As the video begins Kevin is looking at his newest nature-inspired sculpture, which is is going to be composed of leaves. In this early stage, there’s “still some assembly required.” [A movie of the sculpture, titled Autumn Mobius, is included at the end of this video.]
You can see Kevin’s nature-inspired artworks in a category on his Website called Inspired by Nature. Some of these sculptures were so much fun for Kevin, not only to create, but to step back after finishing the art and say, “Whoa, I made that. That’s cool!”
One of these artworks is Seymora seussicus, a 4 foot tall, 3D printed sculpture. It’s based on a snake plant with multiple tongues, if you will, or multiple stalks. Kevin 3D printed it on his 8-foot-tall Cerberus 3D Gigante 3D printer in rainbow filament. He shows the rainbow filament in a closeup of the pad on the stalk of the sculpture.
After 3D printing, Kevin painted the sculpture, painting the base to look more like gravel, the stems a dark green, a lighter green, then an even lighter green, to make them a little bit more lifelike. Kevin let the joy of creating beautiful things come out, not only of his heart, but also his mind and fingers. He says, “BE YOURSELF.”
Another sculpture was deeply inspired by nature and Kevin’s childhood. He grew up in a house with a weeping willow tree in its front yard. Kids were always playing in it, swinging from the branches, climbing up in the tree – just a great, great old memory. When a commission came up for a big tree, Kevin thought, “I know! I know!” Says Kevin: “That’s the power of HAPPY MEMORIES.”
He created his kinetic sculpture Weeping Tree with large, hanging branches. Kevin then put big, wind-powered spinning flowers on the ends of the branches. He painted the flowers with color change paint so, as they turned or as you walked past Weeping Tree, the color of the leaves changes.
“God, I love my job!” says Kevin.
Another type of sculpture he’s created over the years in various forms is based on the ocotillo, a desert plant. It has thin stalks, lots of spikes, lots of thorns – it’s just a great old desert plant. Kevin saw ocotillos all the time when he was out riding his motorcycle or camping in the desert. You also see ocotillos in urban settings – he has one behind his house. Says Kevin: “LOOK AROUND you.”
Kevin loves bringing these plants to life, whether he sees them with his own eyes, whether they’re out in nature, on TV or the Internet, it’s just that little bit of inspiration. Meanwhile, he hears Mother Nature whispering in his ear, “You can do it! Go ahead!” Then Kevin gives the sculptures his flare, his own taste, if you will.
Kevin has created many different plants and trees, even some bugs and other critters. He feels inspired to take a page from Mother Nature with his own touch, and create it the way he would if he was in charge.
You can see all of his nature-inspired sculptures by visiting https://kevincaron.com , clicking on “PORTFOLIO,” then “ADDITIONAL WORK” and “INSPIRED BY NATURE.”
Before you enjoy more free how-to videos, you might want to stick around another moment to see “the leaf sculpture” fabricated. And then, of course, there are Kevin’s new earrings ….