On Returning: A Personal Renaissance
Even ‘true artists’ need some time to reflect now and then: it can be the catalyst for greatness.
Category: Stories
Love Affairs on the River
A first-seasoner’s perspective on river touring on a stand-up paddleboard, with a section on customization as well as a good dose of philosophy.
The Cradle of Skunkadelia
The sun sets on the old Ready Room Gallery, and a new dawn greets the brand new Cradle of Skunkadelia – a welding bench worthy of Hephaestus.
A Trip Around the World
Skunk traveled the World in a private business jet from November 2016 to January 2021 – but how?
The Golden Epaulets of Abbot J
The story of Abbot J, the Astrobot with gold heirloom cufflinks incorporated into his body.
Constructing a John-Henry Class Rocketship: The Final Stage
This is the sixth and final chapter in the odyssey of constructing the SRS Imagination, a John-Henry class rocketship. Read about the proposal, the construction of the Explorer, enjoy detailed photos of the rocket’s completion, and learn of the hidden easter-egg surprise.
Constructing a John-Henry Class Rocketship: Stage Five
This is the fifth chapter in the odyssey of constructing the SRS Imagination, a John-Henry class rocketship. Learn about the electronics – the lights, the switches, the power and the ability to control everything from a smartphone.
Constructing a John-Henry Class Rocketship: Stage Four
I’ve been spending the last few months working on a 60-inch model of a Rocketship named the SRS Imagination, although the project was actually started years ago. This chapter covers the construction of the control panel, the battery harness, the Explorer’s home and the plaque, and also contains an ode to iron metal shavings.
Constructing a John-Henry Class Rocketship: Stage Three
This is the third chapter documenting the epic construction of the John-Henry Class Rocketship named the SRS Imagination. Learn about the portal, the landing gear, the finish work, and the rocket nozzles.
Constructing a John-Henry Class Rocketship: Stage Two
I began building this massive rocketship model in 2015. Five years later it’s time to start finishing what I started: drilling more holes, adding hand-modified hinges, and most notably building a complex and detailed command module starting with a vintage coffee can.
Venerable Boston-Area Sci-Fi Fueled Bicycle Chopper Gang Seeks Recruits To Share Glory and Adventure
Want to join a bicycle chopper gang? Read on, fellow space adventurer!
SCUL Mission Debrief: Operation Dawn Patrol
This is a video by SCUL pilot Acehole, documenting Operation Dawn Patrol – stardate 160814 – a 3 a.m. mission to witness the dawn at Castle Island. Quite beautiful! Read the full mission report on scul.org.
SCUL Flight Formation Drills
Believe it or not, SCUL pilots often hone their chopper-handling skills from time to time. We had the pleasure of being followed by camera-toting drone owned and operated by one of our newest recruits, f-stop For more information visit The Friendly Skies on scul.org.
Twenty-Five Hours in the Dentist Chair
I am pleased to share with everyone that after ten visits in the last eight months, all the major dental visits are now complete! Each visit was was such a tremendous relief: I felt as if a curse was gradually lifting off of me. In fact, I think there was a part of me that was perpetually fighting the infection going on in my mouth. So with each session came a great sense of relief and joy: something to look forward to.
Ballet Dancer in the Mosh Pit
I have the honor of teaching at the NuVu school in Cambridge for ten days starting next week: young students are going to make rolling musical instruments out of bicycles. I’m excited to see what thy come up with. But before we begin, I must learn how to weld all over again.
An Ear of Corn
Tomorrow I go in for the first session of my dental surgery funded by the community. After hearing a few people say they had similar procedures and how brave I was for doing this, I must admit I began to feel nervous, but the feeling was brief. I’ve endured two separate five-hour tattoo sessions without anesthesia, so this should be a piece of cake.
I’m Just Gonna Rearrange your Face Now: More Toothy Tales
The fundraiser for my teeth has been life-changing and it hasn’t really even started in some ways.
Show and Tell: Working with Video
I have a lot more experience with photography than I do with video, and while the two can be certainly associated, video has been a bit more of a learning curve.
The Toothy Tale of Skunk’s Other Choppers
There’s a GoFundMe campaign to save my teeth. Here is the story of how my smile got to be as it is today.
Hunting Your Own Work
My Holliston High School teacher and great mentor of mine, Marjorie Picchi, once told me “once you think a piece is done, it is halfway done.” For me this fact has been a great measuring stick for my works.
Unusual Birthmark
The Internet would not be complete without the obligatory cat-picture.
Heavy Haulin’
I haven’t owned a car since before Skunkadelia, sometime around late 1999. While almost all of my transportation is me-powered, my art is really heavy, so I’ve had to rent a car for larger shows.
Adorable Nemo
I’ve resisted posting a picture of my pet friend Nemo for as long as I could. He’s a Congo African Grey parrot. Yes, he talks. He says good morning when I wake up, goodbye when I leave, and hello when I return.
Interior: Pictures of My Place
When the Somerville Scout was looking to do a story on people who do interesting things with their living spaces, they visited my place.
Home Made Pizza Crust
My friend Asher shared her pizza crust recipe with me years back, but I’m just now beginning to experiment with baking. It’s great getting sticky and covered in flour, and it’s not nearly as finicky as I suspected. I’m very pleased with the difference it’s made from using store-bought crusts.
Daniel’s Inspired Robots
I’m often reminded of how positive and Friendly the Boston Area really is, despite it’s cold reputation.
Marlon and Family
Marlon and his new family, Leanne and Brendan.
Gzo and Visigoth
Gzo finds his forever-home with Visigoth.
Cathy’s Robot
This photo was taken in December of 2008, when the robot traveled by T to Cathy’s office. Marisol thought the robot would be cold and she knit him a hat!
SCUL: Maggot Dinners
It’s the last week of SCUL season, and there’s a lot to keep my busy. A great deal of it is classified, but I can talk about the two Maggot-dinners I’ve had.
SCUL: Admiral’s Log: Wrapping up the Season
MRC was very productive. DubbleU replaced the sonic disruptor dishes on Cloudbuster, and Treekiller upgraded the laser mounts for the Disco-Deth Stah. We also replaced some of the mast. Leotard got Lazarus put back together again: no small feat considering it split in two mission before last!
Collecting Metal at Broadway Bicycle School
There’s more to making art than the obvious moment of creation. You need to mine and collect what you make things from. Supply run to Broadway Bicycle School! Hungry robots need metal, and B-Way’s the place to get it.