Part Eight: "Artistic Aurora"

This next post is a brief focus on one of my favorite artists... Carrie. She really is a creative genius and her talent flows throughout this project.  We have a creative process between us, usually me with crazy dreams and ideas and Carrie bringing those crazy dreams and ideas into perspective.

Here we are on one of our Outdoor Adventures to somewhere...





When you bend plywood around curves things don't always turn out as round as you would like. Here is Carrie, doing her thing, sanding and shaping the radius to make it just right.

Typically I'll sketch ideas on paper and Carrie will bring them to life.  Her design abilities are amazing to me.  I had this vivid memory of a Space Boy on an old 1950's Anchor-Hocking drinking glass from my childhood that was super retro and nostalgic. I've always liked things from the Mid-Century, Atomic, Space-Age era.  I made a few sketches and she created something beyond my expectations. Oh, and of course, the Space Boy had to have a Space Girl to keep him company... I love the way she thinks!  This drawing kind of defines the theme for the camper and we will use it strategically throughout the build...



I love advertising from the 50's and 60's and this really represents that for me. Spacey and nostalgic!  Great job Carrie... You captured that feeling I used to get as a kid every time I looked at my Space Boy!  

Another thing I felt was a "must-have" for this build was nostalgic metal emblems like you would find on an old muscle car.  I didn't want vinyl graphics, it had to be a lot more vintage than that. So again, I imagined some lettering and Carrie brought it to life.  Now keep in mind that neither one of these projects happened overnight. Basically it's me saying, "could you change this a bit?" And Carrie doing her magic...and this goes on for a few months. I agonize over the details and she kindly makes the adjustments to the project. Towards the end, it's me saying, "could you correct this line right here?"  And Carrie rolling her eyes and wondering why she ever got involved with such a crazy, obsessive-compulsive perfectionist!  But she always makes it happen and for that I am always grateful.  Thanks Carrie for your patience with me and our Art!  

Here are the emblems.  After hours and hours of design we turned the program over to our friend Topher who used a waterjet to cut them out of aluminum.  Great work guys!





After the pieces were cut, we bonded multiple pieces together to form a 3-D drop-shadow look, then painstakingly painted each piece by hand to end up with something truly one of a kind!  







Special thanks to the creative people in my life that help me turn dreams into reality through their generous donation of time, energy, talent, skills and self...


Dan Watts, CAD Genius


Topher Beyer, Metal Art Guru


Matt Adams, Visionary, Master Craftsman, Problem Solving Prodigy

 
Kent Smith, Long-Time family friend, Woodcraft Artisan



Kevin Smith, Faithful Friend, Everything Electrical, Extraordinaire 

And of course, Carrie Beth... 

Artist, Designer, Computer Expert, Perpetual Perpetrator of Peace, My Sweet Cosmic Light, whose creative expertise, design skills, never-ending patience and beautiful smile I could never live without!

And that's it for our Artist Spotlight!  Come back again for the next installment! 

As always follow us and leave a comment so we know what you think!

Happy Creations!

Michael and Carrie