Automaton pays tribute to the writer Ernest Hemingway

Check out this automaton by Eduardo M. Lázaro in Mexico. The piece is a tribute to the writer Ernest Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea.

Also, check out his awesome steampunk pilot!

See more art by Eduardo M. Lázaro on his Facebook page.

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Pirate and octopus engaged in whimsical combat in this Timberkits automaton kit

Here is a new Timberkits automaton or, at least, new to me. When complete, this automaton kit depicts a pirate and octopus fighting it out with waving tentacles, hook, and sword! As with all of their kits, the wooden components come shaped and drilled. It is left to you to do a very little sanding, assembling and gluing. The kits are well-designed and come with complete instructions. Here's where to get the Timberkits Pirate Panic Automaton.

Be sure to check out all of the Timberkits wood automaton kits. There is one for every person on your holiday shopping list. Think of it: everyone gets an automaton that suits them as a gift and you all assemble them as a group! Best. Christmas. Ever.

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The man who has built tiny ships inside of bottles for 60 years

Check out this short film about Ray Gascoigne who builds those incredibly detailed ships that you see housed inside of bottles. In this well-made short film, he talks a bit about the process of making his extraordinary models. Here's a craftsman with a lot of patience, ingenuity, and a love for what he does.

From the video description:

Ray Gascoigne has been around boats his whole life, as a shipwright, a merchant sailor, and now as a ship builder on the smallest dry dock there is: a bottle. This short film by Smith Journal and Melbourne-based production studio Commoner picks through the wood chips to tell the story of a craft honed over 60 years, and the man behind it. A step-by-step account of the process was featured in Smith Journal volume six.

Here is where you can buy the journal with the article that features Ray Jascoigne.

[ Thanks John! ]

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Hand-cranked metallic mechanical fish by Chris Cole

Here's an fascinating automaton to start your week. This piece, titled Delmar, was created by artist Chris Cole. The hand-cranked automaton depicts a fish. The kinetic sculpture features a chain drive, a fanning dorsal fin made of wrenches, several cranks, exposed linkages, and eyes made from sprockets. This fish is mechanical inside and out!

Check out more sculptures on Chris Cole's web site.

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Hayling Billy steam railway wall mounted automaton by Tom Bennett

The piece shown above by artist Tom Bennett was commissioned to go in The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre Havant. It is a working representation of a the Hayling Billy steam railway, which operated between Havant and the holiday location of Hayling Island on the south coast for 100 years.

From the artist's web site:

The principal aim of the piece was bring to life the history of the railway in a way that would engage the imagination, particularly the young. It was to be part of a larger project designed to explore the history of the borough by means of a timeline, videos, artifacts and other interactive activities. Operated by hand and with the sounds of the engine chuffing and whistling, the train moves from past to present in a landscape filled with local history. On its way it passes tunnels, bridges, a turning windmill ending up at the seaside with bathers jumping up and down in the sea.

You can see more photographs and read about this autamaton and many other automata on Tom Bennett's web site.

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Automaton depicting the end of Moby Dick

Check out this nicely made automaton by Tim Donald. Titled Ishmael's escape in a coffin, the piece is based on the end of Melville's book Moby Dick.In addition to some lovely carving, the piece features a crank, several pulleys, a bell-crank, and some clever linkages. I also love the old sailor turning the crank below decks.

See more automata and whirligigs by Tim Donald on his web site.

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