and here is what he had to say:
"HELLO...
Thanks so much for your interest in my work... I am so happy that the
spinning wheel is being passed around on fiber arts websites and blogs. I know it is a tight-knit community. (HA!... I just made that up, but it's probably very stale for you...)
My wheel is made of over a hundred separate hot-sculpted glass components, fitted and cold-fused with an archival UV-curing adhesive and steel hardware. The wood is mexican cocobolo. The piece can be dismantled for easier transport. With the distaff, it is 60" tall. It took me about three months of 8-hour days and many sleepless nights to complete.
To be perfectly honest, I am more interested in the mechanics of spinning wheels and the metaphors that may be inferred by such a well-respected craft than the act of spinning wool itself, which I have only seen done, never done myself. My wheel can be treadled in a normal and comfortable manner, and string which has been threaded on the bobbin and flyer will certainly take many several twists per inch. The model and it's proportions are all taken from Eric Corran's book, Understanding the Spinning Wheel", pg. 168.
While I am not certain of it's overall efficiency, I do believe it will spin wool... I can't wait to have someone try it!
I saw this quote, right after I finished it, coincidentally, which rather succinctly sums up the otherwise ambiguous reasons behind my creative impulse:
"EVERYTHING CAN HAPPEN. EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE AND PROBABLE.TIME AND SPACE DO NOT EXIST. ON A FLIMSY FRAMEWORK OF REALITY, THE IMAGINATION
SPINS, WEAVING NEW PATTERNS." -August Strindberg, from "A Dream Play", as interpreted by Ingmar Bergman in "Fanny and Alexander".
Thanks again for your interest, and I do hope you will continue to pass
the image and my website along to your friends!!
-Andy "
and he later sent another email saying:
" Hello Laritza...
You are the only person who has contacted me who is brave enough to ask
about it's price. The retail price from the last gallery it was shown in,
here in Portland, was $12,500. Pricing for items like this one, unique to
the world as far as I know (the kind of item I strive to make), are
difficult to put a value on...
-Andy"
2 comments:
Oh, just ask him for a free test drive, er, spin. You know, like test-driving a Maserati.
What a well-spoken artist Andy is! How nicely he explains his creative impetus, and how fascinating that he was not just interested in representational interpretations of the wheel, but also concerned himself with the functionality of the wheel. Sigh. Such excellence and drive is so rare. I am at a loss for words, a serious problem for a writer. Blue skies!
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