Rochester Mini Maker Faire 2016 Preview: Maker Kid

I will be presenting a new project for my third year at the Rochester Mini Make Faire on Saturday, November 19th, from 10 am to 5 pm at the Rochester Convention Center. Year one and year two were awesome, and I'm very excited about this year as well.

This year I am doing a project I am calling the Articulated Paper Creature Mash-Up.  That's a mouth full, but what is means is that you can come to my booth, stamp an image of various body parts of a character on cardstock, cut them out, and assemble the character with brass fasteners to create a poseable/jointed/articulated paper doll.

Oh, you mean like a paper doll that my grandma used to play with?  Well, sort of, but not exactly. The characters and creatures are not just little cute little girls with pony-tails.  The characters are from other local artist's imaginations.  You can build a single character, or mix-and-match pieces together to create a brand new creation.

I will highlight each character over the next few days.

The next character is Randy Duncan's Maker Kid.

Randy Duncan is a illustrator, sculptor, painter, and probably other hidden talents I'm unaware of because he always dazzles me with his talent.  When I asked Randy about collaborating on this project, he had Maker Kid drawn up within hours, and had sketched out all the body parts individually in the next 24 hours.  Randy is extremely productive, it isn't uncommon to see his new work on a daily basis on his facebook feed.

I asked Randy for a masked superhero type character, with long limbs.  I had seen illustrations he had done of Spiderman, and his version of Spidey reminded me of the work of comic artist Eric Larsen's version of Spiderman.  Long, thin limbs, that bend at almost impossible angles.  Randy hit the nail on the head in his first draft, with a boy like character, with a mask, cape, and long legs.  It was in Randy's second draft he gave our masked kid a mohawk.  That was a great addition, as it really cleaned up the design around the head, to highlight those long arms and legs.

I will confess, I am a not too subtle fanboy of Randy's work.  He is part of an artist collective called "Dude's Night Out".  The DNO exhibit work across the city or Rochester, and also exhibit at the Rochester Mini Maker Faire.  I got to know Randy through arts+craft shows, but I have seen his gallery shows at Roc Brewing Company, Record Archive, and several other openings around the city. I have several of Randy's illustrations in marker and watercolor hanging in my studio that serve as inspiration to continue to hone my craft.  I even have a swing top bottle covered in skulls and creepy worms he did as a commission for me to hold beer (or moonshine).

I am super pumped to be able to share Maker Kid (prototypes pictured) with the Maker Faire visitors, and spread the word about the artistic talents of Randy Duncan.

Vending Machine Project Part 2

 The vending machine restoration has begun!  Today I decided to start working on the exterior cosmetics of the machine. I targeted the small dents and sanding projects.

I began be taking out the interior mechanism of the vending machine.  There are really just a couple screws holding things in place, so this was elementary.  I downloaded a schematic of all the parts of the machine for future use reassembling, and I also took lots of pictures on my phone of all the parts before I took everything apart.

After the inside guts were gone, it was time to try to tackle the two small dents that are on one of the side panels of the metal housing.  I saw on YouTube that one tip to removing dents was to heat the metal with a hairdryer or heat gun to warm the metal first.  I did this then hit the dents from the inside on a wood spacer to distribute the force of the hammer.  Honestly, it did have some impact on the dents.  I didn't get the dents out completely, but by feel I could feel a that the dents were lessoned.  I can live with a few dents, it is a used machine after all.

After I finished with the dents, it was time to begin sanding.  I made sure to get a mask on before I started.  I had bought one along with a nice 3M sanding block that was about 100 grit.  I started on the bottom to see how it would work, and it was great at roughing up the old paint and removing any corroded parts (which are not much at all).  The sanding went great, and I got all the sanding done, inside and out, of the main exterior metal housing.

Next session I'll sand the top piece, which is also painted red at the moment.  Then I will clean it all up with mineral spirits to prep it for painting.  So what color is it going to be?

I really want to make it look like a vending machine for JackBear Stamps, so I'm going with my dominate color in my logo and branding, so it will be GREEN!  I also plan on painting the text from my logo on the sides panels.

Stay tuned until next time!

Vending Machine Project Part 1

Back in April of 2015 I came across the idea of selling art in a vending machine.  I don't know if something came across one of my numerous social media feeds, or if someone mentioned it in a meeting, but the spark of the idea took light in the tinder in my mind.  Since then I have been finding other similar projects others have embarked on. I also started trolling Ebay until I found the machine I wanted.  But I shouldn't get ahead of myself.

A great resource on art through vending machines I found at Callithump.org.  This blog has a great history page of other vending machine art projects over the last century.  Through their history page I learned aboutthe largest "art in a machine" projects: Art-O-Mat. Art-O-Mat machines can be found all over the US.  Each machine is a reconditioned cigarette vending machine that dispenses art in a cigarette pack, usually at the $5 price point.  Each machine itself is a work of art.  Out in Chicago, the Busy Beaver Button Company has been doing a Button-O-Matic project since 2002.  Using a toy capsule vending machine to sell buttons seemed like a natural fit.  I also reached out to the Vending Arts Project in London, Ontario.  Janine Wass said that the project wasn't a huge money maker but I love the idea of greeting cards through a repurposed snack machine.  And these were just a few I found!

With so much inspiration to draw from, I began bouncing ideas off my friends and family.  I began brainstorming idea.  Should I put mini rubber stamps in a machine, or buttons, stickers, or all of the above?  What would be the topic; mythical creatures, food, candy?  What price, 50 cents, $1.00? So after much thinking, and watching Ebay for a solid machine at a good price, I pulled the trigger.  I am now the proud owner of a Northwestern capsule vending machine that dispenses 2" capsules.

So the machine is mechanically solid.  It came with a 50 cent coin mechanism, but I will likely replace this shortly with a $1.00 coin mech (four quarters).  The paint is chipped in a few places, and it has a few dents, but I have been watching some YouTube clips and plan on giving it a nice facelift with a new color.  The plexiglass (polycarbonate) face has some scratches that I will try to buff our, or replace if necessary.  The machine can sit on a table right now, but I might add a wooden stand for it to sit on.  So after a little tender loving care, I'm sure it will be looking as good as new.

So what is going to be IN the machine?  What will come out of it?  Stay tuned....

Mayday Underground April 30th

This will be my third "Mayday Underground" event! The first two have been smashing successes that I am really looking forward to this one. It's April 30th, from 10 am - 4 pm.

What I love best about this arts and crafts show, is the wide variety of artisans at the show, and the knowledgeable crowd that frequents it. Amanda and Casey do an incredible job organizing and executing this show, and this time around we will be at the Main St. Armory at 900 E. Main, Rochester, NY.

I have lots of my usual correspondence stamps (Air Mail, Snail Mail, Owl Mail), as well as some of my "LOL stamps" (brb, h8r, omg, etc.), "man stamps" (tools, westerns, beer), horror/goth stamps (Vincent Price, zombie, Creature, Godzilla, etc.), as well as a big selection of bird stamps.

Did I mention this is going to be the biggest Mayday yet? Around 90 vendors! I doubt it will be this big again. This is going to be a fun day of shopping. I'm going to have a hard time not trading all my stamps away for other great art!

See you all there!

ArtAwake: "Rochester in Rubber"

ArtAwake is another one of those shocking events for me. Let's role play for a moment. I am pitching an idea to you. Here's the idea: I want to have an art event that shows fine art, interactive art, and musicians, all from the Rochester community, and I want to find some old abandoned spaces in the city to use for the event, and I want to get dozens and dozens of student groups to sponsor it, some that have very little to do with art, and I want to throw this incredible party. Oh yeah, we'll throw some food and drink in there too.

Sounds crazy. Sounds unlikely. Sounds brilliant. This is Artawake.

This is the fourth ArtAwake. I was a spectator at the first, and I have to say, I was blown away. I couldn't believe how many people were there. And not just students. There was a real cross section of the Rochester Community there, wandering around this old warehouse, looking at art, dancing to music. It was nuts.

So when the idea floated my way to enter some art this year, I got kind of jazzed to do it. I got accepted, and "Rochester in Rubber" was born.

What is "Rochester in Rubber?" I tried to take some images that are iconic to Rochester, and capture them in a rubber stamp. I have created a display of those images, and some of the stamps. Images include Susan B. Anthony, the Kodak Tower, a lilac. To go along with the visual, we have an interactive component. We have a big rubber stamp of a front of a postcard that says, "Greetings from Rochester: ArtAwake)." You can stamp this yourself, and take the postcard home with you as a souvenir of the night. Attach a stamp and mail if you want.


When I heard about a week ago that I couldn't mount anything to the wall, I rushed to make a display that could be self standing, and luckily my savior and friend Brian came up with a design and helped to execute it with his Valhalla of power tools. Of course, this took hours and hours of time to assemble, and I owe the luxury of this time to my wife Laura for helping keep everything else a float last week. Big hugs and kisses!



So, I hope you can come and check out ArtAwake on Saturday, April 16th, from 3 pm to 1 am in the Alliance Building, 183 E. Main St., Rochester, New York.

Bears and Brews

When I sit down to have a cold beer, I want one that is different.  I want one that is crafted in small batches.  I want one with unique flavor.

This is how I look at my hand carved rubber stamps too.  I want to have different stamps, that are unique, and made in small batches.  I want to make them with my own two hands.

What better way to celebrate them both than  at "Bears and Brews" on Friday, April 1 at Crocus Clayworks studio in Suite 225 in the Hungerford Building at 1115 E. Main Street in Rochester, NY, from 5-9 pm.

I got an email in January from the fine potters at Crocus Clayworks asking me if I would be interested in being their featured guest for one of the the First Friday openings that they have each month at their studio.  A one man show, now how could I say NO!  I met with Marie, Sabre, and Jennifer and worked out the details.

What can you expect when you come to the show?  First, you get to explore and shop.  The Hungerford Building is an amazing place of artist studios, and just wandering the halls is an adventure in itself.  But at Crocus Clayworks, you will find me, all my stamps for sale, all of the wonderful pottery from Crocus Clayworks.  Secondly, we will have beer!  I'm a big proponent of trying to buy local, and I try to drink local beer when I can, so expect different beer from a local brewer (no Bud for me).  There will also be some light snacks, something sweet and something salty, and a raffle for a prize basket.

Those who have been to one of the craft shows I have been at know that my stamps range from a flock of birds, to portraits of historic Rochester figures.  This year, I'm putting a real effort into making stamps with masculine qualities: Man Stamps!  I think "Bears and Brews" will be the perfect place to debut some of these new designs.

Can you tell how excited I am about this event?