ArtBuzz

Masks from Recycled Shovel Blades: the Face of Spades Series

Inspired by traditional mask designs from all over the world, each Face of Spades carving is made from 100% recycled materials— breathing new life into the atoms of the abandoned.

Shovels retired after a life of hard labor are reborn as playful, intriguing masks— faces peering back as if astonished by their own renewed existence. From whimsical, cartoonish expressions exaggerated for impact, to hauntingly beautiful adaptations of traditional tribal designs, the collection features 24 designs resplendent in their individuality. Stoic or serene, silly or insouciant, their glances enhance the indoors and outdoors alike. A single mask makes an excellent accent piece, but the most exciting display is to group a series of the shovel-mugged characters to create your own custom totem pole.

The tradition of masks has haunted and enchanted the dreams of man for millennia. Rain forests hide glaring eyes and snarled lips amongst twisted vines and water-wet branches as shamans craft faces to protect and faces to defend. Masks of the Far East embellished with their red and black lacquered paints give character to the actors of old and knit the fabric of stories for generations. What do they foretell of your destiny? Will they ward off evil or draw in spirits that bless? Display the Face of Spades series as a single mask, or combine them for a powerful grouped display to embellish fences, deck railings, or even to construct a forest of tree faces. Since the intricate designs are crafted freehand, without the use of guides and stencils, Face of Spades masks each contain their own unique spiritual fingerprint.

Whether a playful grin is more your style or a powerful sneer conveys your message, the Face of Spades series has character abounding. The expressions are drawn from within as if they had lain dormant within the metal for eons. Once exposed to nature's influence they'll turn a rich rust color, a perfect compliment to the flora and fauna that graces their newfound environs.

Since each mask is hand-cut, carving freehand without the use of templates, your mask may vary slightly from the photo shown. To preserve the mask outdoors, it's not a bad idea to spray it with WD-40 once a year or so.

Face of Spades: Masks, Tree Faces or Totem Pole Heads
$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets
$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets
$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets
$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets
$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets	$59 plus S+H. Buy at: 1000 Markets
All Face of Spade Designs © 2009-2010, John T Unger

Folk Art Style Aluminum + Copper Fish Sign

Aluminum + Copper Fish Sign, 2005 Recycled Aluminum, copper and plywood. 51" H x 96" W x 1" D
Purchase Aluminum + Copper Fish Sign for $850 ($750 plus $100 S+H).
This was originally going to be a sign for the studio…  I got this far with it and decided that I liked it better as art. I made it before I had a plasma cutter, so the whole thing was done with shears and a jigsaw. I especially like the way that the copper fin near the gills came out all ripply and dimensional. I had intended it to lay flatter, but the copper got all bent up while I was cutting it and actually looked much better that way. It's pretty common that the best features of a piece will be the mistakes… I could certainly have flattened it out the way I had intended it to be, but so often what makes art be art is seeing the benefit of an error before you correct and having the sense to leave it in.

Haitian Style Merman Recycled Steel Sculpture

Haitian Style Merman, 2006 Recycled steel. 26" H x 8" W x 3.5" D

SOLD

This sculpture reminds me a lot of the graphic style used by Haitian artists who make cut steel art from 55 gallon drums. Which makes me really happy, since usually I can't even touch those cats for raw style. It's just one of those things that can't be faked. I got lucky on this one… it was a piece of steel that was left over from some other cut out pieces I was working on, and I could kind of see the design struggling to get out. So I made a few more cuts, emphasized a few things, threw in a little bit of detail, and there it was.

Little Red Riding Hood Narrative Sculpture

Little Red Riding Hood Narrative Sculpture, 2006 Recycled steel, 8.75" H x 20.25" W x 10" D Collaboration with Mya Smith
SOLD
Little Red Riding Hood is a narrative sculpture that my daughter Mya and I collaborated on. The drawing is hers, the cutting and welding I did. I love the way that she used the tree and the headboard to separate the story into three panels with three scenes. This one was almost the end of the process, because I made her re-draw the woodcutter about 12 times to get more of a dynamic swing to his axe… she was really frustrated by that, but in the end we both felt the results were worth it.
click thumbnail to view larger image.

Atlas World Famous A New Sculpture

Atlas: World Famous, Cut Steel Sculpture
	Atlas: World Famous 75" high x 48" wide x 12" deep $2,800.00 plus shipping costs
medium	100% Recycled Steel from antique cars and factory scrap.
availability	Unique piece, act quick!
price	$2,800.00
S&H	Item ships FedEx Freight. Shipping is NOT included in price! Please call 231.584.2710 or email me for a shipping quote.

Atlas: World Famous is my first large-scale sculpture made using the newly operational plasma cutter to create metal "collage." I'm really digging it… I have plans to do a whole series of similar work based on carnival banners, circus posters, and other pop-culture type images. This is a lot of fun for me because it's a way to go back to my roots in the folk art/pop culture vernacular where I started my art career. I love colorful sculpture and bold graphics, and I really wanted to make some big work for the yard that would be more visible as people go whizzing by on the highway at 60 mph.

The sculpture is 75" high x 48" wide x 12" deep, which means that Atlas himself is pretty much life-size. I'll try to get some pics of me next to it for scale when I have someone handy to shoot the photos. As you can see in the images below, the sculpture is two sided, with the image reversed on one side. Click on the images to enlarge.

 

       

 

Below is the image this sculpture is based on. It's one of my all-time faves… I did an Atlas mosaic in glass and bottle caps a couple years ago, using the same image. The original is from the Mexican Loteria deck, a traditional game similar to Bingo. Teresa Villegas did a very cool updated version of the game which has now been published in in a handsome book. I highly recommend checking out her site devoted to the project, which provides a good deal of background on the game and images. You can also learn more by visiting this website from Boston University on the History of the Mexican Loteria Card Game.

 

Fire-Breathing Dogzilla Sculpture

Fire-Breathing Dogzilla Cut Steel Sculpture
SOLD	100% Recycled Steel from antique cars, rivets, bottle cap. Each of these is a unique, hand-drawn sculpture.

I've always been a sucker for fire breathing acts, and somehow, it just seemed like Dogzilla needed get in on some of that action. But then, I'm also the guy who makes his cat stand and walk on two legs to get her treats and, yeah, the guy that taught his daughter fire breathing last summer. More circus flavored art is in the works, I think. I really like the way this one came out.

Get it now for only $75 plus $15 shipping!

Cut Steel Creature Sculptures

Five of the cut steel sculptures have sold already since I posted them this morning… They went to a gallery owner in Southern Michigan who had stopped by the studio last week.

If you had your heart set on one of the ones that sold, let me know and I'll be happy to try to make a similar piece. They're all hand cut from recycled material, so I won't be able to do an exact match, but I should be able to capture the same style and subject matter fairly closely.

Make sure you don't miss out on future sculpture offerings by subscribing to the blog! Drag this link into your subscriptions to stay up on the latest offerings.

 

100% Recycled Steel from antique cars. Each of these is a unique, hand-drawn sculpture. I photographed them with pennies to give a sense of scale.
SOLD	Little Mermaid 20" H x 24" W $60 plus $10 S+H Based on the La Sirena loteria image. click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Blue Striped Bee 13.5" H x 17" W $60 plus $10 S+H A fun image inspired by petroglyphs. click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Dogs Chase Tails 9.5" H x 11" W $40 plus $10 S+H This dog has caught his tail…Now what? Inspired by a Keith Haring Drawing. click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Funky Alien 15.5" H x 10" W $45 plus $10 S+H Everyone likes weird aliens… I just made this one up. click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	One Big Eye 15" H x 9" W $45 plus $10 S+H I adapted this image from my petroglyph series on luminaries. click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Big Fish 9" H x 30.5" W $50 plus $10 S+H I love drawing fish for some reason… click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Big Fish 24" H x 27" W $50 plus $10 S+H More fun with fishes. click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Little Fish 10" H x 16" W $40 plus $10 S+H Even more fishy fun. click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Dogzilla 24" H x 28" W $60 plus $10 S+H You gotta love Dogzilla. Look out world! I think I'll have to do a firebreathing version soon… click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Alarmist Hedgehog 6.5" H x 13" W $35 plus $10 S+H Yikes! This is how I feel in the morning. click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Happy Little Creature 7" H x 16" W $40 plus $10 S+H But this little creature has obviously had his coffee and is now content. click thumbnail to view larger image.
SOLD	Happy, Funky Bird 12.5" H x 9" W $35 plus $10 S+H Dance the funky bird! click thumbnail to view larger image.