final stretch

It's now the final stretch with only 8 days until my show!  Here's what I've been up to for the past couple of weeks.

giant cinder coffee table mold

after the pour

dissolving foam with acetone

the little guy got  steel casters

round ottoman lounge, just painted and waiting for cement cushions

cement cushion mold

blue pigment!

yum!

fun!

And the announcement card:

cinder blocks & lace

most recent piece = heavy as sh** extruded cinder block table

mounting lace on mold 

the mold might even be more interesting than the table 

prepping the mold

the work site and 600lbs of materials

dustyn does the heavy lifting

had to rent a mixer for this one!

great view from above, almost done

Unfortunately the table took a turn for the worst... it cracked because it couldn't shrink properly within the mold.  So I tried a little surgery (see below) but decided that re-pouring the table is the best option.  This time it will include a more structural rebar skeleton.

cracked table with lace 

and finally... NO LACE!!!

more concrete

Attempt #2 at casting concrete in fabric...

It was a little easier removing the fabric this time as I chose a less porous fabric to work with, but it's still getting smashed between the folds.  It am hoping that the remaining fabric will burn out when I torch it, but we'll see.  (Side note: when I went to buy the propane tank a salesman asked me if I was going to cook meth with it...  who are they hiring at home depot?)

the base in parts

the mold

manipulating fabric in the mold

Jon snapped this while I was trying to remove the fabric

bad photo but almost finished

button tufted concrete

This is my second attempt at casting concrete, trying to make it look like upholstery.  I posted process photos of an earlier project but it didn't turn out so well :(  Rather than working from a found piece of furniture, I made this one from scratch.  I created a tufted bench in Rhino (3d software) and then pulled the negative from that and cut in on the CNC.  I then took textured fabric and gathered the areas where the buttons would be and then stitched it up around a box.  I poured concrete into this mold and shoved the plywood base into the concrete while it was still wet... it's not going anywhere!  This probably isn't making much sense, I will post more process photos as soon as I get back from holiday vacation.

This is the mold:

Unfortunately the fabric did not pull off as well as the samples, so I torched it while Vince pulled with all his might and some vice grips!

Thanks for walking by and taking some photos Shane.

 Vince and I mixing concrete for a different project.  Looks like I'm just supervising his hoe-ing skills, but don't let this fool you... I mixed 3 bags myself and was incredibly sore the next day!!  Thanks Vince :)

Thanks for the photos Matt.

bday camping

All I wanted to do for my birthday was go camping... so I did!  We went to Idyllwild, CA up in the San Jacinto mountains and it was a blast although really short (I can't be gone from the kitties for too long or they may die).  I ate thanksgiving leftovers and a TON of smores, drank a little too much, tripped on a log, cut my leg and smashed my nose with a hula hoop!  Luckily Dustyn took oodles of photos.

he found harry potter's wand

led hula hoop

nose smash

To top it all off, Dustyn surprised me with a cake that he made to look like cat doodoo and put it in a litter box (new and clean).  It's a combination of vanilla cake, chocolate cake, pudding, cookies and tootsie rolls.  It was really weird eating from the box.

work in progress

Currently I am casting upholstery.  Took one of my favorite chairs (which was ruined by Ranger) and am casting the backrest, seat and arm rests in concrete and setting them back into the chair frame.

Next I will make the 2 part mold, pour concrete and then figure out how in the hell to get it back onto chair!

Upholstering with carpet is really hard... but I went ahead and did it anyway and hand stitched it all together.  The chaise needs a few changes: I don't like the way it spills onto the floor, the rug underneath needs to be larger and there will be no carpet under the seat.  Some progress photos and where it sits at the moment:

And the cats!!!

plasticat bed

I want this my cats wants this:  kitty meow by Studio Mango