Horsing Around

Hey people, I've officially become "the man" (as in workin' fo). My new shop is so pleasant though. I feel so lucky to be able to do something I love in my own way. Independence has always been my primary driver (alongside creativity).

Yesterday I started the little horse that's been in my head a while. I actually dreamed about it a while ago. That happens sometimes-- I dream about a sculpture or sometimes even words. I'll wake up and be like, "vociferous huh, I think that's an actual word." Then I'll go look it up and work it in somewhere.

It's probably hard to see what this is, I don't know. (you can click the pic for a bigger view) It's easy for me to see the parts that aren't done yet as simply fill-in-the-blank sections that I just have to keep putting steel around. Not surprisingly, this little horse is behaving badly, getting ready to kick. I like depicting the two sides of horses as I see them. All they really want to do is relax- stand around and eat, but we put them to work, make them wear a bunch of equipment, do what we say, carry us around. They have ways of rebelling, showing attitude. Stay tuned.

Stuff like spending two half-days on a little horse I won't be able to sell for much is one reason I'll probably always only be a thousandaire. I don't care though. I have to make what I want. I'm having so much fun with this one he may get a few friends.

The first part of my day yesterday, before starting the horse, was spent at the local auto body shop digging through their scrap dumpster. Score! Two hoods in nice colors for tag necklaces and who knows what else. I could see a blue dog... The people there were really cool so it's a good lead for more free steel in the future. I'll probably start working with this today. Once I see how it cuts and how thick the steel is it may give me other ideas.

One thing about my job-- bad hair day? maybe just a poorly-drawn-head day? No problem! First of all, I have no coworkers, so no one sees me-- in fact, if anyone did see me, I'd pretty much look like a storm trooper anyway.

It's felt really good getting back to welding. It's so totally different than writing (although I love that too and am still at it). The whole coming up with ideas part is similar, but the actual welding is miles apart. I just crank the tunes (and since I'm in the middle of the woods where no one can see or hear, jam out unrepentantly) and use my tools.

I'm not mechanical in the same way guys are. I'm not good at talking about it or understanding it on that technical level (as you may have gathered from the SuckWOW posts). I've been around other welders and when they talk about amps and volts etc and all the technical aspects of it I kind of blank out even though I've been through welding school and had to force myself to "get it" at one point. That's not my preferred way of thinking. When I'm alone with my stuff, I just know.

I know exactly what I'm doing, how fast to move, or slow, what angle to hold my arm at, how stuff is supposed to sound. This is one of those things no one will probably get but me but my favorite types of welds are the really tricky ones where something doesn't quite meet up and you have to bridge a gap or fill a hole without burning the material away.

I just know how the steel acts, and it feels good to feel proficient and use that part of my brain.