a clown sculpture for the chillins

2007-05-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

well, well. went to the shin-diggery at the selby, and boy are my shins tired! no, seriously, they hurt like hell. i shoulnd't have mocked that child's monkey. no huggie, no 'nanner! anyway, the hotdogs were warm, but the sodas were cold. that's good cuz it was kinda hot and sunny out there for a man all dressed in black, and i ain't talkin 'bout no johnny cash. there were tall clowns, small clowns, goofy clowns and even a sad clown or 2. the artists were photoed for posterity. the photos were 'artisted' for posterity(we signed some posters). all said farewell to their clown buds. next sunday is the final auctioning of our beloved 'uncle maccaroni', as well as all of the rest of those clowny so and so's. bon voyagie, hope y'all make some real buckaroos for the erection of a children's hospice facility here in sarasota. it's black tie so i gotta wear a suit. will i shave? only the shadow knows... perhaps a mohawk with an orange stripe. hmm... but, i digress. it'll be a cool todo with lots of clown chatter and philosophical artistic conversation, and hopefully, ( and i dont wanna sound like a spoiled jerk, but, c'mon!) no hotdogs! if i gotta wear a suit, i don't want to eat a hob-nob ( local reference for all u non sarasotans)! much thanks to my incredibly generous sponsor for providing me with a ticket, by the way! here are a few shots of 'uncle mac' at the sunday farewell party. now my good friend jeff and my parents can revel in thier newfound internet fame. well, well, indeed.

2007-05-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

well, much has happened since last we spoke, some good, some not so good. but tomorrow night begins the end of our clown adventure. i will try to take some pictures to share with alla u special folks out there. to get more info on the blessed events, go to http://www.clowningaroundtown.org/gala.html for the skinny on the big gala next sunday (mama's day!). as for the event this sunday, all i know is that it starts at 5p.m., and goes til 8p.m. have yer photo taken with uncle mac! you may even get on the webblog! worldwide fame will be yours! see ya sunday...(uh, i mean tomorrow..), peace to all,-s.g.

2006-12-09T11:53:00.000-08:00

unkle macc gets da plaque! that iz righteeo my virtual droogies! uncle maccaroni has been christened with an identity placard of hiz very own! so exciting! here are shots of its installation:

2006-11-26T22:18:00.000-08:00

hizz-igh everbodee! after some requests and due to my completely illegible handwriting, i am asked to tell what is written on the signature side of uncle mac. it is thus: "" Uncle Maccaroni" in realistic 3-d! An homage to: Dan Rice, Emmett Kelly, Bozo, R.Buckminster Fuller, Marcel DuChamp, Jack Dowd, Robert Larsen and Chuck Jones. And for: Lee Nelson Guthrie Jr. Nov 7th., 2006 (signed) Steven Guthrie " enjoy! and thanx for the comments. please feel free to leave mo!

2006-11-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

... and with the addition of a little pigment...viola'! and it's all for da chillins! hooray!

2006-11-16T22:19:00.000-08:00

...those bits of clownitude became this...

2006-11-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

...a nice lady named 'lynn' liked the drawing, so hospice sent me these, and a few $....

2006-11-16T22:15:00.000-08:00

so, ladalees and jellybeans, to recap: we started with a drawing. nuttin too fancy...

2006-11-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

gotta say, i freekin called it! whuttupp pee rain!?! what, was yer wierd uncle a 'birthday party' clown who got a little 'touchy-feely' after a few vodkas? made you feel uncomfortable? dirty? so now those clowns gonna PAY! chee-zuss. whatta loser.

2006-11-14T15:16:00.000-08:00

and, of course it wouldn't be complete without a pic of myself, piously admiring my creation...

2006-11-14T15:14:00.000-08:00

finally, uncle maccaroni in his natural habitat: the city hall building at 1st st. and orange av., downtown sarasota.

2006-11-14T15:13:00.000-08:00

oh! the drilling. oh! the screwing.

2006-11-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

here b unka mac, comin down the ramp to be placed on the pad...

2006-11-14T15:07:00.000-08:00

alrighty-odor, here the clown base is being unloaded from said truck by the gentle and courteous folk from hospice.

2006-11-14T15:03:00.000-08:00

well, spank my butt and jump for joy! Uncle Maccaroni makes his official debut in front of the city hall on 1st st. near orange av. here he be waiting in the truck with his freshly repaired clown-homies!

2006-11-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

unka mac all snug as a bug in a rug. strapped in and on his way to the clearcoating. cest la vie, mon cherie!

2006-11-09T18:09:00.000-08:00

a clown sans head, and another one probably doomed to the same dark fate.

2006-11-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

mo pics of finished clown.

2006-11-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

well, the day has come and passed. the boys from hospice came and took 'uncle maccaroni' away. wah. bye, bye unka mac. ya know , with kids, ya do the best ya can and then... out into the real world. so off to the clear coat place in venice on tues. mornin, then to be set out in the mean ass streets of sarasota. no sleep fo me for the next 5 months! anywho, here b some pics from the blessed event.

2006-10-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

hey everybody! no pix today, but soon ma droogies, soon. no, today i want to address the person or persons who have been commiting the clown-molestation, harlequin-desecration, and over all jester-amputations in my sleepy lil town of sarasota.. for ease of conversation and simplification of terms, i will refer to you (or 'y'all') as 'dipstik'. all others may scroll down and enjoy some fine blogging about making this thoroughly mystifying and aesthetically pleasing clown sculpture i call "uncle maccaroni". ahem. dear dipstik, WTF?! are you some purist art-nazi who thinks these temporary statues somehow bring down the cultural 'property-values' of sarasota? is dick vitale freekin picasso? i don't think so. jerry springer the new mattisse? not likely. and even though i think that some of these pieces were definately 'phoned-in', and may not be as visually pleasing as, say, 'memory walk', or 'unconditional surrender'(sarcasm added), the artists took the time and effort out of their schedules to help raise much needed $$$$$ for the treatment of terminally ill children. so, in effect, the statement that your effort is making, dipstik, is that you don't believe that sick and dying infants and children are worthy of the care and treatment that a children's hospice can provide for them. i try to keep this blog family friendly, but really, dipstik; what an asshole. what do you do in your spare time, try to dry your poodle in the microwave? pull the wings off hummingbirds? roll around in your own feces? don't you understand that the more you vandalize these things, the more hospice has to pay this 'clown dr.' to repair them, and the less $$$ they have to build a new children's facility? and repair them they will! and they will return stronger than they were before. but in the meantime, hospice loses all the funding bucks due to repair costs and beefed up security. whoever did this; i know you will be caught. you know you will be caught. dipstiks like yourself can't help but screw the pooch due to lack of cranial horsepower. so make it easier on all of us and turn yourself(selves?) in. slowly, you can learn to love yourself again, and with love comes forgiveness, and with forgiveness,... the healing can finally begin. so get over it dipstik. if you really want to make a statement, try doing something positive with your energy, like building a hospice for sick and dying kids. just a thought.

2006-10-24T00:53:00.000-07:00

oh, man! baby, we is so dangnabbit close that i just wanna es-creeem! o.k., here is the latest wit 1 maybe 2 days left to paint ( barring any unforseen doodads and/or thingys). now with facial close-up!

2006-10-24T00:43:00.000-07:00

thanks to steve pat's magical 'cutzall', i was able to take my internet copy of "acme, 1 ton" ( which i got striaght from a wile e. coyote fan site) and cut out the letter forms( actually mr. patmagrian was kind enuff to do the cuttin) in a beautiful, accurate and timely fashion! cut 'em out, goo 'em up, and stick 'em on. had to leave a bit more room at bottom than 1st anticipated due to the fastening system they chose for these tings.

2006-10-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

up 2 date pix of uncle macc!

2006-10-18T21:12:00.001-07:00

hey every one and i mean the one or maybe two of ya out there who might b checkin this oot. this is uncle macc todate. still need 2 get the base finished but need s.p.'s machine to do it. tomorrow, he says... all good. the face and hands still need finished, but hat, daisy, coat and shirt are close, pants are 2/3 way there. below that comes this weekend if i have work, thurs-fri if not. white knuckle time, boyz n grrlz!

2006-10-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

2006-10-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

i like to use a lot of complimentay color in the underpainting. then i go from the darker areas to the lighter ones. unless i determine that another approach is needed...

2006-10-09T22:56:00.000-07:00

uncle macc'simuss; primed!

2006-10-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

a long final sanding and application of epoxy-putty( sum veddy x-pensive shizzle!).

2006-10-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

2006-10-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

2006-09-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

2006-09-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

2006-09-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

let that brew overnight and then CAREFULLY remove the alginate mold material. and there you have it, my hands as art. a quick acetone bath to wash away the goppy gunk that's left over from where th water based mold matter was in contact with the chemical based resin. allow to dry. grind off any bubble 'warts' w/dremel tool, and fill any missing parts with epoxy putty. now they're ready to get prepared for attachment to mr. maccaroni.

2006-09-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

next we pour a mixture of casting resin and hardener in a lite mixture so as not to kick too quickly causing stress fractures and weakening the structure. roll the pour around as well as can b to try and eliminate air bubbles, missed digits, and illegal immigrants.

2006-09-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

once the mold has hardened, or 'kicked', i slowly start woking my digits loose from their slurpy prisons. jus a lil at a time and...viola! an odd looking bucket of hollow oatmeal!

2006-09-29T22:29:00.000-07:00

THE MAKING OF THE HANDS. found a couple med size buckets and mixed up some powdered alginate with kelp fiber for added strength. stuff sets up quik so i stick my hand in and pray to myself that i got the pose correct.

2006-09-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

uncle aggamemnon

2006-09-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

alrighty-odor my peeps! gotta say that i missed ya'll whilst my hardrive took a major dukey last week! 145 gigs of grade-a data.....-poof-...gone. wah! lesson: always back up yer stizz-uff or it goes bye-bye. sionara baby. anywho, i is back and almost ready to post about the making of the hands, but i have much sanding to do. so here am a coupla pix of the beard going on and a few other tings to edify my existence ( actually got some work this week so as to increase the possibilities of groceries in the fridge!) artistically speakin. enjoy!

2006-09-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

the pants have their stripeses!

2006-09-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

wassup folks? look at the pretty flower i found at the luxart. silk impregnated with the essence of goo. almost ready to be put together as a pleasing whole.

2006-09-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

now we are striping the legs! first lotsa sanding ( of course!), then, a nice coating of the gooo. next we dip pre-cut strips of 2" wide fiberglas into the goo, taking it out whilst squeegie-ing the excess goop between fingers( please wear gloves!). then, gently but firmly, apply strips to pants. allow overnight to kick. next, get out the old dremel tool w/ the diamond incrusted taper bit and trace out the stripes. and a good time is had by all!

2006-09-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

2006-09-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

yes,yes,yes! i found the everluvin camera! yay! here is most recent pix of the clown we now call " Uncle Maccaroni". yes that is the title, and yesa, he is a yankee doodle dandee. i have layered his pants with a thick fiberglas matting, as well as the hat. and on the hat i offset the texture of the matt w/ stripes and stars made of fiberglas cloth stips. then i grind and sand. next i will do the same for his trouser legs. man, oh man, i is so far behind schedule on this baby! i forgot just how much sanding was required, and just how little time 15 min. is til liquid turns to a blob of gelatinous glop. a completely unusable blob of gelatinous glop! but i have determined that the perfect amount of workable resin is about 8oz. at a time, this way it all gets used with little wasted. and that crizz-app ain't cheap, baybee! about $22 a gal @ the fiberglas store, $30 at home despot. so far i've gone thru aboot 4 gals with no end in sight ( wait, what's that fuzzy dot at the end of the tunnel? ). so check out his groovy hat and sanded self , next week we cast and mount the hands! whooo, exciting! can't wait.

2006-09-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

heyoh there kiddoes! i seem to have misplaced my lil ol camera l8ly, so i have to tell ya, i still been sanding, gooping, layin on cloth and mat, and generally making life more itchy and sticky! love it baby! got most of the hat, coat and pants glassed, and am workin on the rest this week. also, am thinking of titling the piece 'maccaroni'. still not sure tho..

2006-09-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite t.v. personalities, Steve Irwin (the crocodile hunter) was killed today when a sting-ray barb pierced his heart. r.i.p. mate. my condolences to the irwin family on their tragic loss. he was a great conservationist and truly a unique individual. he will be missed.

2006-08-29T23:02:00.000-07:00

check out the snazzaroonie bow tie! much thanks to the salvation army, and superglue gel. oh, boy! oh, boy!

2006-08-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

and just to show i havent been a complete and total slack-jaw, here is some jacket sleeves in perfect 3-part harmony. right now im trying to start sealin up the body w/resin and fiberglas cloth. everythying needs to be solid and watertight!

2006-08-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

the black and whitey version of the bene poster! come and see da show...

2006-08-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

large mammal iza playin a benefit show for the family of jaimo guertin. da gig go down on sundae, sep. 10th. at about 4:30 p.m. and lass til 2a.m. 11 other bands means mucho entertainment! rafflin, drinkin, dancin and did i say drinkin? hope to seeya rot there.

2006-08-23T17:36:00.001-07:00

2006-08-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

WE HAVE ARMS!!!

2006-08-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

so then we must have cuffs!

2006-08-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

well, well, well. we now must resituate the arm trajectories.

2006-08-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

also today i gots to my man's nose enlarge-ment, and hat-goopin', just like mama used to make... for the nose-enlarger i used a microphone windscreen that mystically expanded (quite a bit!) when added to the resin.finally after some trimming and a rubberbend, tah-dah! (yeah, whutevah)

2006-08-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

today i filled in some of the wrinkles and hollow spaces in the upper part of the clown using magic stuff, which is TRULY, magic stuff.

2006-08-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

here is yankee doodle and some brother jonathan cartoons, both of which were partialy inspirational for the early versions of uncle sam. meatpacker sam wilson was the original uncle sam, stamping his war of 1812 rations U.S..

2006-08-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Dan Rice was quite the character. beginning his professional life as an assistant horse trainer and jockey at the age of 6. became a clown and animal trainer. eventually worked his way up to own the circus, becoming p.t.barnum's only true competition. his style of humor was never cute and zany, but more like will rogers or mark twain. i s'pose it was only natural that his next move was into brief political forays, up to and including running for president of the united states! he was a rock star of his day, and definately one of the inspirations for this piece.

2006-08-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

the first 'official' appearance of uncle sam was this 1916 recruitment poster by Montgomery Flagg. the character was based on the Yankee Doodle and Brother Jonathan political cartoons, and the real-life character of Dan Rice, President Lincoln's "court jester", and good friend to both honest Abe and confederate president Jeff Davis.

2006-08-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

clown w/topcoat and tails

2006-08-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

c'est la vie, little rock-coat, u will b missed...BTW, next week: history lesson!

2006-08-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

okee-dokee from tha okeefenokee, today is gonna be a toughie. today is 'coattails' day( duhn, duhn DUHN!). today i sacrifice, for the sake of art and a higher purpose, my ringleader coat from my old "hard-rockin' days with my fellow magicians( er,um, MUSicians...same diff.) 'Turning Wheel"( karma-la, scott 'gibby' gibson, tom 't.c.' campbell, mark 'bass-whore' basehore and myself). hence the uber cool skull w/ wings and red rose monogrammed on the back by my ex, maggie( former stitch-mistress of hagebeck & wallace). so many nights spent sweatin like richard simmons in that baby, watchin all the young girls dance at places like the main st. depot, monterey deli, b'wana bob's rhino room, monique's artist pallette, boar's head lounge, downtown events and even before the fireworks on fourth of july! ahhhh, them was the daze! hopefully, adding this coat to the mix will help bring some of that mischievious gleeful joy into the piece! now to tear off the sleeves..... so difficult thru the tears. TEARS OF JOY BAYBEEE!!

2006-08-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

woo, woo! the shirt is on! we do a lil modifixin, a lil shape-a-fyin, and viola: our young, headless, armless friend has dun got hisself a shirt! and what is this ringin i hear in my ear? it's my good friend slosh calling to invite me to go see steely dan up in tampa. the fates smile (joy)! stuff's gotta kick anyways....(heh,heh!) see youse kids afta da show!

2006-08-10T23:36:00.000-07:00

allrizz-ight, the pants ahve healed up nicely and it be time to give our homie a shirt-type covering. we repeat the steps and goo it up and slizz-app it upp!

2006-08-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

i feels like marcel duchamp and bucky fuller all wrapped up into one big creative ball! after saying good bye to my lovely yet practical electric stapler, i wondered (this is me wondering)" just what can i use now to make my life a better place for the world to live in?" then it hit me: a siple drill/driver will probably do the trick! i'm sure i'd seen something like it on mcgiver! so off to home depot i went, credit card in hand and tail betwixt my legs, i humbly shuffled into the tool department. there on the shelf she sat. like a vision of modern utility. a medium priced, corldess, rechargeable electric drill/driver! oh joy! oh rapture! but, of couse, safety first! so i took it home and wrapped it in plastic to keep the sticky mess from stickin to my fine new tool. then, to adhere the pantfront to the sculpture in just the right fashion, i used 1" drywall screws to attach. was tricky at first, but once i gots the hang of it, i was able to finish with a much lower degree of frustration then when the chemistry ate my stapler.

2006-08-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

it would seem that my evil plan appears to be working. yes! the resin has hardened nicely, and i may now proceed to step #2...the front of the pantaloons! repeating steps 1-25 on previous page, i layout pantfont, crank up music, mix, slather, slop, squeegie and slap those tings right into place!

2006-08-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

safety first!

2006-08-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

2006-08-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

2006-08-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

2006-08-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

day 1, gotta stay focused on the task at hand. 1st tings 1st. repirator, lots o' gloves, paper-suit-in-which-to-sweat, glasses, hat, ipod, big honkin fans, tolls, materials, all check. get into gear, get the stinky. says 1% hardener to resin...hmm, no one told me there would be math involved! anyhow, i close my eyes and settle on an amount. about a squirt to blop ratio. mix, mix, mix! keep mixing! ah, ah, ah, still more mixing! about 3 minutes later...your done! now i carefully lay out the back or 'rear' part of the pants onto cardboard strategically placed on the ground. i then take my small bucket of steaming, bubbling ooze and pour it out, alil at a time, and squeegie it thruout the material. ipod crankin now, i lift the pants off the ground and sling them, casually yet gracefully, across our hero's glutious. then i take a staple gun and attempt to staple said pantaloons into place. quite a disaster. the resin was too hard, and the staples couldn't get a purchase. eventually i got the trouserbacks where i wanted them, but not without saying bye-bye to a very nice electric stapler. alas poor stapler, i knew thee well...

2006-08-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

gonna go from this pile of the rawest of clown material, this heap of raw clown-ness, and tranform it into-(drum roll please)-this fine 'uncle' clown w/ 'sacred' rubberchicken (artist's rendition)! think i got til mid september to pull this off... BUT IT IS FOR THE CHILLINS!!! gotta b strong.

2006-08-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

2006-08-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

after recently returning from my vacation in the smoky mountains, i recieved my clown blank and $$$check from hospice and headed for the fiberglass store. the cat at the f. store was very friendly and informative, and i had a buttload of questions as it has been probably 20 years or so since i worked with the itchy stuff. but now there aint no g.d. excusees so it b time 2 get out the saw, drill, respirator and dentle tools and get my buttocks to work!