SUNSHiNE

‘ SUNSHiNE ! ’ ‘Cause it’s springtime, There’s Cherry blossoms, and spring fever. and sunshine. So check out this 18 k gold pendant. It is made with two colors of gold, yellow and white, it is set with 4 lovely 5 point diamonds. The face was sculpted by me and then made using the lost wax method of casting. After I finished the metal face, I did design sketches and then gave the face, and the diamonds, to my friend Karen Morrow. Karen has a laser welder and was kind enough to help me assemble this project. A little ray of sunshine, the harbinger of spring .

photo credit: Peter Lattimer
-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats

Full Moon Cocoon

I'm sensitive to the things people tell me, and this piece speaks to the power of that. On a lighter note, There's a lot that can be said about Yellow Submarines, and 18 karat
eggs, the work of Carl Faberge, Russian Imperialism, Manifest Destiny, Chairman Mao, and the Man in the Moon. There's a lot that has been written concerning the Moon, lunacy, romance, and wonderful journeys.
If you can take his word as a gentleman, Baron Munchausen travelled to the Moon and enjoyed the hospitality of both it's crowned heads. Over one hundred years before Neil Armstong planted an American flag on Lunar soil, Edgar Allen Poe wrote a lovely story regarding 'The Unparalleled Adventures of Hans Pfall', a tale concerning the ingenuity of travelling to lunar destinations by way of hot air balloon. The renowned physicist, Dr Hayden, has assured me that If you ignore friction, it is possible to skip a fast moving automobile off of the horizon and drive to the Moon. Lunar mythology pre-dates civilization, and by the light of the moon we mark time, hunt, and make love... And so I carved this stone, 'the Full Moon Cocoon'.

This magical egg was made in 18 karat gold, the body of the work is yellow gold, with white gold accent porthole cover. My friend Karen Morrow made this egg, complete with hinges. The egg acts as nest and frame to this carving, which I've made, in the hard stone known as jasper. I produced this carving by my hand using diamonds and water, it represents the chrysalis from which the full moon emerges.

photo credit: Peter Lattimer
-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats

A Book Review...In Scrimshaw

Scrimshaw is an ancient art, an artist who makes scrimshaw is called a scrimshander. A scrimshaw is made by "scrimming" a design into bone or ivory, and then staining the scrim with pigment. In this way, neolithic artists decorated their bone implements, and jewelry.

Scrimshaw is most celebrated, by the contemporary world, as an archaic craft of sailors and whalers. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, scrimshaw was produced by sea faring men, to decorate ivory trade goods. Scrimshaw is widely collected in the United States of America, where it is claimed as the first "American" art form. Nowadays, whaling is largely obsolete and, scrimshaw has become something of a lost art.


I made this scrimshaw in whale ivory, which I'd acquired
at a pow wow . This piece records my review of
' Treasure Island ' by Robert Louis Stevenson...one of my favorite sea faring stories.

photo credit: Peter Lattimer
-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats

UCKFA * OLiTEPA * OCiETYSA

If I had a Hammer, I'd hammer all the folk song singers...just kidding. Who'd want to do that :) I carved this little hammer for a society I belong to, The New Vulgarians Society. We like to pick edulicious mushrooms, cook yummy food, and drink good whiskey. Unlike the Malleus Maleficarum, this hammer will be used for cheerful ceremonial purposes, as a gavel, scotch opener, garlic smasher, picture hanger, and last spike driver. While carving this commission, James Barber passed away. For those too young to remember, James Barber taught an entire generation of Canadians to cook. James liked cooking and eating, and had the scar on his chest to prove it. I met James at his home office a few years ago, we talked, about food, art, publishing and life. These things were on my mind while I carved, and maybe that is why James Barber appeared in my work. Somehow, I don't think James would mind sticking his tongue out at polite society, and officiating at the commencement of our feasts; on wild mushrooms, fine spirits, and all of the bounty, that which, only nature and ingenuity, can provide.

photo credit: Peter Lattimer
-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats

I've Been Working on The Railroad

What can I say... I have the best land lord in the whole world, Bernie! He set the whole thing up, so that I could make an appointment to speak with the chairman of the Canadian National Railway. I showed a piece of art that I'd made, entitled, 'King of The Railroad'. The Chairman liked my work, and ordered three of my carved Railway Spikes. With regard to semiology, I hand engraved actual railway spikes, with the CN logo, the owners name, and actual hobo signs. Railway spikes are made from high carbon steel. I engraved them using diamonds and water.

photo credit: Peter Lattimer

The Snow Flakes of Canada

It's the snow really, the dread and deadly beauty of it. Each snowflake is unique, and even more ephemeral than the ones we cut from paper, as children in kindergarten. These snowflakes I've carved, using the graal technique, working with hot glass master Jeff Burnette, at Joe Blow Glassworks. I worked the glass cold, carving the snowflakes using diamonds and water. Jeff worked the glass hot, using a furnace, and molten glass. Together, we made these snowflakes to last forever. In Canada, special members of the canadian establishment are honoured, and given the Order of Canada. This honour is represented by the snowflake. All Canadians are eligable, except politicians and dead people. Nominate someone you know for an Order of Canada, It dosen't cost anything and makes a thoughtful Christmas present. This work in glass would also make a great Christmas gift, or a perfect addition to any serious collection of art glass.

photo credit: Peter Lattimer

King of the Railroad

By my calculations, If the Roman Empire had railroads, people would have landed on the Moon by 1820. This is an actual railway spike. These things are made from carbon steel, and used to fasten the train tracks to the wooden railway ties. I carved the end of this one using diamonds and water. The design is classical, and incorporates latin scripture. “ Ferrum Via Rex Rgis”, the English translation is, "King of the Railroad".

photo credit: Peter Lattimer

“ What's In a Name ? ”

Flowers have no expectations and are indifferent to admiration; their future is for certain, and in the moment of blossom, we celebrate the beauty, inhale the nectar, breathing in and out in harmony with these short and uncomplicated lives...
Can flowers last forever ? would Diamonds made From Roses smell as sweet ? Sweeter in fact. I carved this rose, on which my friend, John Nels Hatleberg, is displaying these fantastic coloured diamonds. These diamonds are real, and made by a miraculous process, guaranteed to be the most romantic, ethical, and beautiful of stones. If a diamond is forever; these rocks speak to the endurance of the human spirit, and its capacity for invention, goodness, and true love, throughout the universe, and in perpetuity.

Three Stories About the Gold Buckskin Whincher isbn 978-1-894897-65-5

Cabin Fever will drive a man mad; not much to do at that point except to roll with it, read and/or write some crazy beautiful books, and wait till spring. Re: Buckskin Whinchers, they are for luck. A figment of Carl Sandburg's * imagination, and written in the good book, ‘Rootabaga Stories’ there are ‘Three Stories About the Power of the Gold Buckskin Whincher’. In the Rootabaga Country it is well known that different whinchers have different powers. I'm the sole distributor of trademark Buckskin Whinchers they are made in durable silicon bronze with sterling whinching posts. and are produced under exclusive contract with the worlds largest manufacturer. Accept no substitutes! For good luck and great gold buckskin whinching get a trademark Buckskin Whincher. Made to go round, at the nice round price $360. add $20. for shipping.

Carl Sandburg was a Pulitzer prize winning poet, he wrote the book on Abraham Lincoln. Carl Sandburg was likely Chicago’s greatest native son, he understood that town’s mythology and dedicated it to word, in the following...

CHICAGO

HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks
of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.
and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

** Update 18 August 2008

My Friend, Michael Oved Dyan of Helliwell Pictures, gave a Trademark Buckskin Whincher to a monk in Tibet. The monk then went into solitary confinement, to meditate for three years, three months and three days, with nothing but his robes and a Trademark Buckskin Whincher.

World’s Smallest Book,‘Teeny Ted From Turnip Town’ isbn-978-1-894897-17-4

Simon Fraser University, April 9, 2007

The world’s first, nanoscale book was published as a work of fine art, April 9, 2007 by Robert Chaplin at the Nano Imaging Facility of Simon FraserUniversity. This book, complete with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN-978-1-894897-17-4), is entitled ‘Teeny Ted From Turnip Town’. It was written by Malcolm Douglas Chaplin and is a fable concerning the success of Teeny Ted, from Turnip Town, and his victory in the Turnip contest at the annual county fair.
It is at present the world’s smallest published book.

The Robert Chaplin - SFU nanobook project was produced using a focused-gallium-ion beam with the assistance of Dr. Li Yang, and Dr. Karen L. Kavanagh of Simon Fraser University, located at the summit of Burnaby Mountain, Burnaby, BC. The gallium beam has a minimum diameter of 7 nanometers, and was programmed to carve the space surrounding each letter of a book. The book was typeset in block letters with a resolution of 40 nanometers, and is made up of 30 micro-tablets, each carved on a polished piece of single crystalline silicon. The carving of the letter forms invokes the look of ancient cuneiform tablets, the undisputed root of publication. The entire collection of micro-tablets is contained within an area of 69 x 97 microns square, with an average size of tablet being 11 x 15 microns square.
At the time of production The ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ cited two records for very small books: The new testament of the King James Bible, (5 x 5 mm, MIT, 2001) and Chekhov’s ‘Chameleon’ (0.9 x 0.9 mm, Palkovic, 2002).‘Teeny Ted from Turnip Town’ had total size of less than 0.07 x 0.10 mm, an exquisite work of contemporary art, one of a kind.

http://nanoimaging.sfu.ca/

http://robertchaplin.ca/

RiPLEYS BELiEVE iT OR NOT

'Minushka' - isbn 1-894897-21-8

" Opera is beautiful because it's the only world where a person can actually be lucky enough to die from a broken heart." - Malcolm Douglas Chaplin

I survived a broken heart, and I used it as keen fuel to publish this exquisite collection of Russian Dolls. This is a photograph of all of them, a multicultural family, Sold in sets of five. These nesting dolls are in fact a novel form of book, a hand painted manuscript if you will. Each set of dolls has an ISBN, and contains a story, the outside doll is the cover and each nesting doll is a page, concluding with the last doll; on which is painted the last word. The story is a love poem , which would melt the panties off of Leonard Cohen *. I composed this work and painted the words on each doll. As a Publisher, I reserve the right to work with other talent and so the faces were painted by the incomparable Andrea Tucker, whom I retained to illustrate this work. There are eleven of copies of this manuscript in existence, each is an original work of art. I've sold through these, however; if you are a librarian or curator, with at taste for livre d'artiste, I will gladly connect you to one of my collectors .

* Just kidding about the Panties, Leonard Cohen is Canada's poet laureate. He has been appointed by popular consensus and will hold this designation for life.

Photography credit: Lauralee Gordon

' The Brussells Sprout Testimonial ' a monumental miniature actual size - isbn 1-894897-09-9

What creature of this stature, in all of English common law, is so much loved and detested ? Those who love sprouts love to love them, those who hate sprouts love to hate them. We are united in our passion and few can feign indifference. Regarding the notion of scale, by and large considered by most aesthetes, to be the primary focus of sculpture. Ponder this, how would it be possible to monumentalize a Brussels sprout ? For one that is huge, would be confused with the cabbage; and one that is too small, would not be very much at all. In solving this problem, I've made this monument to the Brussels Sprout on the kawaii side of actual size.
This photo was taken by my friend Mel Yap.

'The Brussels Sprout Testamonial'- isbn 1-894897-09-9
Sing and shout and dance about, there's magic in the Brussels sprout, boiled up and served in butter, baked into a pie, I love to eat the Brussels sprout, to go without would make me cry.
Have faith and never ever doubt, there's magic in the Brussels sprout, in cheese sauce or in minestrone, I will stand and Testify, I love to eat the Brussels sprout, to go without I'd rather die!

This precious metal vegetable was originally produced to celebrate love, for the wedding of my Friend Jonathan Wreglesworth. Available in Sterling and Bronze I raise the price by $50, each and every time one is sold, so check back to see the current price of sprouts. 

Thanks to Mark Nishiguchi !

Photo Credit: Mel Yap

Starry Night in Canada

This is my ‘Starry Night’, It is an official NHL Hockey Puck , which I have carved and inlaid with gold. It is a contemporary objet d'art, decorated with a swirling spiral night, containing six stars and a golden moon. The design is carved in relief, within a circle, this type of composition is called a ‘Rondelle’. I have carved this word ‘Rondelle’ on the backside, as it also means ‘Puck’ in French.

My Grandmother & Her Moose, Molly

Once upon a time, in 1955, at Babine Lake, in beautiful northern British Columbia. My Grand mother, Laura Chaplin, had a pet moose, whose name was Molly. Molly was a good moose and learned to play shuffleboard and Canasta. Molly got so good at these games that she was eventually sent to live at a Game farm in Alberta. There Molly studied the secrets of chess and was eventually ranked higher than Marcel Duchamp.

The Chicken Egg Reccursion Generator

Raven Transforming into a Lawyer - isbn 1-894897-13-7

To negotiate within this hectic world, mired in the puzzles and conundrums of our age, it would befit the trickster to transform into a lawyer. This work of satire is carved in hematite, a hard stone, also known as Alaskan black diamond. Hematite, is a form of crystalline iron, FE03, it never rusts because it is already oxidized; obviously the perfect raw material for such a subject. I carved the master model sometime shortly after Delgamuukw vs The Queen. Occasionally I produce hand finished versions cast in silver, and copper, for those lawyers with an ironic sense of tradition.

The Crystal Cabbage

The size of a small radicchio, behold the crystal cabbage. Gaze deeply into this crystal to accurately predict cabbage futures on the commodities exchange. For interesting reading, check out Edgar Allen Poe, ' The Devil in The Belfry' . This fantastic tale, quite likely provided the inspiration for 'The Crystal Cabbage'. An objet d'art carved by my hand, in lead crystal, using diamonds and water.
-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats

Dodos Ex Machina

This is a photograph of the first Dodo bird I ever carved. I made this sculpture in obsidian, and carved it by removing material, using diamonds and water. It represents a Dodo Bird nesting on a machine. This sculpture has a kinetic element as, when one tips the work, an egg pops out of the other side of the machine. At the time I thought reverse engineering dodos would be a way to resurrect the species. This sculpture resides in the collection of my very excellent friend, Ralfe Whistler. If you want to see this sculpture you must travel to Battle, in England, and visit Dodo House. Further, I can lay it out cold for the institutions, with all due respect to the late Hilaire Belloc, this one's mine.

The Last Dodo:
The Dodo (raphus cucullatus) became extinct by the end of the 1600's. Although the exact date The last dodo died is unknown, the last intact specimen was consigned to flames in ignorance, at THE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, Oxford 1755.

was it shabby and rotten, was it creepy and rude ?
was the curator just in, a house cleaning mood ?

was it bad taxidermy, was it dusty and old ?
was it flea bitten, mangy or covered with mold ?

was it really subversive, was it smelly and putrid ?
was it aesthetically weak, were the trustees all stupid ?

all questions have answers, but we'll likely get spurned...
if at Oxford, we ask, Why the Dodo got burned ?

Rhyme published in
‘ BRUSSELS SPROUTS & UNiCORNS ’

-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats

The Malleus Maleficarum...an objective review

What is this occult objet d'art, Livres d'artiste, perhance a book review ? Which witch, which hammer, which witch hammer ? My ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ is a review of the 15th century classic, ‘The Malleus Maleficarum’ (the Witches' Hammer ). This book was written by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger and published in 1484 by THE HOLY SEE. Written in response to a general clamor, to get all of the disruption of medieval witch burning under control, this work provided a perfectly horrible bureaucratic solution. By codifying an official doctrine, for dealing with those persons accused of witchcraft, the church inadvertently provided a systematic method for human extermination. With the blessings of the church, the inquisitors were absolved from personal culpability in the torture and killing of the accused, the atrocities committed against the accused were interpreted as acts of divine mercy. I believe that those accused of witchcraft might well have felt a little differently about the situation...and perhaps those ladies could have used a little something in their defense, a right proper witches' hammer...This image presents such a thing, a representation of the pagan god Pan, carved by my hand from a 12 oz ESTWING hammer, an 18 karat gold detail separates the unbreakable steel shaft from the leather handle. The end normally reserved for hitting nails is decorated by an 18 k gold bezel containing a fat round garnet. The stone would snap under about 20 lbs of pressure. However, the horned end could be used to some considerable effect, against an inquisitor, an objet d'art for the purpose of self defense.
* Read ‘ The Malleus Maleficarum ’ of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger
** Search ‘Acta Apostolicae Sedis’ , in the Vatican archives to review Church's formal apology.
***A little more reading on the topic of Witchcraft.****The gold details on this piece were completed in collaboration with the excellent goldsmith, my friend Karen Morrow.
-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats

The Common Toad (Bufo Americanus)

 

Deride not this ugly American, as even toads are beautiful...if one takes the time to notice. Not to be confused with ‘Mr Toad’; this work is an actual sized * representation of the common toad, in Russian nephrite, carved by my hand using diamonds and water. I've always been struck by the beauty of amphibian eyes, the solution to these eyes was found in construction and inlay,18 karat gold bezel** and Black jadeite from Guatemala. The Nephrite was a gift from my friend Dr Morley Lipsett. This exquisite creature resides in the excellent collection of my friends the Knox's.

* 1:1 scale representation
**The gold details on this piece were completed in collaboration with goldsmith, Karen Morrow.

-© Robert Chaplin admmx. copy cats are dirty rats