$8500

$650

$4500

$8500 to $10,000

$5500

$4500

YOUR STORY TOLD BY AUTOMATA

Reach me at woodyartist@gmail.com

    Mechanical Amusements are custom made, one of a kind, animated, miniature "theatrical" dioramas, featuring your story. Your memories and photos help determine the details that will decide the design.

   How much do they cost? You decide how much you want to spend. The complexity and number of details determine the cost. Simpler scenes (2 to 5 characters)  start at $400 to $950. More complicated scenes may be $1000 or more. Many customers have found the $600 and $1200 range best tell their stories. Some price examples (approximate) are shown throughout these pages. 

   Larger more complex scenes demand more detail and time to build. The most popular sizes run $3500 to $6000. Satisfaction guaranteed. I've only had one item returned in 30 years. And I solved the problem in 2 days.             

  . 

  

NOAH'S ARK

more politics

NOAH'S ARK

NOAH'S ARK

PORK BARREL POLITICS

GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL

LAKE MICHIGAN HOUSE

LAKE SUPERIOR HOUSE

GREAT LAKES HOUSES

CAROUSELS

CAROUSELS

GREAT LAKES HOUSES

The BIG HEAD

GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL.

PORK BARREL POLITICS.

​    These are just some of the over 5000 stories I've told over the last 30 years of making Mechanical Amusements. They are a mixture of images, both old and new, which display the variety of stories which can  be told with the wooden sculptures I make.

I look for the humor in one's story. The sort of thing that brings out the joy in your story. If you have an interesting story I can give your version ( I will tell the story your way, never mind what others say). If you don't have a really good story on hand I'll help you find your story or be happy to make one up for you. "Enhancing" the story is my favorite part.  Let's talk.

THE BIG HEAD  OR  "WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS?"

  The BIG HEAD also contains a FLABBERGASTER, as I'm often astounded by the world and my reactions to it.  When I can't decide what to do next it's a pretty good assumption that my BEFUDDLER has kicked in. It's easy to get befuddled when  one has all the "CRAZY and WILD IDEAS" I have. I usually keep them locked away in small circus animal cages (with warnings like "CAUTION--WILD IDEAS MAY BITE").  I then go to my lists of lessons learned. I've listed them in book form inside the head so I can remember where to find them. Some of the lessons learned titles are "What is reality?....And why won't it leave me alone?" or "Sidetrack Adventures---Making Distraction work for you" and "How to Get a Giant head out of your basement".  I always make  backup plans (and usually need them).  I call them my LIFEBOATS. They're labeled PLAN A,  PLAN B,  and PLAN C  ( which has a rope ladder hanging over the side because I probably need a few more backup plans).  You will see my HOT AIR BALLOON circling beneath the BRAINSTORM  (I freely admit to "explanation, exaggeration, and enhancement"). I've also tried to show how an active imagination can run away with one. Heck, just building something like this shows that.                              

 The BIG HEAD shows how I come up with ideas.  I usually get my best thoughts while daydreaming so I grab a nap in the old hammock. That usually leads to a BRAINSTORM which starts my EGO/ID searching for a few SPARKS  of IMAGINATION. The BRIDGE, which acts like a control center,  then takes over and uses my  RADAR SCOPE  to  find an IDEA. Grabbing a large cup of coffee, it's off  to work I go. I work up a FULL HEAD of STEAM in the ENGINE, get the old GEARS spinning (or slipping sometimes). From there the idea goes to the IDEA ASSEMBLY LINE  where It all comes together. If it doesn't, then I have a toxic waste disposal where I put it and all those other  troublesome thoughts (comments like-- "What you ought to do is....") that occasionally creep up.


"Where do you get your ideas?"

I'm often asked  this question, so I decided to make a model of my head showing my thought processes.  The "Big Head" was entered in the 2010 -ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids, Mi.

day dreaming

analytical  brain

ego/ID  looking for ideas

brainstorm

imagination

emotional  brain

Take a look at some of the over 5000 different stories I've produced 

BRIDGE