Mr. Kite

I finished this garden gnome sculpture and it turned out OK. I loosely based his design on the costumes from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I suppose, since it is green and orange, that this would be John. But I didn't really intend that to be.

I started with an armature of wooden dowels and newspaper balls. I used paper mache, newspaper, and tape to build the body features. I got some plastic eyes on eBay. This is the first time that I am using pre-made eyes...never used them before. The eyes give him more of a living quality and, quite frankly, make him look a tad creepy. To create the ears I bent some wire and covered it with paper towel.

His clothing is cloth, dipped in glue, and drapped over his body. I made the hat just like a real hat; by drop-stitching two triangles together. I took a walk to Black Rock Woods in Nazareth and got a nice dry stick to use as a walking stick. The gnome has a guitar case strapped to his back so I made one out of cardboard.

I used a lot of old buttons and faux leather from some old purses that my wife had tried to throw away. She tries to throw stuff away without me knowing.

R.I.P. Rick Wright

Annelid King (Comeback Special)

I finished my worm-Elvis-impersonator sculpture today. It turned out OK. This was a sculpture that I started back in March but had to put aside to work on my soap box car.

The worm is just a series of newspaper balls covered with laminated paper mache. I created a display base out of MDF that includes various pieces of flora that might exist in a backyard (leaves, flowers, rocks, mushrooms, etc.). I made a miniature guitar that my wife had fun posing our cat with. I tried to loosely model it after Elvis' 1968 ebony Gibson J200. I added some jewel embelishments to the guitar strap and used a pearlized white paint for the accents. The sculpture is 18 inches tall and 25 inches long.

Catharsis

Although there is the prospect of another Soapbox Derby in the Autumn, it was time to disassemble my Dragon Coupe. I decided to save the dragon's head so I carefully removed the dragon and cut the head off with a hacksaw.

I mounted the head, trophey-style, on an old piece of wood.

Nazareth Adult Soapbox Derby 2008 Slideshow

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

1st Place: 2nd Place:

3rd Place: Crowd Pleaser:

Full results bracket: CLICK HERE!

VIDEO: CLICK HERE!

Dragon Coupe (Soap Box Derby Car)

As mentioned in a previous post I entered the Nazareth Adult Soap Box Derby. I did research online about the designs of soapbox cars but found that most are really lame. I started building my car in March and decided that I would use my talents as much as possible to make the fastest and best looking car possible. I am good at paper art but bad at carpentry so I focused on making a mechanically simple design that incorpated paper art. I started by recording a few goals: 1) The car should look good

2) Use as many reclaimed materials as possible

3) Spend as little money as possible

I. The Chasis

I collected as much scrap wood as I possibly could from people's garbage piles around town. I started with a sheet of plywood and built a body out of 2X3 studs. These studs were the only wood that I bought from a store. They cost me about $8 total. All other wood was reclaimed scrap wood.

II. Wheels

I got some lawn mower wheels from my wife's grandfather. They did not have an axl. Rather, they each had their own mounting bracket. This would simplify things by allowing me to use 2x4's as axls rather than worrying about finding a metal rod.

III. Steering

The steering was going to be important. I needed to be able to straignten myself out but didn't really need to make any sharp turns (W. Prospect Street hill is perfectly straight). So I knew I could limit the steering capabilities. Many of the online plans I found had steering columns much like a real car. But these were far too complicated in my opinion. So I decided to make a foot-steering mechanism. I drilled a 0.5" hole through the deck and two 2X4's. Then I sandwiched the deck between the two 2x4's and bolted it all together. This way I could manipulate the axl under the deck with the 2x4 that is above the deck.

IV. Brakes

The rules of the derby stated that brakes were optional. However, I knew I wanted to add them because I did not know the logistics of the race at the time: would there be ample room to slow down naturally? Or would there be some sort of smashing-into-hay-bails type end to the race?

So I decided to make a simple brake mechanism. I contemplated having something rub against one of the wheels. However this seemed complicated and would intrude on the aesthetics of the car. So I read online that old soapbox cars from the WWII era had a pad that would rub against the road surface to slow the car down. I decided that this would be perfect because I could mount the brake inside the cockpit. I cut a lever shape out of an old 2X8" and cut a hole in the floor of the car. I made a fulcrum point using an old piece of metal conduit. For a brake pad I used a piece of an old bicycle tire. With this system I could pull up on the lever to force the brake pad against the ground. A small bungie cord served to snap the brake lever back into place when pressure was released.

V. Body

I obtained a piece of 1/8" plywood from my neighbor (he had been throwing a lot of wood out lately from some home improvement projects he was doing). This would be perfect to form the body of my car. I made a roadster design and included some fins in the back.

Design and Detail: I had comtemplated various themes and design elements for the car before I started building it. In my notebook I had every famous car I could think of from TV, movies , music, and pop culture. But nothing was really appealing. But I recently purchased Dan Reeder's new book Dragon Maker's Handbook. This inspired me to create a medievil themed car. I came up with the idea to have the car be covered with dragon scales and have a prominent dragon hood ornament.

Dragon Hood Ornament: I am not going to detail how the dragon was made because Dan Reeder does a good job in his book. If you're interested in learning his techniques you should buy it. Basically, it is a series of newspaper balls covered with glue-soaked cloth. My technique differs from Dan's only slightly in that I use some traditional paper mache and also paper towels in places were he may only use cloth.

The dragon would need to be very strong (much stronger than if it would just hang on the wall for decoration). So it was heavily reinforced with wire and paper mache. In order to attach the dragon to the hood of the car I needed to create a mounting bracket. So I cut the bottom of the dragon's body open and inserted a section of wood. This was further reinforced with paper mache (which dries as hard as a rock in about a week). This would allow me to screw up through the car's hood to attached the dragon.

VIII. Helmet

Race rules state that the driver must wear a helmet. So I got my old dirt bike helmet from my parent's attic. I took off the visor, sanded it, and painted it silver...like a knight's helmet. I make a knight's visor out of cardboard and glued it to the helmet. To make it look more authentic I "distressed" the helmet with some black paint and also attached some faux "rivets" which were actually nail and screw heads.

IX. Paint job and Scales

To create the scales I cut an old bedsheet into squares (roughly 1.5 inches). I used two whole bedsheets. I put some Elmer's glue in a bucket and diluted it slightly with water. Normally, for regular scupture I would not dilute it. But I was trying to be resourceful on this project and diluting it woul make the gallon of glue last longer. A handful at a time I dunked the squares in the glue and allowed them to soak. The I squeezed the excess glue out. Each scale is one square of cloth that has two corners folded over. This was applied to the body of the car in an overlapping fashion. It took a while to dry in the cool Spring air.

I opted for a red paint job with yellow accents. To achieve this I first painted the entire car solid yellow. Then I lightly painted the car red making sure not to take advantage of the nature texture of the scales and not apply a solid coat.

X. Details

There were a few details of note that I added to the car.
The first was an emblem on the front grill. I made this out of papermache and cardboard. A fancy button finished it off:

I made a Pennsylvania lisence plate for the back. This was also made of paper mache and cardboard. I also made a witty bumper sticker:

I gathered some old knobs and what-not to add to the dashboard. I even put added a key and speedometer (actually an old pressure guage):

Work Stoppage

I had been working on a new sculpture of a worm. However, a few things have come up that are forcing me to put it aside for now. The first is work-related. The second is because I need to prepare for the Nazareth Adult Soap Box Derby on May 3.

The Mannequin Project 2005-2008

The Mannequin Project is now finished. My mother-in-law finished the cape. I attached the cape with some snaps and affixed a yellow emblem to the back. The emblem is made of craft foam and outlined with black thread. Here is a link to the original Mannequin Project post: Clicky

Paper Mache Poo (& some stars)

I made some stars out of paper mache. They turned out OK. Rather than paint them I decoupaged them with tissue paper. I gave one to my mom.

I also made some paper mache poop but make cat could tell it was fake.

C.F. Marlin Guitar Sculpture

For some reason I had recently become infatuated by Picasso's Guitar (link) which is a sheet metal interpretation of the instrument. I was really inspired by the fact that he used such crappy materials rather than bronze or copper or something like that. So, I decided to make my own fantastical interpretation of a guitar using the crappiest material I know of: paper.

I live in Nazareth, PA. home of C.F. Martin Guitars, one of the oldest (if not the oldest) guitar manufacturers in the USA. The original factory is within a few blocks of my house. So it made sense that I would model my fantastical guitar after a Martin. And since Martin is only one letter off from "marlin" I figured that the most obvious place to start the design would be with a fish theme (it made sense to me at the time).

First I measured my own guitar to get the dimensions of the neck, the body, and get all of the ratios right. Then I sketched out the basic shape of the guitar. I always felt that guitars kind-of look like skeletons. So instead of making a regular "live" fish guitar I designed a fish skeleton guitar.

Next, I made the fish skull/guitar body out of a big ball of newspaper (The Nazareth Key, as always) and covered it in newspaper and flour/water mixture. When dry I hollowed the skull out. Then I traced the shape of the skull onto a piece of MDF, added the guitar neck/fish backbone shape, and cut it all in one piece. This one-piece design would give the sculpture great strength and rigidity.

Using wire, newspaper, cardboard and tape I added some fin and tail details. The vertebrae details were created from some old pink foam insulation I had left over from a home improvement project. I glued the foam to the neck and carved each vertebrae with a knife and sandpaper. Each space between the vertebrae represents a guitar fret. So to mimic a real guitar I made the vertebrae near the nut larger than those near the the bridge.



I used lots of "true" paper mache to create little details and to smooth all of the edges on the fish. "True" paper mache is simply paper pulp, white glue, a little saw dust, and some calcium carbonate. This can be sculpted like clay and dries extremely hard.

I made the teeth out of Sculpey.

I wanted the guitar to be mildly authentic so I made a nut and bridge out of Scupley and drilled holes for the strings. I used old guitar strings and strung up the Marlin. Lead split-shot were used to hold the strings taught at the nut.



The entire sculture was covered in paper towles, primed with gesso, painted with acrylics, airbrushed for detail, and sealed with water-based polyurethane. I added a C.F. Marlin logo to the headstock/tail and created a parchment sound hole label.

If this were a real guitar it would probably be the worst sounding piece of crap on Earth and very uncomfortable to play. But it's a sculpture and not real so I don't have to worry about that.

Condolences to Mr. Imagination

Sadly, visionary outsider artist Gregory "Mr. Imagination" Warmack's Bethlehem, PA home was burned January 20. He lost his home, studio, pets, and precious artwork. I have no doubt that Mr. I will recover to be more creative than ever.

Links to Newspaper articles about the house fire:

January 22

January 23

The Nazareth Stink Bug

Everybody who lives in the Lehigh Valley knows too well what a brown stink bug is. In the Summer these things are everywhere; in the house, on the house, outside of the house, in stores, at the post office, in your shoe, on your car, everywhere. Originally from Asia, the brown stink bug was introduced to this area in the 1990's presumably stowed away on a some cargo from China. The first one in North America was identified in Allentown, PA. They now occupy much of the mid-Atlantic. The reason that they are called "stink bugs" is because, when provoked, they emit a odoriferous liquid spray. It kind of smells like a cross between sun baked monkey vomit, worsteshire sauce marinated dog crap, and narcotizing flesh. The best thing is when you suck one up into the vacuum cleaner. It fills the entire house up with the seductive sent of sun baked monkey vomit, worsteshire sauce marinated dog crap, and narcotizing flesh. You also have to throw away a perfectly good vacuum bag.

I decided to honor the stink bug with a papier mache sculpture. First I needed to find one. Where would I look? How about anywhere? I immediately found three on a window screen at my house. I put them into a jar and kept them there while I sketched and studied their figures. Unfortunately, they all died while in custody. When I opened the jar to take some photos I could sense the strong odor of sun baked monkey vomit, worsteshire sauce marinated dog crap, and narcotizing flesh.

I started but making a body out of styro foam. I only had scraps of foam left over from previous projects but I needed a decent sized block. So I glued a bunch of pieces together. Then I cut the block to shape and sanded it. A stink bug has a de-stink-tive (get it?) shield-shaped back. So I constructed this out of cardboard. The head is foam and Model Magic. The legs and antennae are wire and masking tape. To create details on the wings I used sheets of paper towel, double ply, brushed with wallpaper paste. Then everything was covered in paper towels soaked in glue. After several coats of white glue, sanding, and gesso, the insect was ready for painting. I used diluted acrylic craft paint applied through an airbrush.




I thought that it would be interesting to showcase the stink bug by mounting it on a plaque. So I cut a plaque out of MDF and covered it in newspaper. I liked the way the newspaper looked without paint so, when I applied the second coat, I strategically chose interesting articles, pictures to cover the plaque with. The two newspapers that I used are The Nazareth Key and The Onion. This is probably one of the only stink bug sculptures that has the word "labia" printed right on the sculpture.

While obtaining photographs of stink bugs online I learned the genus-species name of stink bugs. It is Halyomorpha halys. So I went through magazines from our recycle bin to get all of the letters to add to the stink bug plaque. The magazines that I used were This Old House, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Allure, and Women's Health. I decoupaged the letters on the plaque and sealed it all with polyurethane.

The stink bug was mounted on the plaque using wooden dowels. Mounting hooks were added to the back of the plaque so that it can hang on the wall.

"Alligator in the Sewers"

I finished the alligator sculpture. It turned out OK. As posted earlier, I obtained an old toilet from my wife's grandparents earlier in the year. As one to never pass up any free junk I pondered what to do with it. I finally settled on creating a sculpture based on a common urban legend-the alligator in the sewer.

I started out as I typically do by creating a series of newspaper balls; paying close attention to what the end result should look like. I attached the arms together and fixed those to the body. To create the head, I cut the ball in half, one for each part of the jaw. I used wooden dowels to reinforce the jaw and keep it open and shaped properly. One dowel was forced in under the chin, as if being stabbed through the Adam's apple. The other dowel went straight through the top of the head down into the body.

To create the textured, convoluted gums and mouth I used paper towels, soaked in white glue, to cover the surface and create a lot of wrinkles. I made teeth out of Sculpey and glued them in place. To create the claws (hands) I first made bones out of small newspaper balls and connected them with heavy wire. I used more newspaper and tape to create the flesh of the hands.

To ensure that the alligator would stand inside the toilet I made a form by covering the inside of the bowl with plastic wrap and using strips of newspaper and flour/water to make a relief of the bowel. Once this dried, I attached it to the base of the alligator body and used paper towels/glue to create a slimy, toilet-water effect.

The entire body and head needed to be covered in a specific reptile-like texture. So I used paper towels soaked in glue to create wrinkles and scales and details.

Once everything was dry I then primed the entire piece with gesso and painted with various shades of black, green, red, and, brown. My airbrush helped create some of the blending and shading. The entire alligator was covered with water based polyurethane- glossy on the inside of the mouth and eyes; satin on the skin.

To create a base for the toilet I used a piece of MDF. Since the scupture would be heavy (it is a real toilet, you know) I put some casters on the bottom. I cut 3" squares of old 1/8" plywood and glued them to the MDF base in a "bathroom tile" pattern. This was covered entirely with papertowels/glue, primed, and painted to resemble a typical American bathroom floor. The toilet was then bolted to the base and reassembled.

I obtained an old toilet plunger and broke the handle in half. It did not break as spectacularly as I had hoped so I fudged it a bit by using a utility knife to enhance the splintering and glued some extra splinters on. Then I glued the plunger in the 'gator's claws to imply that the animal had just snapped the handle in two.

This is one of my favorite pieces that I have done and I am fairly pleased with it. I think the hands could have been a little better- they are a tad too human-looking.

I would say that working with an old toilet was pretty crappy.

Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp 2007

It is no secret that I love the Philadelphia Eagles. I am an Eagles-apologist. The team holds training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. in mid summer. Since this is only a 20 minute drive from my house I take a week-day off from work and go every year (Click here for what I saw in 2006). Here is what I saw this year:

During some D-line drills, one of the coaches uses a football attached to a broom handle to simulate the slight movement of a snapping ball.

Garbage Pail Kids Sculpture Controversy

I recieved an e-mail yesterday from Wayne of Wayne's Garbage Pail Kids Reference Page with an interesting story about an artist who made a Garbage Pail Kids sculture and tried to sell it on eBay. The artist was met with a legal letter warning about copyright infringement. The interesting point of the story was that the warning did not come from Topps, maker of Garbage pail Kids Cards. Rather, it came from Mattel, maker of Cabbage Patch Kids Dolls. The artist had modified an old Cabbage Patch Doll to make a custom Garbage Pail Kid. Sound familiar?

While I have not attempted to sell them, I have created several Garbage Pail Kids sculptures; often using a Cabbage Patch Doll as my starting point.

Here is a link to the story on Wayne's site message board: http://www.wgpkr.com/GPK/MessageBoard/Messages/20140.html

I have to wonder if anything would have happened at all if the listing simply did not mention Cabbage Patch Kids at all. Here is the eBay listing of the offending doll:

This is not the first time Mattel has sent their legal team after an individual artist. Read it here. I realize that Mattel is not crazy about the concept of the "Garbage Pail Kid." I recall lawsuits years ago between Topps and Mattel over the Garbage Pail Kids cards themselves. As a creative entity, myself, I can certainly understand the desire to protect intellectual property. However, this was not an instance of mass-producing, mass-profiting, or mass-marketing. This was a lone artist expressing herself and using her talents to make just a few dollars.

I recently obtained a whole box of Cabbage Patch Kids at a yardsale. Now I am even more motivated to chop their heads off and create the most vial Garbage Pail Kids I can come up with. Maybe I'll even try and sell them on eBay.

Summertime Blues (and reds)

I'm not a huge fan of Summer. I mostly prefer Autumn and, to a lesser extent, Spring. Winter isn't bad either. Summer is definitely a distant fourth. There are a few reasons that I don't like Summer. Mainly because it is too freaking hot. I also don't like the humidity or the blazing sun.

However, I am far more active in Summer; I do a lot of home-repair/improvement stuff in the Summer. This often keeps me from doing paper mache sculpture. But this stuff needs to be done.

Currently, I am working on repairing the wood siding on my house. It is made of cedar shingles and some of the shingles are in need or replacement. Then, once the replacements are in, I'll stain them to (hopefully) make them match the originals. It is hard work. My knuckles are sore and bloody.

On hold is a sculpture that I have been working on for a while. I obtained an old toilet from my wife's grandparents last Winter. I had been pondering a way to make a sculpture out of it that won't offend anyone. I settled on an alligator-in-the-sewer. I thoroughly scrubbed the toilet out with copious amounts of bleach and a garden hose. I got most of the old-people smell out of it. Then I constructed a base out of a piece of MDF and attached casters (wheels) to the bottom. This sculpture is going to be heavy and the wheels will make it easier to move around. The alligator itself is made of newspaper balls covered in newspaper. That's about where I have left it. My vision is clear...now I have to find some time for the execution.

A Gold Fish

I have a fairly ambitious project planned for the Spring/Early Summer so I decided to do something simple to gear up. So I thought I would make another fish. I started with a wad of newspaper and built from there. The scales, dorsal fin, and tail are made of an old bedsheet. The pectoral fins and gill plate are cardboard. The skin is paper towels. I used a yellow-gold paint as the undercoat and a metallic "14k" gold paint for the final coat. The plaque is made of MDF.

The fish body is attached to the plaque using two bolts. The sculpture is designed to hang on the wall like a trophy fish. It is roughly 24" tall and 36" long.

I liked the way it turned out. But there are some things I would have done differently like adding additional textural detail to the tail. To me, the tail looks too plain. Other than that, it was a nice distraction.

Farah Fossil

I completed my Farah Fossil sculpture the other day. It turned out OK. It took a really long time because it has so many pieces. All together, there are 139 separate bones:


26 vertbrae
14 teeth
1 Mandible
1 Cranium
2 Scapula
10 Ribs
2 Femur
2 Fibula
2 Tibia
22 Foot/ankle bones
26 Hands and Wrist
24 Pigtail bones
1 Pelvis
2 Humerus
2 Radius
2 Ulna





I started by making a base and spine shape out of MDF and mounting the spine-shape to the base with two dowels. Each vertebrae was made from foam and afixed to the MDF spine-shape. Then the ribs (cardboard and wire) were added. This was all covered with paper towels and glue. The skull is a large newspaper ball. Each bone was created using either rolled-up newspaper, cardboard, or Model Magic clay. Some bones, like the long bones, are glued in place. Others, are held together by wire.

The whole thing was covered with paper towels, primed with gesso, painted with acrylics and aged with dark brown paint shot through an airbrush.

The Mannequin Project 2005-20??

Studies indicate that a typical American driver does not pay 100% attention to the road. The mind is divided between the minimal amount of skill required to operate a motor vehicle and something else. Hunters may have one eye in the woods looking for the next great hunting spot. Some guys have one eye on the hot chick in the mall parking lot. My wife always seems concerned with whatever is broadcasting from the car speakers. I always have one eye on peoples' trash cans and dumpsters.


In January 2005, while commuting home from work, I noticed a pair of human legs sticking out of a garbage can near the town square of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. I immediately pulled over to investigate. As I got closer to the trash can I discovered that my prayers had been answered. The trash can contained the single greatest item that any hipster, dooface, trash-picker could possibly covet...a mannequin. I was beside myself. I loaded it into the back of my pickup, sped home, and unloaded it into my garage for closer inspection. It was in pretty good shape. It wasn't particularly new. It had a stand. It had both arms. But it was missing both hands. Oh, and it was a female.

The next few weeks were spent deciding what to do with it. The possibilities were nearly endless. Could it become:

• A french maid?
  
• A monster?
  
• A sexy nurse?
  
• A character from any number of movies?

But the answer became obvious. Since the age of about 7 or 8 I had developed what some may describe as an unhealthy obsession with all things Superman. It was clear that my new mannequin needed to become Supergirl.

First thing was to clean it up. Then I got all of the applicable paint colors: blue, red, yellow, and flesh tone. I sprayed the head and legs the flesh tone. It was paler than I had wanted. She looked a little like a meth-addict. But it would have to do.

Next, I masked-off the collar where the costume meets the neck and the legs where the boots would meet the legs. I sprayed the boots red and the torso and arms blue. Those colors looked great.

For the Superman "S," I began by masking-off a diamond shape in the center of her "fun bag" region. I painted this yellow. Using some red foam from the craft store and a razor knife I cut out the outline of the "S" and attached it to the chest so the yellow diamond was the background. This looked pretty good.

Yes, I do have a vinyl copy of Beauty and the Beat

I used black paint and a brush to add detail to the boots.

At this point I was done painting and needed to move on to the fabric. I went to the fabric store and bought some red fabric that matched the paint pretty well. I got enough for the skirt and cape. The problem was I have no idea how to sew. But there was one person who could. My step-mother-in-law is a home-economics teacher. She is very talented at all things crafty and is exceptional with fabric and stuff like that. She said she would help me. She came over and took some measurements and started right away using a portable sewing machine. It was far more complicated that I had imagined and would require additional time. In fact, the cape still is not done yet.

Sewing is Complicated

For the belt, I used a piece of yellow craft foam. I attached it using Velcro. I used more foam to make the yellow "S" insignia that will emblazion the cape, when finished.

While the mannequin is not completed yet, I can still enjoy her company. Once I get the cape finished, I'll take more pictures.

Jar of Buttons

I made a little Screamer* head as a gift for someone. It is for someone who likes sewing and stuff so it is appropriately themed.

*If you don't know what a Screamer is then you should get this book immediately: A Simple Screamer

Breakfast of Champions

I love inspirational movies. A movie that recently inspired me is Better Off Dead. Here are the ways that this movie has inspired me:




1) In the begining of the movie there is a scene where Lane's father discovers that his youngest son has clipped out all of the coupons from the back of the cereal boxes. However, he didn't wait until the cereal boxes were empty. The cereal spills all over the place and hilarity ensues. I like comedy that involves cereal. So I decided to incorporate breakfast cereal into my new paper mache sculpture.


2) Througout the film it is implied that Lane's mother is a horrible cook. One evening she is serving dinner to the family. It is a green, slimy, goo with some suspended matter in it. Shortly after she spoons some onto Lane's plate the goo begins to throb and eventually crawls off the plate and onto the table. I like monster-food. So I decided to incorporate a monster and food into my new paper mache sculpture.


3) In the movie, Lane gets a job at a burger joint called Pig Burgers. Since Lane is not a very ambitious fellow he soon lapses into a daydream while manning the grill. His fantasy consists of a personified hamburger dancing and singing to Van Halen's "Everybody Wants Some" off of their Best of Both Worlds album. I like the singing hamburger and "Everybody Wants Some" is one of Van Halen's best tunes. So I decided to incorporate a singing entity into my new paper mache sculpture.

I used several non-paper based items in this scuplture. These include a spoon, a juice glass, an old milk bottle, and some black hair from an old Halloween mask. I also used real breakfast cereal. I wasn't confident that real cereal would hold up very long despite the large amounts of preservatives in it. So I decided to forgo gluing it or permanently attaching the cereal to the sculpture. I used Applejacks. When I was a kid, in the 1980's, Applejacks where one color: kind of a light-orange color. But now, for some reason, Applejacks also contain some green pieces too. I don't know why they have to change things. Was there a problem with the original color of the Applejacks? Where they not selling well? Has the color change increased sales? I wonder if it is the same reason that they added all of the new Lucky Charms marbits. Anyhoo, I picked all of the green Applejacks out and ate those.

My cat liked his beard

Overall, I am fairly satisfied with this piece. The cereal box turned out OK. It isn't really how I envisioned it, but it is OK. I didn't want the box to be the focus of the sculpture so the minimal amount of detail that I used is probably to my advantage. One thing I don't like is the lettering. In the furture I should probably try and find a good way to make nice lettering.

Here is something cool. While surfing the web for a mail order bride, I stumbled upon another sculpture of Smelly Sally. It is from Argentina. Take a look: Click Here

Domo arigato, Mr. Roy Bot-o

Roy Bot is finished. It didn't go off without a hitch though. One issue was that I used