Big Red Lips
This is the second concoction in our line of wood sculpture from cut-offs, that is, "pure art" objects of no function/utility, created democratically from cut-offs of cut-offs and designed with the goal of adding joy to other peoples lives. We get great satisfaction out of making items that add zest to the lives of others from materials that many other people consider "sub par". We take a democratic approach to our search for and use of materials. In our new sculpture line, we take it one step further: we are making art from the cut-offs of cut-offs! These pieces are made from the 'scraps' that we created in our own workshop in the process of making other things. We hope people get as much fun out of having them around as we do out of making them.
This hanging sculpture was formed with cut-offs from many projects, the central item being that last thin slice of "lips" from our "RedWood Lips Bandsaw Box". With this as a starting point, the rest of the face fell immediately into place as follows: the eyes are cherry wood and were practice mortise work from our Classic Cherry Toolbox; the nose and left cheek were cut away from a pair of custom red oak wall sconces; the chin pieces were scraps from our Tasmanian Blackwood mid-century lamp; the left eyebrow and right cheek were trimmings from our Quilted Pine Sheep Box (with a tiny scrap of Osage Orange tossed in as eyeshadow); and the right eyebrow is a slice of leftover cake from the Chocolate Layer Cake Bandsaw Box. We even added a Black Walnut beauty mark next to the lips, the result of an experiment with a new plug cutting tool. Underpinning these facial features is a set of four pieces of hard maple. We had a cut-off from our Cherry and Maple Chest (from the legs) which we resawed to create four slices that unfolded to serve as the 'skin' and facial structure. Behind that are four leftover pieces of Beech wood from our Classic Cherry Toolbox, painted black to offset the support frame from the face itself. The black painted frame was assembled with dowels and the maple 'skin' was then attached to it via glue and brad nails. The nails were hidden from view via the attachment of the facial features themselves via glue alone (except for the left eyebrow, which includes an offset dowel for extra height).
With all of the color and grain contrasts and outlandish layout of features, this piece is a really enjoyable spectacle for the eye. The bare wood pieces are finished in a semi-gloss oil and urethane to match the gloss of the acrylic paints. It measures 24" high x 14" wide x 4" deep.