Re-Run — Or, “have you seen this one before?”

May 14, 2013 by camryn forrest

Repurposing, refabricating, refurbishing and … Re-Run.

This charming little vintage television did not want to be hidden away; it wanted to run out and tell its story again.

“I have NOT outlived my usefulness,” it huffed and puffed. “I can show you Mr. Rogers, Walter Cronkite and Captain Kangaroo and Mighty Mouse! The Twilight Zone, Sherry Lewis and Lambchop, Romper Room and Lawrence Welk! I Love Lucy! Andy and Opie and Aunt Bee. Fireball XL5. A black and white viewing of Wizard of Oz, which does NOT turn into color when the door opens on Dorothy’s house. Follow the gray-brick road, I say!”

Shake “Re-Run” and you will get a sparkle-fall of shimmering dusty static over the adolescent-awkward robot legs. And on the base, an authentic vintage TV dial, dating back nearly 50 years. Watch any of 12 channels, kids, there’s always something interesting on.

Airships, Dirigibles and Zeppelins, oh my!

May 3, 2013 by camryn forrest

What is it about airships, you ask? I have no easy answer. I like the way they look, the adventures they imply, the endless possibilities. And they seem somehow, green, you know? They just putter along with mostly windpower (that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.)

TotusMel was kind enough to feature one of my floating snow globes on her recent blog showing a collection of airships. (Never say “blimp,” it hurts their feelings.) http://totusmelswunderkammer.blogspot.com/2013/05/dirigible.html

It got me thinking: just how many airship/dirigible/zeppelin snow globes HAVE I made? I did a quick inventory from the past few months and it appears if you include hot air balloons, flying saucers, rockets and dirigible as “airships” … well, I’ve done quite a few.

Let’s see …

And then there’s this one, nearly finished.

I call it “Flight of the Warrior Rhino.” Coming soon to a fantasy near you.

Don’t ask. Sometimes these sculptures have a mind of their own.

Launch Party – A Rocket Snow Globe

April 28, 2013 by camryn forrest

Imagine this: a small crowd gathers to see a rocket launch. Dressed in their travel finest, they prepare to be amazed, and perhaps to applaud politely as the rocket lifts off into a grand adventure.

Is it a manned ship, or just a test? Will the soft breeze of a lady’s fan protect her from the afterburn? Or is this launch party just for show?

Three, two, one … we’ll soon find out.

Launch Party snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs 2013

Inspired by Nikola Tesla – Fate Magazine 1949

January 25, 2013 by camryn forrest

In the fall of 2012, I was fortunate to find a copy of a 1949 issue of Fate magazine, which began publishing in 1948 as a magazine chronicling the paranormal as well as scientific discoveries.

While the 1949 issue is no longer in print (and I was lucky to find a copy), Fate magazine still exists and is published as an online publication which can be found here: http://www.fatemag.com/

For those of us fascinated by Nikola Tesla, this particular issue included an article which begins like this: “Contemporary with Edison was another inventor, not so well known, but of the two, the more spectacular. This was Nikola Tesla … ”

As Tesla died in 1943, it intrigued me that he was not well-known at the time of his death, despite his contributions to technology (more than 300 patents, some suspected to be still languishing untested in patent archives). My original copy of Fate magazine was given as a gift (to the person who first introduced Tesla to me), but as many people asked to read it, I scanned the article before gifting. I hope you enjoy it.

And for anyone who expected this blog post to be about my curious snow globes, as is typical, scroll to the very bottom of the page for a small gallery of sculptures inspired by Tesla’s inventions. And to the most recent email inquiry: No, these are NOT working miniature Tesla coils. Nice try. I don’t know what Nikola would think of building an electromagnetic coil inside a 4-inch tall liquid-filled glass orb, but I am pretty sure it’s beyond my technical abilities.

While Tesla has been credited with the invention of a machine that harnessed a mechanism for generating tremendous electrical force, known either as the peace ray or the death ray, depending on your point of view, he also designed and demonstrated a number of inventions typically called “Tesla Coils.” Tesla coils were used to conduct innovative experiments in electrical lighting, high frequency alternating current and transmission of energy without wires. The design of these coils has inspired several of my one-of-a-kind snow globes, which — when shaken — vaguely suggest the power of electrical force through reflective glitter and metal pieces shimmering in liquid.

Tesla’s Workshop, one of a kind snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2012

It’s a Tesla Thing, one of a kind snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2012

Tesla Mends a Broken Heart, snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2012

Tesla Copper Coil sculpture snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2012

Tesla Chained snow globe sculpture, Camryn Forrest Designs 2012

Circular Logic – the snow globe returns

January 9, 2013 by camryn forrest

Circular Logic
has made a round trip.

From Denver to Boston and now back to Denver again,
Circular logic was featured in the
“Celebrating Snow Globes”
winter exhibition
at the Sandwich Glass Museum.

Given its name, it’s a fitting journey.

One definition of Circular Logic is that the answer contains no evidence that is distinct from the conclusion. Circular logic cannot prove a conclusion because, if the conclusion is doubted, the premise which leads to it will also be doubted.

After a lot of trial and error, this is certainly true of this piece. The curious invention appears to go round and round, but always begins and ends in the same place it started. The conclusion is the same as the premise.

What does change is the murky liquid, which glistens with coppery metallic dust
when shaken.
The tiny machine measures just under two inches tall and wide,
and continues in its endless, and meaningless, journey.
Always a round trip. Of course.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Crossroads – perspective on the divergent path

December 26, 2012 by camryn forrest

…

… Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”

When I thought of this poem, and the choices we make in life, I often thought of it literally: did I take the road less traveled when I move to a new city, or applied for a job, or learned a new skill? How about when I met new people and tried to understand their point of view? Should I make selections that others likely would not make? Does one see more or experience more on the backroads of life and not the highways? Does one need to make hard decisions to march away from the crowds to be true to one’s self? to reach new levels of understanding?

And then, with age, came a simple wisdom. As light and fresh as the first snowflake brushing against my face. I realized that the road less traveled by is a matter of perception, not location. If you are in a packed room, but your mind is not trapped there … you are on the divergent path as surely as if you were hacking your way through the overgrown jungle, discovering what only you could see and touch firsthand.

The perception of where you are, and where you want to be, is its own unique path. Or as a mentor once told me, “no matter what, the only thing you always have control over is your attitude.” So the same staircase can be a “path less traveled” for one person and less so for another — if what they each think and feel is perceived differently. One staircase may take you away from pain, or toward love, or into the arms of adventure. It can be sure steps toward your goals, or a place to hide from your deepest thoughts. The same steps may represent bravery and risk, or may be the safe choice. It is not the stairway that creates the path less traveled, it is the attitude and perception of the person walking up, or down, or sideways. It is whether you see yourself moving forward, backward, or pausing before the first big step.

And so we have,
“Crossroads”
– a snow globe with a nod to M.C. Escher,

and a knowing smile to Robert Frost.

It’s all a matter of perception.

Camryn Forrest Designs

Waterglobes and Curious Inventions

Tag Archives: Science Fiction snow globe