Monday, October 31, 2016
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Friday, September 23, 2016
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Down in the Dumpsters
I went shopping in the dumpsters of B-town again while on a morning bike ride. These are the treasures that I found in the trash.
1. A display mannequin neck.
(It will be great for displaying Wingnut Bike Works hand made jewelry on.)
2. Some small painted canvases that I will reuse.
3. A USB charger and backup battery pack.
4. Art eraser.
5. Assorted jugs of artist paints.
(Whoo! Hoo!)
6. An artist pallet.
7. A large white artist canvas.
8. Assorted cans of high quality spray paints!
9. One of those large, white plastic folding tables.
10. More assorted can goods.
11. A couple of nice Hoodies and an old trench coat.
12. A large artists easel.
13. A heavy duty spotlight with a red filter.
14. Some wire storage racks.
15. A stack of stereo equipment and high quality speaker and electric cables
It wasn't my largest haul, but it was a really sweet one. I get super stoked when I score any kind of art supplies from the trash.
Then we come to the REAL score, FREE FOOD!
I only shop in the best dumpsters of B-town to stock my cupboards, and boy what bargains I find. There was canned veggies, beans, soup and Tuna. I also picked up a number of packages of rice, pasta, mac and cheese and more than a few pizza kits. Why spend money on expensive multi-vitamins and dietary supplements when you can get them for free? Then there were the sweets like organic pancake and waffle mixes, full jugs of peanut butter, cooking oils and sprays, hot chocolate, protein supplements, packs and packs of Ramen noodles, huge assortments of teas and yes, lots of free coffee including this Death Wish coffee and matching mug.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Everything from paper towels and toiletries to a fresh set of threads can be obtained for free from societies waste if you just dig around in the dumpsters a bit. Now hit the power button on this device and go RiDe YeR BiKe!
1. A display mannequin neck.
(It will be great for displaying Wingnut Bike Works hand made jewelry on.)
2. Some small painted canvases that I will reuse.
3. A USB charger and backup battery pack.
4. Art eraser.
5. Assorted jugs of artist paints.
(Whoo! Hoo!)
6. An artist pallet.
7. A large white artist canvas.
8. Assorted cans of high quality spray paints!
9. One of those large, white plastic folding tables.
10. More assorted can goods.
11. A couple of nice Hoodies and an old trench coat.
12. A large artists easel.
13. A heavy duty spotlight with a red filter.
14. Some wire storage racks.
15. A stack of stereo equipment and high quality speaker and electric cables
It wasn't my largest haul, but it was a really sweet one. I get super stoked when I score any kind of art supplies from the trash.
Then we come to the REAL score, FREE FOOD!
I only shop in the best dumpsters of B-town to stock my cupboards, and boy what bargains I find. There was canned veggies, beans, soup and Tuna. I also picked up a number of packages of rice, pasta, mac and cheese and more than a few pizza kits. Why spend money on expensive multi-vitamins and dietary supplements when you can get them for free? Then there were the sweets like organic pancake and waffle mixes, full jugs of peanut butter, cooking oils and sprays, hot chocolate, protein supplements, packs and packs of Ramen noodles, huge assortments of teas and yes, lots of free coffee including this Death Wish coffee and matching mug.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Everything from paper towels and toiletries to a fresh set of threads can be obtained for free from societies waste if you just dig around in the dumpsters a bit. Now hit the power button on this device and go RiDe YeR BiKe!
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Punk Tees
When I was a kid growing up concert t-shirts were part of my daily attire. As I began to listen to more independent punk bands I discovered that most of them did not even have a tape or record available, let alone any merchandise or Band T-shirts. So us kids decided to make our own.
I remember swiping a bunch of those clear plastic sheets that were used in overhead projectors from my middle school to cut stencils on. Us kids would sit around smoking low grade marijuana while listening to crappy cassette tapes of our favorite punk bands and draw out what we thought were the most rad designs ever to promote our musical idols. Then using a razor knife that I had pilfered from my step-dads toolbox we would proceed to slice and dice us up some stencils from the clear plastic sheets for the projector. With a little spray paint and practice all of our old stained and torn t-shirts were transformed into kick-butt band shirts! Also, since we used spray paint, the shirts lasted longer than most of the Band Shirts that we had bought!
Years later I would graduate to an air-brush and create lots of cool shirts as well as murals on cars, boats, motorbikes, and even a train. I think that I owe that time I spent behind an air-brush to those old DIY spray painted band shirts that I made as a kid. Now I have went full circle and am making old school DIY punk style spray painted T-shirts. Mostly, I have been just giving them away around town here to the people I meet on the streets, but I think that I might throw a few out in the Etsy shop for $5 bucks a piece and see if anyone is interested.
The above shirt is one I sprayed using an original stencil that I designed to be used to create some canvas artwork, but I think it looks great on a Tee as well. You can find the original artworks at the Etsy shop .
Thanks for stopping by, now get off of the internet and go ride your bike!
I remember swiping a bunch of those clear plastic sheets that were used in overhead projectors from my middle school to cut stencils on. Us kids would sit around smoking low grade marijuana while listening to crappy cassette tapes of our favorite punk bands and draw out what we thought were the most rad designs ever to promote our musical idols. Then using a razor knife that I had pilfered from my step-dads toolbox we would proceed to slice and dice us up some stencils from the clear plastic sheets for the projector. With a little spray paint and practice all of our old stained and torn t-shirts were transformed into kick-butt band shirts! Also, since we used spray paint, the shirts lasted longer than most of the Band Shirts that we had bought!
Years later I would graduate to an air-brush and create lots of cool shirts as well as murals on cars, boats, motorbikes, and even a train. I think that I owe that time I spent behind an air-brush to those old DIY spray painted band shirts that I made as a kid. Now I have went full circle and am making old school DIY punk style spray painted T-shirts. Mostly, I have been just giving them away around town here to the people I meet on the streets, but I think that I might throw a few out in the Etsy shop for $5 bucks a piece and see if anyone is interested.
The above shirt is one I sprayed using an original stencil that I designed to be used to create some canvas artwork, but I think it looks great on a Tee as well. You can find the original artworks at the Etsy shop .
Thanks for stopping by, now get off of the internet and go ride your bike!
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
2016 PA Cigar Box Guitar Festival - LIVE
Wishing like hell that I was there. I am going to take some of Wingnut Bike Work's stinged things there next year even if I have to pedal them there on my bike!
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Cluttering up the Works.
Greetings good peeps, and welcome to the Works. It is in this small two room studio in Bloomington, Indiana that I create all of the unique things that are featured at Wingnut Bike Works. That includes the stinged things, such as diddly bows and cigar box guitars, that I hand craft utilizing recycled materials and old bicycle parts.
The Works also serves as my artist studio where I enjoy painting when I get the down time to do so. I love the location, as it sits right on "restaurant row" in the central downtown area but space is always an issue in such a small place.
Oh, and did I mention that I also repair and build bicycles at the Works? This is another challenge when it comes to actual work space at the Works.
Then there is the always rotating inventory of stock that is continually coming in from my daily dumpster diving excursions. Thankfully I have Larry (the furry blue guy) and Rosco (the roadkill raccoon) to keep an eye on things for me.
Despite their efforts, however, those two are no better at getting rid of clutter here at the Works than I am as my "office area" will attest to.
Drinking dumpstered coffee and admiring my chaos, I decided that it was time to clear out some of the clutter in the Works and in my life.
Just take a look around and you will see what I mean. For instance, I have an ever growing collection of cheap sunglasses that I have found in the dumpsters over the past year or so.
Any one who knows me at all knows that I am hardly ever caught without a pair of these babies on, but I am starting to think that I might have a few too many pairs right now.
Additional to my own art work that is hanging and stacked all over the place, I also like to keep a few pieces from other local "street artist" on my walls. The above piece was done by a homeless guy known as "Artist Will". It was done on half of a broken door. I love it!
Even the T.R.E.A.M. garden I am working on out in back is getting a little cluttered. So I took another swig of mud and began to get to work on getting rid of all the things that are cluttering up the works. By the time it started to get dark out I had made some real progress.
To celebrate, and to help get rid of some inventory that is taking up space, I decided to throw a big sale in the online Wingnut Bike Works Etsy Shop!
Of course I have fresh clutter as of this morning, but isn't that just life all over? So if you are reading this then help me out by going to visit the online shop and taking some of my awesome clutter off of my hands? Sorry, but Larry and Rosco will not be for sale! My jewelry and art and unique stringed things will be however and I slashed the prices on everything to get it out the door.
Thanks for stopping by! Now go put something fun between your legs and RiDe YeR' BiKe!
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