Cycling Salamander Unveiling A Smash Hit!

Yesterday was the official unveiling of the Cycling Salamander sculpture. Chet came over in the morning to help me lift the piece onto it's bearing assembly and steady it while I welded it together. We loaded the piece onto his trailer and he zoomed off to get the gallery ready while I gathered up the tools for the installation. When I arrived at the gallery he was just about giggling as he told me about looking in the rear view mirror and seeing the propeller on the beanie spinning madly behind him. He said he felt like he was gonna take off into the air.

Chet and Rebecca had decided to mount the sculpture in the yard rather than on the roof. This turned out to be a good idea, since people really enjoyed being able to look at the piece up close during the Open House. Plus, it's really fun to spin... It's like a great big toy! Here's a photo of the piece installed, before I finished the painting. It was too foggy to paint it the night before. The paint just refused to dry.

 

Okay! All ready for the unveiling. The morning fog lifted, and we had the first really nice warm day of the summer. I probably spent at least an hour just spinning the piece in between various chores while we waited for the crowd to show. There's something really magical about kinetic pieces. The bearing assembly for the rotating axis worked like a dream... it was so smooth that even a light breeze sets the piece in motion. I had been worried about the bearings for the propeller, which I had machined on my drill press, but they worked great also. The hat makes a cool rattling noise when it's spinning, as if to warm you not to bang your head on the big red arrow. You know, in case you didn't see the 8' 9" base spinning towards you...

Here we are lifting the veil... Chet and had to think a bit to find a way to drape the piece that wouldn't damage the propeller. This was the first time I've ever actually had a proper unveiling for a piece. It was really fun, but I think next time I'll make a really huge piece of flash paper to cover the piece and unveil it with a big burst of flame and smoke. After all, I work in steel... what's it gonna hurt?

Some of the onlookers in the garden in front of the gallery... The garden is worth a visit in it's own right. Every time I go to the gallery it gets prettier.

Someone, perhaps picking up on my flash paper thoughts, ran to their car and brought out sparklers for everyone and passed them out around the freshly revealed sculpture.

The proud Daddy. I've only been awake for about 29 hours in this photo...

Here's a few more photos of the finished piece. It kind of reminds me of the scene in ET when viewed against the sky.

To see a movie of the wind rotating the sculpture on it's axis, click here.
To see a movie of the propellor beanie in action, click here.