DudeCraft Flickr Pool Round Up

NHL papercut by Hand Pecked

JJ Johnson papercut by Red Raspus



Friend in Me papercut by Annie

If you've got pictures of your latest project that you'd like to share, please post them to the DudeCraft Flickr pool. Who knows, they may just appear right here on the front page.

Snowfoot Car

We got six inches of snow last night. For the South, that's a big deal because, well, we're ridiculously weak when it comes to the white powdery stuff that comes from the sky. In a northern city, this would be considered "light" snowfall. Here, it's the Apocalypse. Unfortunately, I have to get out and drive in it today, which would be a lot easier if I had one of these.

Via English Russia

Black Paper - The Work of Daniel Sean Murphy

Rachel just turned me onto the work of Daniel Sean Murphy. I'm digging the beautiful, black flora he does, but I'm loving the microscopes and cuckoo clocks too. Nice!

via Twig & Thistle

Gang Green

Designer Hafsteinn Juliusson has created a series of rings that amount to eco-friendly brass knuckles. Maybe now I'll finally remember to water my plants or, alternatively, develop my long-awaited "Deadly Moss Punch"!!

via The Blog is Mine

Paper Luminosity - The Recent Work of Rob Ryan

I've been a fan or Rob Ryan's papercuts for some time now. I dig the style and inventiveness his displays when wielding ye olde x-acto knife. So, when I recently visited his blog to see what was new, you can imagine how knocked out I was by this Christmas piece he did that is on a background of electroluminescent paper. Awesome!

Cholo Chairs

I love Cholo Chairs! Nothing like a little furniture vandalism to brighten up the home. See the gallery here.

via NotCot

Game, Set, Match

I'm digging on these match head sculptures by British artist, David Mach. I imagine you'd want some sort of asbestos display case if you owned one though. Many more pictures here.

via If It's Hip, It's Here.

Keep Calm and Carry Yarn

A crafty take on the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster that was so popular last year. Hats off to Etsy seller jenniegee for coming up with this. Love it.

via BoingBoing

Pollutacuda

One of our favorite sculptors, Jud Turner, has updated his site with some brilliant new pieces, including the one pictured above. I'm totally digging on the dieselpunk aesthetic.

via Dark Roasted Blend

The Orange Tequila Sunrise

In general, I think that the modern bicycle needs very little improving, and every time I see a rendering or prototype of a new concept bike, it's usually stomach-churningly ugly. I have no such qualms with Jason Battersby's Orange Tequila Sunrise. What it may lack in function, in more than makes up for in style. Whoo-wee.

How to Crochet a Granny Square

Pip, from Meet Me at Mike's and Make and Meaning fame, has been busy making videos and step by step instructions on how to crochet a granny square. These little buggers are fun to make and are an excellent place to start for beginners. Pip's videos are very clear and feature enough repetition so you can really "get it", even on first viewing. Great resource. Thanks, Pip!!

Your Letterpress Wedding Invite is Nice, But...

Have you made an action movie trailer? Yeah, I didn't think so.

via Neatorama

Cat and Mouse

Kate sent me a link to artist, Jeff de Boer's amazing site this morning. Not only does he make some crazy armor for cats and mice, he's also got a sizable portfolio of other metal work, both large and small. Definitely worth a look. Thanks Kate!

Straight Line Design

While I'm not a big fan of whimsy, there's something about the furniture from Straight Line Designs that made me smile. The Beaver dresser is my favorite by far. Some of the other pieces look like function may be an issue. Fun stuff though. More pics here.

via NotCot

Dot Dot Dash Dot

I'm digging on this Morse code puzzle box by Lucas Fragomeni. The user has to "telegraph" a password using the button on the front and, when successful, the box unlocks itself. Very cool. And, hey, a nice looking box as well!

via Make

Radiating Beauty

Emma Whiteside made this incredible gown from discarded automotive radiator copper for the 2009 World of WearableArt show. Wow! 200 hours of sewing went into this bad boy. Incredible!

via Craft

Kid's Night in the Studio

The other day, Sharon's little sister (we both volunteer for BBBS of America) announced that she would like to learn how to sew, but she didn't want to take a class. Luckily, we have an app for that. A plan was hatched, fabric was selected, and we all had a ball, making this simple shoulder bag. Sharon's little sis did 100% of the cutting, ironing, and pinning and about 90% of the sewing. I had to step in and sew some of the lining, but not much. I think it turned out great.

Geisha by Two-Twelve

Geisha from two twelve on Vimeo.

Here's a short, sweet, time-lapse stencil video from artist, Two-Twelve. Not only is it illuminating in terms of technique (cheesecloth!), the soundtrack might cause you to get up and dance.

via Wooster Collective

Bulletin Board Bling

I've been looking for a small cork board for the studio for awhile. Everything I saw was either too big or too ugly, or both. Finally, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make the 12 x 12 model you see here. I picked up a roll of cork at the big box craft store, drew up a pattern, and got busy with the X-Acto knife and some spray paint. The result works perfectly for the small bit of wall space I have left and I think it looks pretty dope. What say you?

Jacket/Bookmark

I'm digging on this dust jacket/bookmark idea by designer, Icoeye. Seems readymade for a DIY treatment the next time you gift a book to someone, right? Right.

Many more at the link.

via SwissMiss

OCD Inducing Jewelry

I love this jewelry collection by Lillian Pau that is designed to induce OCD-like behaviors in the wearer. Plus, who doesn't want a bracelet made out of switches?

via NotCot

Pop-Up Kinetic Wall Sculptures

Thomas sent me a link the other day to this amazing site with video of dozens of these pop-up-style wall sculptures by Kristine Suhr. I'm having some difficulty finding out more about them, but they appear to be made of wood and hand painted. Also, they're awesome. Thanks, Thomas!

Amazing Jet Pack!!

This will, undoubtedly, be high on my Halloween costume list for this year.

via Gizmodo

Prison Art

I got to thinking about prisoners the other day and how hard it must be to be a creative person in that situation. Why? I don't know. My mind wanders a lot. Anyway, my curiosity lead me to Prison Art, run by an ex-political prisoner who brokers art for people who are still on the inside. Some of the work is pretty fantastic, and all of it is, at the very least, fascinating.

Dust in the Wind

Ujin Lee's collaboration with Tom Edwards on a project simply named "Dust", is nothing short of breathtaking. I love the shot in the museum. Lots more at the link.

via Neatorama

Jesus on Toast!!

No, it's not a new expletive I've coined. It's an art project. This from the site:

"British artist Adam Sheldon recreated Jesus’ crucifixion using some pieces of burned toast and a scraping knife. His work of art is now on display at the Anglican Church of St Peter, in Lincs."

Read the whole story here.

Blow Up - Bamboo Accessories

I don't know about you, but I see some DIY possibilities in this collaboration between alessi and the campana brothers. Probably one of those things that's a lot harder to execute than it seems on the surface. Still, cool, very cool.

via Design Boom

Machine Lights Redux

It seems that Frank Buchwald has been busy. It's been a few months since I checked in at his site and there are several new and stunning examples of his work that have been put up in the interim. I love Frank's work because it sort of belongs in a category by itself. It has a nice balance between a vintage and a modern feel and between industrial and a sleek, decorative sensibility. What ever you call it, it's damned cool.

Making Flippy Floppy - The Work of Nick Gentry

Paintings using cassette tapes and floppy disks? Yes, I am digging it. You can see tons more of Nick Gentry's (cool name) work over at his website.

via Wooster Collective

Indelible - The Engraving of Jason Dumars

I love hold-outs. You know, the lone gunslingers who refuse to let an art form die and do everything within their ability to breathe new life into it. Dreamers, optimists, crazies. So, when I got an email from Jason Dumars with some tasty photos of the instrument engraving he does, I was intrigued. Then, when I took a look at his Flickr set, I was blown away.

This from Jason:

"When I was young, I saw a photo of one of the old engraved instruments and it set my heart on fire. I started drawing the patterns literally every day, sometimes for hours. I doodled them on every scrap piece of paper I had, and even tried some primitive engraving using a sharpened screwdriver on my own sax. In 2002 I saw an auction on eBay for engraving tools and I bought them to see if I could do it for real. I taught myself how to hand engrave through trial and error and some very serious injuries. Since that time I have been able to do some famous player's horns, and even some limited edition things for instrument manufacturers."

 

Thanks for sharing, Jason!
You can see more of Jason's work here.

Killian's Story on NPR

Those of you who have been following this blog since last Summer, know about my buddy Killian, the 16 year old ukulele genius who succumbed to cancer in August. There was a nice piece on NPR today, featuring Killian's Mom and Laurel Masse from The Manhattan Transfer, that tells the story of Killian's record that he made before he passed. The story is now on the web and you can find it here.

The Tale of Elektro the Robot

Sometimes, stumbling through the internet can be a wonderful thing. For instance, I hadn't started my morning intending to read anything about the 1939 Worlds Fair or early robotics, but that's where I ended up, and I'm glad I did.

In my wanderings, I discovered the story of Elektro the robot, a marketing gimmick that ended up being a triumph for the Westinghouse engineering division. In 1924, looking for a way to convince the general public that electrical appliances were the wave of the future, Westinghouse assigned it's engineering department to come up with the first working robots. Their early attempts were fairly primitive, with the most advanced of the examples, Willie Vocalite, possessing movable arms, rudimentary speech, and the ability to sit, stand, smoke and fire a gun. Finally, in 1938, under the supervision of J.M. Barnett, the engineers designed their masterpiece, Elektro; a walking, talking "motoman" that was able to obey vocal commands from his operator.

 Willie Vocalite

"Using a combination of vacuum tubes, photoelectric cells, telephone relays and a 78-rpm record player, the 7-foot-tall, 300-pound Elektro performed tasks that astounded audiences across the country. He could walk of his own volition. He could count with his fingers. His photoelectric eyes could distinguish colors. He “smoked” cigarettes, using bellows built into the back of his neck. Properly situated, he could play the piano. And he had a limitless vocabulary, as long as he was supplied with fresh records (a local Kiwanis club used him to tell dirty jokes at their meetings). People tended to refer to Elektro using “he” or “him,” rarely “it.” His metal face had a strange wistfulness, a wise resignation to an immortal life, that made him seem more than machine."

Elektro was a huge hit at the 1939 World's Fair and thereafter enjoyed a twenty year career, hawking Westinghouse products, until his final appearance in the 1959 film, Sex Kittens Go To College with Mamie Van Doren, in which he played "Thinko" the college's super computer.



Disassembled in 1960, Elektro seemed destined for the scrap heap but, through a series of lucky events, all of Elektro's parts were found, cleaned and reassembled for an exhibit of early robots, in which he was the star, that ran until 2007 at the Mansfield Memorial Museum in Ohio.

You can read the entire account of Elektros life, death, and subsequent ressurection in this excellent article from The Cleveland Free Times. It's a much more in-depth account than you'll find here.

Other resources:
amateur film of Elektro at 1939 worlds fair (he appears at 15:30)
Tales of Future Past - David Szondy's Site
New Scientist Magazine

Pyrography - Two Dudes Drawing With Sparklers

Tobias Kipp and Timo Pitkämö were looking for a way to cash in on the tourist trade that the Weimar region was enjoying in the late 90s, and subsequently became the only practitioners of a new artform, Pyrography. Although they had somewhat of a rocky start, with portraits catching fire and such, they've persevered and have now made a living for the past decade, doing what they do. You can check out the whole interview with them over at Environmental Graffiti.