You have the key...

Artists are funny people... we tend to work inside our head a little too much, and can often lose sight of the bigger picture. It's easy to lose perspective when we get frustrated with our work. Or life. Or whatever.

Which happens a lot, in my case!

I have a good friend who is sofuckingtalented, she makes my head spin. But lately - she's been in a bit of a rut. So I wanted to make a piece for her - for inspiration, and as a reminder of how talented she is.

In our discussions about art and work, I would constantly remind her that she has all the knowledge and talent she needs. She just has to find the key to unlock everything. I end almost every conversation with her by saying - you've got the keys, girl!

That got me thinking about keys. And then Google images flooded my brain with things like this

and this

and these.

I've always been fascinated by taking everyday objects and blowing them up. No, not literally, but size-wise. Like a six foot crescent wrench or an eight foot ruler.

In fact, one of my favorite restaurant chains back in Ohio had a giant hamburger hanging up in its ceiling and for years - I wanted that hanging in my yard, above the deck. So bad.

I chose a half dozen interesting keys and blew them up, then traced the images onto wood. Cutting them out was easy, but sculpting each one was the real challenge. Some of them were routed with a small roundover bit.

Others had to be carved by hand.

Finally, I made a plywood "keyring" to hold all of the keys - slicing it open in one spot, to slip the keys into it.

When it was glued back together, you could barely see the glueline.

Sweet.

It started me thinking about adding some new artwork to the woodshop's wall.

Picture a giant saw piercing through a wall

or a giant chisel handle popping out at you.

(Don't worry, they'll be made of paper-mache.)

As for my friend - I'm happy to report she's back in her studio, once again making some amazing pieces. And feeling inspired. I'm not sure if the keys did the trick for her, but I have to say - making them was a good inspirational break for me.

I highly recommend it!