Jenny Sigler — School Gear and Fashion Accessories from Thrift Store Jeans

Looking back, I get the feeling that more folks had the D-I-Y spirit in the 1970s than in any period since. Even as kids my friends and I were customizing our bikes. You know, choppers with homemade forks, swapping parts from other bikes, etc. Other than the lowrider crowd I can’t think I’ve seen a kid do that since then. Of course, the grown ups were getting down too. Mary’s mom once made a giant set of floor pillows that looked like a massive hamburger. Separate bun pillows, beef patty, lettuce, special sauce(?). Oh yeah, it’s true. I gotta find a pic of that. Anyhow, my mom is still getting down. Her most recent project is a set of baseball-themed school organizers for my son and a purse with a horse motif for my daughter. What the two sets have in common is that Mom went to the thrift store to find some old jeans to use for the fabric. Why? “Because kids like pockets.” I heard that. And that’s especially true when Mema uses pockets to make something original and handmade.

Everybody should be doing stuff like this. Go make something.

More by Mom

Tracy Sigler — Chair of Log and Plywood

This is the first piece of furniture I ever made. I think I was about 20 years old, and it was a Christmas gift to my parents. I had found a large, rather straight log on their property and I knew I had to make something from it. At first I wanted to use it to make some sort modern totem pole, but that would require a lot of time and skill. I didn’t have much of either. I was determined to use that log though, and I was also looking forward to using a chainsaw for something other than yard work. So, I came up with this idea for a chair. I can’t remember why, but I wanted to design it to use knock down construction. (Probably due to years of Lego building.) I’m not sure if that made it easier or more difficult to build. There are some tricky miters for the various slots because the back and seat are not at a right angle, but for the most this is pretty primitive woodworking.

All the parts including: three log legs; plywood back, seat and arms; 2×4 cross braces.

Assembly is quick and easy.

One strange handmade chair ready for lounging.

Mars Sigler — Pinecar Derby

Why can’t people spell our name?!? Whatever. What’s most important is Mars designed and made this car 100% by himself. Sure, he had some advising from the old man, but Mars did every bit of the cutting, sanding, drilling, paint spraying, axle polishing, and assembly his own bad self. How many of his competitors can say that? Just sayin’… He placed first in his age group, Webelos, and second in the entire pack. If only he would’ve changed out that one wobbly wheel…

Tracy Sigler — Potato Cannon

(Click image to largenate)

Is a Potato Cannon art itself? Is it functional scuplture? Or, is it a prop in a form of performance art featuring torched, toasted and tossed tubers? I say it’s both. The combustive potato gun featured here is really a carbine, and not the standard long barrel PVC version. Also, it features knock-down construction that allows it to become even smaller, and stowed using very little space. With the exception of the spring latches, the entire gun is made of aluminum, with machined fittings and TIG welded joints. The end of the barrel has been chamfered, making it easy to core a potato and achieve a tight barrel fit. This vegetable weapon has recently been retired, but only after two beautiful long potato launches. Don’t try this at home.

Mary Earle-Sigler — Quilt for Ixa

Artist Mary Earle-Sigler has returned to her roots, fiber arts, with this quilt for her newest nephew, Ixa. The various fabric patterns pieced together in this work appear cheerful enough, individually. But in the context of this quilted blanket they seem to create a montage of land and sea combat. This reviewer believes the artist has depicted a raging battle for triangle supremacy. Amphibians versus fish. Who will rule the blanket? Based on the facial expressions of these gladiators (see detail in third pic below) the frogs will soon vanquish the fish.

Mary Earle-Sigler — Block Print of House

This block print is of a 1924 Georgian Revival house that was recently bought and now inhabited by the Siglers. The artist Mary Earle-Sigler, who formerly signed her work as MC Earle, and early in her career MEARLE, has signed this piece with a concise “MES.” What is she trying to tell the viewer this new moniker? Does MES also serve as a terse, phonetic description of the state of the house?

A very limited number of prints were produced and then scattered across North America via the postal system. Most of these prints now reside with people previously unaware of the Siglers relocation, the reasons behind which are still unclear to even those close to them.

Mary Earle y’all, Mary Mary Earle y’all!

Tracy Sigler — Mona Lisa Triptych Thumbtack Mosaic in Burnt Frame

Larger, largest

In this piece regular thumbtacks have been used in their usual, intended way, stuck into cork bulletin boards, but with unexpected results. The Mona Lisa was used as the basis for these mosaics because it is very recognizable, as art, to most people (with money) in the industrialized world. It appears the artist’s intent is to call attention the latent, or potential beauty of mundane objects.

Each piece of the triptych uses a different zoom level, 1x, 3x and 6x. All of the panels use the same number of tacks to communicate an image. It’s possible the artist is trying to say “Context is really important” or maybe “Resolution is a funny thing.” Even though the third panel provides more detail in the face, it’s less obvious this is the Mona Lisa. The first, and coarser image with background, or full context, is more easily recognized as Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece.

The highly ornate frame is an integral part of this piece. It has been severely burned, and then stabilized using space-age polymers. Statements the artist may be making with this frame:

• Beauty in the “every day” should be recognized, appreciated, even celebrated.
• Black is beautiful.
• Maarten Baas is brilliant.
• Smoke adds flavor.
• Nothing is too good to mess with.

Some details:

• Overall dimensions (including frame): 77.5″w x 43.5″h
• Resolution of each panel: 49×76
• Total number of thumbtacks: 11,172
• Approximate weight: Very heavy

Details: burnt frame, left eye of third panel

Triptych sans frame with guitar for scale reference.

Tracy Sigler — Steel and Aluminum Bridge Table

Happy Father’s Day! Here’s something I couldn’t have made without my father. I did the work on this table, but he taught me how to weld and use almost every type of tool there is. Moreover, he is a living example that you can build anything you want if you can just get started. This was built in his garage, using his welding gear, torch, grinding tools, etc. around 1990. I was also hogging up a lot of shop space with scrap metal and steel I had ordered. Thanks Dad, for being you.

The table top is aluminum plate. This is another piece that has a connection to Peter Pittman. For a while that I knew him Peter was doing design work for some metal fab shop. He offered to take me in the shop on the weekend and let me pick out some scrap. I found this large piece of aluminum behind a jumbo shear. It was surely usable for some job, but after hesitating for a second Peter said I could snag it. He’s cool like that. And nobody was around to notice.

So, this construction was made to the dimensions of that first piece of plate. The frame below it is mostly half inch steel rod, painstakingly welded together on a jig I had made. Then, even more painstakingly, and painfully, the welds were ground flush. Never again! The only pictures I have of it are from a gallery show, on a contact sheet a friend gave me. Thanks again Pam Taylor.

Another Father’s Day note: Our good friends the Pelczarskis now have this table. AND their second child, Tatum, was just born a few days ago! With an infant and a toddler in the house it’s a good thing I made that table baby-proof with only four sharp metal corners.

Jeff Slay — Acrylic Painting on Wood

This is a painting by my long lost friend Jeff Slay. Every few years I try to get back in touch with him, and then he gets lost again. Now, I’m not even sure where to start looking. Jeff is an interesting character and we spent a lot of time together when we were younger. Musician, biker, tattoo artist/collector, painter, golf nut (seriously), and at one point sophisticated CAD designer all describe Jeff.

He gave us this painting of three cows years ago and we’ve had it prominently displayed in every place we lived ever since. I took this pic just before I packed the painting to move it to our new house.

Jeff Slay, if you ever stumble upon this page please give me a shout.

Rebar, Stainless Steel, Fan Chair

This one’s for you, Gary Taylor. Thanks again, for lunch.

I believe this is the first piece of metal furniture or sculpture I ever made. I made it when my brother and I had a record store in the late 1980s. We had a large space and a small inventory. So, occasionally we would have events like art shows or even spoken word gigs. That got me thinking I should make some stuff, in whatever medium. I ended up leaving some of my pieces in the store; this chair was one of them.

One of our regular customers, Peter Pittman, saw it and eventually displayed it in a hair salon, of all places, that his wife owned and operated. I think they would also have “exhibits” there. Anyhow, someone(?) saw it there and it ended up in a place called Breit Functional Crafts in Norfolk, VA, where someone else(?) saw it and it ended up in an exhibit at the Reynolds Minor Gallery in Richmond, VA. Funny enough, a woman from Virginia Beach saw it there and decided to buy it. I can’t remember the exact number, but I do remember I priced it high enough that no one, I thought, would buy it. Then the gallery doubled that number, and someone actually did! Oh well, I think it’s kinda corny now, but back then I hated to see it go.

The frame is made of rebar with most of the slag buffed off with a wire wheel. The seat and arms are 11 gauge stainless steel. The most interesting part, the back, is an ancient Dayton floor fan that we had laying around the store. It had a small frame that held it in position, and it took a few minutes to get up to speed. For some reason I thought it would obviously make a comfortable chair back. I meticulously cleaned it and even had the bullet-shaped motor housing re-chromed. The only pictures I have are from a contact sheet of shots a friend (Pam Taylor) took. She probably gave me the negatives but who knows where they are.

Thanks Peter! Wherever you are now…