Wooden Bike Chain- Almost 40 years later!

I went to RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) and while there I majored in sculpture. Wood was my material of choice. (I still love it. Just check out my Pinterest Board on Wood!) I spent long hours in the furniture woodworking lab making anything but furniture. Not totally true, I did do some furniture design. But mostly I was enthralled with wooden machines.  I designed and built a number of them and my most successful was a large wooden, operational bicycle chain.

I had meticulously handcrafted and assembled about 10 feet of wooden chain links and two gears.

The entire apparatus got mounted on a wall and it was fun, participatory art.  Here I am 39 years ago demonstrating the finished sculpture.

The story continues. My wooden machines inspired my husband David to explore the concept further. He suggested I make them move on their own. I bounced the idea back to him and encouraged him to explore the concept and a couple of years later, Wood That Works (and my husband's career) was launched. He has combined his mechanical knowledge with woodworking and taken the idea to levels far beyond. (Link to complete history here.) 

Meanwhile the chain fell into disrepair and was reduced to hundreds of pieces in a brown paper bag hidden in the storage room. Recently, David requested that I refurbish it so it could be mounted in the entry area of the gallery space in his studio. This weekend, I approached the task, disassembling the entire thing, re-sanding and gluing it all back together.

We mounted it in the stairwell entry and now, when people ask how he got started in his unusual career, he can point directly to the early inspiration!

Bicycle Chain by Marji Roy • 1973-74

Life continues to be a fun, unusual, collaborative and creative journey! Truly unique and very special.

Previous links of Interest:

• Wood That Works Photography
• Wood That Works Sign
• Organizing David
• Live-Edge Desk

© 2013 Marji Roy, Ashbee Design

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Industrial Chic • My Way

Industrial chic is very much a buzz phrase in home design today. It is certainly made popular by a lot of what Restoration Hardware has to offer. And I can relate to so much of it...to a point. Here are a couple of spreads from the currrent RH Source book.

I dearly love gears and lust after a set like this. But place them on a wooden sideboard or a natural stonewall not a cold metal locker in a gray and drab room.

Here are my gears, matching quintuplets gracing my garden. These were a surprise gift from my husband. I have continued the theme with others additions to my garden space. Here is a collection of metal wheels. Some have been gifts from my Dad, others I have found while hiking in the surrounding woods.

But not all examples are collections. We have a cyclist created from found metal scraps by metal sculptor Bill Heise. He is posed in action a top some rocks in a field of pachysandra.

I also have some crafted metal fish swimming through another area.  This aren't as  industrial but by the same sculptor.

I have a terrific gear from discarded farm equipment salvaged during a walk in the woods.  It leans against the stone wall in my front garden.

This larger gear still attached to the wagon wheel was salvaged in the scrap metal heap at the local transfer station.

And I have a trio of flowers crafted from stone and metal. These were anniversary gifts from our daughter on our 30th wedding anniversary.  The are by Eric Candee, a Colorado artist.

That is a part of outdoor collection of industrial chic. I have chains and pulleys and hooks all scattered through the gardens. I'll share some of my interior industrial finds in another post.

Previous Posts of Interest:

• Bicycle Chain Inspiration
• Gears and Wood Dynamic Combination
• One of a Finds
• Gears and Stuff

©2011 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy

Gears and Stuff!

I have shared with you before my love of gears.  I have tried hard to collect them but they are very difficult to find.  I have one leaning next to the stone wall in front.

And a collection from CB2 in another corner.

The big one I found while hiking in the woods.  It is left from deserted farm equipment from years gone by.  The smaller ones were One-of-a-Finds that showed up at CB2. It is rare to find gears available for purchase although there are some beauties at Restoration Hardware right now. A collection becomes more special when it is a hunt to find new additions. I can only say I was jealous with the treasure trove I saw this weekend.

While exploring Bedrock Gardens part of the tour leads one through the inspiring collection of found metal objects waiting for Jill Nooney to craft into sculpture.  Stacked there amongst the rusted debris were not just one but many gears the likes of witch I have never seen.

And then there were more just casually leaning against a birch tree.

And still more!

Not to show too much favoritism - there were also collections of old metal wheels-

And chains-

Any of which would have been welcomed additions to my garden. I asked but she wasn't willing to part with them. Apparently some of the gears are from the old Cog Railway that climbs to the top of Mount Washington. Oh what a find!

I know I have a decided industrial and mechanical bent in my interests and it comes through in my decor. When the sun comes out again I'll take photos to show you what I have scattered about my home and gardens. In the meantime I'll just keep searching for more.  

Anyone know of good source for old gears?

Previous Posts of Interest:

• Wheels in the House? Oh Yeah!
• One Of a Finds
• Gears and Wood • Dynamic Combination
• Wanderings • Bedrock Gardens

©2011 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy

Wheels in the House? - Oh Yeah!

Apartment Therapy did a post today on using wheels in your house and asked to see how other's incorporated them.  Here are some photo's from around my home because wheels? - I have lots!

The first photos are not only of wheels - but better yet moving wheels!  These are kinetic sculptures by David Roy (my husband) and I am lucky enough to have a changing variety of sculptures as he designs new ones.  It is an incredible benefit although it does mean we put more holes in our sheet rock and have to paint walls more frequently than the normal homeowner. I always save little jars of touch-up paint for the various walls. Here are the "kinetic wheels" currently in my home.

Visit David's website at Wood That Works.com to see these sculptures. Below is a video showing Fireworks in motion.

But I also have vintage wheels as well. There is a collection nestled into the corner of my truly useless balcony. The balcony was a holdover from the vision I had of the perfect house. I wanted a balcony so I designed one in and I have it. Better in concept than in practice but a great place for collections.....

I also use found wheels as garden ornaments. Finding well designed garden ornaments is a treasure hunt. Most garden centers stock gnomes, Madonnas and mushrooms. It is hard to find well designed garden decor. I have chosen to used found art instead.  

So I got my Restoration Hardware catalog recently and what did I find?

Stunning!

Previous Posts of Interest:

• Bicycle Chain Inspiration
• Gears and Wood Dynamic Combination
• One of a Finds

©2011 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy

One of a Finds

Have you ever paid attention to the CB2 "One of a Finds" area?  I love it and have purchase various decor items for my home from that collection.  These cogs that march along the garden wall came from that collection.

CB2 describes the shop as "One-time-only original works created in collaboration with passionate artisans we discover on our travels around the world.  Each has a unique story to tell, an encounter to share, a history to pass down, a community to engage with. Truly one of a kinds. each special find will be offered only once in small limited editions for collectors and enthusiasts."

Today they released a letterpress poster series "Accept and Be" in 9 different compositions. It is a limited edition by Kennedy prints.

But you have to be decisive.  The items are in very limited amounts so if you like it, buy it! Now!

Bicycle Chain Inspiration

Years and years ago, I was fascinated with bicycle chain links and how they went together and moved.  While in college I used that concept in creating my first (and only) wall mounted kinetic sculpture. Little did I know where that would lead to. (Visit Wood That Works to see if you haven't been there already!) I was a sculpture major and my material of choice was always wood.  I decided to make a large scale bicycle chain with totally wooden links and have it transfer human power from one gear to another.

It was on this project I learned about the contemporay qualities of Baltic Birch plywood. Yesterday I dug through the embarrassingly huge volume of important stuff stored in the top of my garage looking for a box of 35mm slides - my "portfolio". Much to my surprise I did uncover it and found an appropriate slide of the bicycle chain sculpture back during my college years. Oh, to be twenty-one!

It was a recent post over on Shoebox Dwelling that sent me on this trip down memory lane. They did a blog post about a new coffee table design by Nódesign Studio based on the bicycle chain link and its flexibility.

Furniture that can change and adapt to various uses is a design plus. This table can be rearranged to fit your space or your entertaining needs.  I love it!

Photos from Nódesign studio.

Via/Shoebox Dwelling

Previous Posts of Interest:

• Gears and Wood - Dynamic combination
• Nuts and Bolts
• Multi-functional Table - Puzzle Time

©2011 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy

Gears and Wood - Dynamic Combination

After reading this entry you should meander over to Wood That Works and view my husband's sculpture. You'll understand why this post on Design Milk caught my eye.  The combination of wood and machines creates a visual conflict that I find interesting. Combine that with a touch of whimsey, and even a little pop art and you've designed something I take note of. Not to mention - it has gears!

Simple, straight-forward and fun!

The Windmaker was created by Luc van Hoeck, a designer from The Netherlands. I first became aware of his work through Design Milk, a blog I follow.