Today, we finished welding the bulk of the front of the ‘Y’ and then needed to turn the letter over to complete the welding of the back. As we suspected, it’s heavy! The easiest way to accomplish the task was to slide it off our workbench onto its legs, spin it around and then lay it back down with the backside facing up. Things went even better than planned, and when it was upright, we paused long enough to grab this selfie and also step back to see it truly for the first time. It’s a big letter! And it is going to look fabulous with the other six letters that spell DOWNEYS’ when we are done. Stay tuned....
Nikolai
Every once in a while, I run into someone who absolutely inspires me, and I instantly want to learn more about them. A few weeks ago, I received an email from Nikolai Deleff, a young man who is from Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. He had visited West Edmonton Mall with his family and was awestruck by the work we did there in Galaxyland and around the mall. As he carefully studied the theme work, it lit a fire in his brain. To quote Nickolai’s email, “The themed architecture, tiled roofs, vibrant paintwork, and whimsical details (like the dirigible) completely captivated me. My family quite literally had to pull me away. That experience struck something at my core as an artist and gave me a moment of clarity: this is the kind of work I want to pursue as a career.” He then did his research, and eventually that led him to us.
His words made me remember my first visit to Disneyland so many decades ago, for I knew well all those same sentiments I read in his email. I did a little online research and quickly discovered how remarkable this 22-year-old is. Here’s his website. Nikolai already has two short animated films and two self-published books to his credit. His website is organized and well-thought-out. I decided to give him a call. As I spoke to him, I discovered that while full of confidence, he was down to earth, humble and extremely eager to learn. We talked for a while, and I invited him to drop in for a visit if he was out this way. He inquired about my schedule and then booked a flight - my kind of guy! We spent today together, talking about this business and answering many questions he had. This evening, we went into the shop to look over the projects and for a little hands-on basic training. I sent him back to his hotel tonight, and I’ll spend some more time with him tomorrow. Before he left, I gave him a notebook and a pen to write down his thoughts and questions, as I knew his mind was racing a thousand miles an hour. He won’t sleep tonight, I’m sure. The force is strong with this one. :)
Build a Buddy sculpt
We currently have three smaller signs (plus the giant letters) in production for Downey’s Farm. One of them is this cute Build-A-Buddy sign with a fully sculpted, stuffed donkey toy as the dimensional centrepiece. The background and Build-A-Buddy lettering are routed on our ShopSabre CNC router from 35 lb Precision Board. This was laminated over a welded steel frame and bracket for mounting. Once that work was done, the fun began. Laura’s task was to keep up with me, mixing sculpt as I formed the toy, positioned the top lettering panel and then added the detail to the stuffy. In a little less than four hours, we had him done and ready to paint.
