The Great Rainbow Trout

We went down today and installed the great big fish onto the reed structure. Thanks for all the Help from Durenda, Steve, Sam, Jeff, and Amy. It took all of us to move the great fish to its temporary home in front of the Rubinkam Gallery and Studio. With the pods installed, I estimate its weight around 250 lbs. Mid september will move the sculpt to Bridge Water Place in Grand Rapids, for Artprize 2010.

Rubinkam Gallery Commission - Trout Sculpture

It is done! It took a bit longer than originally thought, but I finished late last night. We delivered the sculpture this afternoon for the event tomorrow at the gallery. Holland Sentinel. I'll post up some pics tomorrow once the kids have installed the paint pods. Here are some pics of the fish getting prepped for the pods. Once all the pods have been installed we'll mount it to the reeds.

Rubinkam Trout Sculpture - Art Prize

Had a great weekend working on the fish. It's progressing nicely. The kids came into the garage and said, "Dad, that is one big fish. We can pretend we caught it!"

Rubinkam Gallery Commission - Trout Sculpture

Rubinkam Studio Commission - Trout Sculpture

Tonight I began the layout of a trout sculpture for Rubinkam Gallery in Douglas, MI. The colored pods (molds) are actually left over acrylic paint mixtures from gallery owner, Steve Rubinkam. These pods represent over 20 years of paintings. The pods will be bolted on with stainless steel bolts. The sculpture will be 3D, made from stainless steel, and will rest on a metal structure made up to look like underwater reeds, or seaweed. This will be a very fun build! I'll post more pictures of this build as I get further into it. The pictures above are preliminary layouts. The sculpture will measure 12' in length x 8' in height.

The sculpture will be able to be viewed on Saturday, June 19th, at Rubinkam Gallery in Douglas. I'm planning on using this sculpture for Artprize this year in Grand Rapids! I'm in the process of securing a venue right now. More later....

New Work...

What happened to Fall? It seemed to fly by on us. I've been ultra busy working on some custom commissions the past few months. I'll be sharing them in the coming days once I get some pics uploaded to my PC from my camera. This latest sculpt was of a Viking. The sculpture measures just over 15" wide and stands ~24" tall. I was given a pic by the client to work with. The sculpture is on a stand, but can be taken from the stand and mounted on the wall if desired. This was a fun build for me. I love the experimentation aspect of working on a new design. Sometimes you start with one idea, which in the end may have changed several times to get to the final product.

Trout Wine Rack

I made this trout wine rack last night. I like it so much, I'm planning a series of racks with various fish species. This one is modeled after a rainbow trout - one of my favorites. The piece is 30" long and has been clear coated. Each piece is numbered, signed, and dated on the back.

Propane Tank Luminaries

Above are a few tank designs I made here this past weekend for the market. They're made from old 20 lb propane tanks. They make very unique gifts. The tops are hinged, and there is a drainage hole in the bottom. Place a candle, or light inside and you are ready to go. Tanks can be customized in any way - Names, dates, addresses, images, etc. If you have any tanks you'd like to donate, I'd be happy to take them off your hands! Enjoy. Thanks.