Hi, I am a retired man, 61, who likes to work with my hands to make things. I make metal art, custom signs, etc. Moving into 2020, I am looking at jumping into yard art, wind sculptures, kinetic art, and other things. I searched for forums that deal with this general category.

I would welcome any suggestions or comments, to steer me in the right direction. This is a hobby for me, but I am hoping to sell one or two things along the way, just to make it more of a challenge.

What is currently "trending" in yard art? I'd hate to make a dozen things, only to hear, "Oh, that is so 2019!" I am mechanically minded, so I want to lean in the direction of things that move with the wind, or mechanically using water, or electricity, or ????

Thank you for letting me jump in here. I am a rank amateur when it comes to designing, but maybe you good folks can spark an idea or two that will get me going.

Joe

I can't wait to see what you have made or will make in the future. I love decorating my flower beds with all kinds of things. I love whirligigs but can't seem to find anyone near me who makes them or even a good supplier for them. Do you have any pictures of some of the stuff you have made?

Again

I'm with Jeanne, I love whirligigs and also any kind of wind chimes.

I'm wondering if something like Pinterest would give you ideas with all the photo's in one place?

Can't wait to see photo's of what you make

AGuyInTown,

I love all types of garden art, especially if it has metal elements; wind chimes, whirligigs, decorative garden stakes, garden signs, decorative birdhouses and feeders.

I do hope you will share photos of some of your creations and we also have a free classified forum here where you can sell your products! https://garden.org/forums/view...

vic said: I'm wondering if something like Pinterest would give you ideas

I spend HOURS on Pinterest. It is pure Internet Eye Candy for artsy crafty types!

I flip through the images and think, "I can make that! ... I can make THAT!" Of course, I never clone someone else's design, but Pinterest certainly is an idea factory.

As for photos of what I have done thus far, well ... not a lot in the "garden art" category. I have been making custom signs and metal art using my CNC machines and a myriad of hand tools in my two hobby shops.

As for photo samples ... well, I have online albums that are horribly out of sorts, but they do show some of the things I have played with in the past. Ignore the other photos of drive belts and barn wood, etc. There is little to nothing "yard artsy" in them, except perhaps for the address signs.

In 2020, I am focusing on other ideas. I will work mainly with stainless steel and mild steel, bearings, gears, levers, etc., but also woods, acrylics, glass, mirrors, foams, etc.

I generally go overboard when I do things. For instance, my planned 20'x30' wood shop (600 sq. ft.) turned into a 6,400 sq. ft. workshop with four stories and an elevator. I got carried away with that one, and it is not yet completed, because I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

Well, I tried to post links to my flickr.com online photo albums, but apparently I am too new to post links here. I will try again in a few days.

Joe

Joe, write out the link and I'll be happy to go to the flickr page and post the link back here!

Joe - looking forward to seeing all you've done

Joe: You had me at "I generally go overboard when I do things". I'm exactly the same way most of the time. lol
I can never just make something and leave it at that. It's always a case of "add this to it" or "change the color etc." and by then it's too late to enjoy whatever "it" is.
When it comes to garden art I tend to build things that would survive nuclear exchange. It's just how my brain works, unfortunately !

That's not a bad thing

http: + // + flic.kr + /s + /aHsk7y47ff

Well, here is the link, but it has to be corrected (remove the '+' and the 8 spaces)

Joe

I have all sorts of things to show, but I know the Net is full of freaks, so I understand the hesitation to give me link posting privileges. What a sad world we live in.

Joe

Calsurf73 said:Joe: You had me at "I generally go overboard when I do things". I'm exactly the same way most of the time. lol
I can never just make something and leave it at that. It's always a case of "add this to it" or "change the color etc." and by then it's too late to enjoy whatever "it" is.
When it comes to garden art I tend to build things that would survive nuclear exchange. It's just how my brain works, unfortunately !

When I get link posting privileges, you will REALLY enjoy the photos of the Christmas Float I built for the 2017 Franklin, KY Christmas Parade. I won Grand Champion, and the judges told me that in 25 years, they have NEVER seen anything even close to it. I really raised the bar in this town! In fact, you can see some finished photos of it by entering "2017 Christmas Parade Franklin KY" into a Google IMAGES search.

Then I will show you photos of the "FrankenBarn." It is a wood shop I built, that started as an idea for a 20x30 single story shop on a concrete pad, but became a 6,400 sq. ft. two story building with a basement and a walking attic. It is not completed yet, because money was funneled to other things, but give me five more years and it will be ready for GUESTS!

Can't wait until you can post links - in the mean time, I will look at the Christmas parade

Joe, does the heading of your Flickr page read as follows?:

Samson 510 CNC Projects?
A collection of photos and videos of the projects I do with my CNC tables.


I will post the link but I first want to be sure that it's the correct page.

Hey y'all, here's the link to Joe's page, where you can view his great creations: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...

Joe, I did some looking around and I found that it was the correct link because I saw something that said "A Guy in Town." You are very creative and your business card made me smile. Very nice work, by the way!

Thank You Lin - I went to the Christmas parade and from there found many things he made - Stunning Work

Fantastic creations.

@aguyintown, You do many unique works!
Enjoy your retirement and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Hi,

Thank you for the compliments! I just returned home after a trip to Georgia to train someone on the proprietary software that runs the PlasmaCam machines. Then I drove up to New York to train a lady who bought a CNC plasma table just as a "toy." She already does great work, but I helped her to understand the software better. Then I drove over to Chicago to handle the final loose ends of putting my 82-year-old uncle into an assisted living situation. Now I am back in Kentucky, and I really want to get started on things, but it looks like one more trip to Georgia is in order to help a friend buy a motorhome and get it back to Kentucky.

I sure am glad I bought that Ford F150 4WD! In New York, I encountered the snow storm, and used it for the first time. WOW! What a difference 4WD makes.

Yes, that is one of my photo albums. I have made many things with the table, but I am going to get more involved in this as the weather warms up a bit.

Joe

Funny story ...

I was cutting those 33-1/3 vinyl LPs to make wall art. A man came to my booth and picked up one of the albums I had carved with the router.

"Do you like that one sir?" I asked.

He said, "Well, I collect records. The art work is nice, but this WAS a $600.00 collectible album before you carved it up!"

I just bought a stack of them from a thrift store and didn't bother to check into the value of any individual record.

Joe