Anglerfish! Part 2.

Here is a custom-ordered Anglerfish (yay Etsy!) that I made recently. It lights up with an LED in the antennae.

Here's a behind the scenes of making it. The teeth are my favorite thing to create.
Click the image for a large version.

It glows!

Song:

The Glow - RJD2

Celebrate the Odd and New Sea Creatures.

My Etsy shop has been featured on the delightfully quirky blog Celebrate the Odd! Thanks, Guys!

Also in Etsy news: I've made more plush sea creatures for my Etsy shop. With smaller versions of the squid and jellyfish, plus a new octopus. These ones do not light up, but they are much more child-friendly, and are intended to be toys, not lamps.

Song: 

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea - George Harrison

"It's Enough to Make You Go Crazy!"

Over the past year and a half, I've had so much fun playing music on CHIRP Radio. One of my favorite parts about DJ-ing is creating playlists based on themes and playing requests. Here's my Madness show, broadcast on 6-23-11. 

Brain Coral. ( EL Wire and Fabric, 2008).

11:57AM [REQUEST] Syd Barrett Dark Globe from The Madcap Laughs (Capitol)

11:53AM Ryley Walker The Dome of Many-Colored Glass from The Evidence of Things Unseen (Plustapes)

11:49AM Dan Mei & Marc Johnce My Life On The Crazy Train Sucks (So What?) (Kelly Clarkson vs. Ozzy Osbourne vs. Pink vs. Daft Punk) from Best of Bootie 2009 (Unknown)

11:44AM [REQUEST] The Flaming Lips Brain Damage from The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side Of The Moon (Warner Bros.)

11:40AM Helado Negro Globitos from Canta Lechuza (Asthmatic Kitty)

11:35AM [REQUEST] Blondie The Tide is High from Autoamerican (Chrysalis)

11:33AM [REQUEST] Kid Cudi Trapped in My Mind from Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (Dream On/GOOD Music/Universal Motown)

11:27AM Guster Center Of Attention from Lost & Gone Forever (Reprise/Wea)

11:24AM Cults You Know What I Mean from Cults (Columbia)

11:19AM Handsome Boy Modeling School The World's Gone Mad (feat Del The Funky Homosapien, Barrington Levy and Alex Kapranos) from White People (Elektra)

11:14AM [REQUEST] Bruce Lash Psycho Killer from Prozak for Lovers II (Bruce Lash)

11:12AM Devo Mind Games from Something For Everybody (Warner Bros.)

11:07AM F***ed Up Turn the Season from David Comes to Life (Matador)

11:05AM [REQUEST] The Ramones I Wanna Be Sedated from Road to Ruin (Sire)

10:59AM Death Cab for Cutie You are a Tourist from Codes and Keys (Atlantic)

10:56AM Rick Rizzo and Tara Key Insanity Stomp from Double Star (Thrill Jockey)

10:52AM Bon Iver Calgary from Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)

10:46AM Battles Ice Cream (featuring Matias Aguayo) from Gloss Drop (Warp)

10:43AM Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse Insane Lullaby from Dark Night Of The Soul (EMI)

10:41AM The Beach Boys I Just Wasn't Made For These Times from Pet Sounds (Capitol)

10:36AM Brett Dennen Feat. Femi Kuti Make You Crazy from Hope For The Hopeless (Dualtone)

10:31AM [REQUEST] Against Me! How Low? from Searching for a Former Clarity (Fat Wreck Chords)

10:27AM Canasta Slow Down Chicago from We Were Set Up (Broken Middle C)

10:22AM Mates Of State Like U Crazy from Bring It Back (Barsuk)

10:18AM Givers Ceiling of Plankton from In Light (Glassnote)

10:16AM [REQUEST] Ryan Adams Nervous Breakdown from Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three(Sanctuary)

10:14AM Seapony Always from Go With Me (Hardly Art)

10:11AM Man Man I'd Rather Go Blind from I'd Rather Go Blind (Single) (Unknown)

10:07AM [REQUEST] Lindsey Buckingham Go Insane from Go Insane (Reprise/Warner)

10:02AM The Rolling Stones 19th Nervous Breakdown from 19th Nervous Breakdown (Single) (Decca)

10:00AM Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Touch the Sky from Bulletproof Brass (ChoiceCuts)

9:57AM Booker T. Jones Crazy from The Road from Memphis (ANTI-)

9:53AM Smoking Popes Freakin Out from This is Only a Test (Asian Man)

9:48AM [REQUEST] The Avett Brothers Paranoia in B-flat Major from Emotionalism (Ramseur)

9:44AM [REQUEST] Suicidal Tendencies Institutionalized from Suicidal Tendencies (Frontier)

9:40AM Janelle Monae Tightrope (feat. Big Boi) from The ArchAndroid (Bad Boy)

9:36AM [REQUEST] The Magnetic Fields You Must Be Out Of Your Mind from Realism (Nonesuch)

9:32AM Sondre Lerche Living Dangerously from Sondre Lerche (Mona)

9:27AM Weezer Undone - The Sweater Song from Weezer (Blue Album) (Geffen)

9:22AM Sukhwinder Singh, Nisha, Vishal-Shekhar, Caralisa & Marianne Dard-e-disco from Om Shanti Om (T-Series)

9:18AM Wanda Jackson Nervous Breakdown from The Party Ain't Over (Nonesuch)

9:16AM [REQUEST] Madness Madness (Is All In The Mind) from The Rise and Fall (Stiff)

9:11AM Vetiver Can't You Tell from The Errant Charm (Sub Pop)

9:06AM [REQUEST] Bright Eyes At The Bottom Of Everything from I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (Saddle Creek)

9:03AM [REQUEST] The Missing Links You're Driving Me Insane from Driving You Insane (Half A Cow Aus/Zoom)

8:59AM Pixies Where Is My Mind from Surfer Rosa (4AD)

8:54AM The Avalanches Frontier Psychiatrist from Since I Left You (Modular)

Census of Marine Life

In the past month I sold both the anglerfish (on my Etsy page) and the squid. Pretty exciting!

I'm having a lot of fun making these bioluminescent fish, and really enjoy working with small, malleable lights, like the EL wire. It's given me some more ideas for underwater creatures; I'm currently working on a design for an eel.

I've also been perusing the Census of Marine Life for new discoveries. It's fascinating to learn about everything from the inhabitants of the coral reefs to the deep-sea dwelling fish that inspire these lamps. There's also so many different sub-divisions that go well beyond 'starfish,' & 'jellyfish.' Check it out!

Songs:

The Collected Works - A.C. Newman


Under the Sea - Squirrel Nut Zippers

Bioluminescent Giant Squid.

I made a giant squid out of fabric that is going to light up with EL wire. I love the versatility and portability of EL wire despite it not being as bright as neon. The battery pack for the light can be velcroed into the body, and the legs are posable. I'm planning on using turquoise EL wire, similar to the plush coral I've made before.

Pre-Lights.

Light Rendering (Day View).

Light Rendering (Night View).

 

Final Squid.

Songs & Videos:

Giant Squid - RJD2

C'mon Sea Legs - Immaculate Machine

Circles, Lines, & Balloons - Ashley Harwood & Jason Hackenworth

The most challenging shapes to make while bending neon are circles, due to the exact geometry and the need to evenly heat and shape the glass over a small ribbon burner, which is about the length of a keyboard. This is why I am bowled over by Ashley Harwood's neon circles. And these are not tiny loops, these are enormous, multiple tube works. They look like celestial shapes, planets, and galaxies. In this piece, 1.66782048x10^-9, (made in 2007,) there are 10 transformers powering this sphere.

We are the Light that Travels into Space (2007).

The other artist whose work has captivated me this week is Jason Hackenworth. He creates enormous creatures entirely out of balloons. Some of them are even interactive and wearable, but most are blown-up (ha) sculptural replications of tiny microbes and sea creatures. This piece is called Ecstasy of the Scarlet Empress, (photo via NY Times).

Songs (YouTube):

Red Rubber Ball - The Cyrkle 

Blue Light Red Light (Someone's There) - Harry Connick, Jr.

Blue Light - Bloc Party

Red Light - The Strokes 

A Balloon On A Broken String - The Boy Least Likely To

99 Luft Ballons - Nena

So This Is The New Year...

Fruit-Lettered Greetings. Good Tidings & Good Eatings. Let's see what the New Year has in store.

Videos/Songs:


The New Year - Death Cab For Cutie

Fruit Machine - The Ting Tings

New Ways of Living - Lavender Diamond (HypeMachine)

P.S. Finished reading, now time for drawing for Illustration Month.

Stuffed Shrimp

I am making a jumbo shrimp light. It is a plush shrimp that will have EL wire sewn onto it.

Here is the shrimp before adding the light:


"Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood Mama)" - The Andrews Sisters (Youtube)
(The Fats Waller version is pretty nice, too.)

Fruit Monster!

This is a fruit monster I made for my friend Sarah's Birthday. His name is Archibald. He is vicious, delicious, and very nutritious.