphers for details about LOJ.

Even if you don’t sign up for classes, you can attend the trade show, lecture and reception on Friday night for $5!

I’ll be teaching the following classes on Saturday:

TRIANGLE BOOK • 9-11 am

LETTER BOOK • 12:30 – 2:30 pm, and again from 3 – 5 pm.

Think about it - in just two hours you'll make fabulous LETTER BOOKS like these, from a pattern I provide. They're fast 'n easy, and you can send them through the mail in their own wrap-around covers.

TRIANGLE BOOKS are almost magical in the way they open and reveal and hide text. You can make them in any size, with multiple inserts, and house them in elegant (or funky!) paper portfolios. Don't be square - make TRIANGLE BOOKS in my 2-hr class!