Ozarks coastline has a retail store!

Yes, I've been "kinda quiet" for a few months due to a health issue but I'm back in the studio now!   I'll detail those things in an upcoming blog, but for now I need to share the latest creation from the laser lab.

To a lifelong musician who has dedicated so many years to polishing his art, letting another person walk away with a part of your instrument is, at a minimum, challenging.  This is especially challenging considering the controlled chaos it's about to endure under my laser!  With that said, I greatly appreciate Jody Guy Cottengim showing me the trust to do such a thing.

This is a 14" Zildjian crash cymbal, a part of the drum kit that Jody plays to the delight of audiences on a regular basis with a band that is well known and highly respected not only in the Springfield MO music scene but across the region.  He had this idea in his mind's eye for some time but it wasn't until he and I discussed what I can do with my laser on brass that his imagination blossomed with creativity.  So, I borrowed a 'retired' cymbal from him to do some testing.  Once I was confident with how the material would react, I created an entire cymbal covered with images using different techniques resulting in different colors and textures.  He liked the "test" cymbal so much, he played it live at his next show!  That cymbal had been retired because it was what might be considered "worn out".  Years of tarnish, hairline cracks in the bell...it didn't matter.  Jody played that cymbal and was still beaming about it when I spoke with him about it several days later.

Although he does change things up from time to time, Jody's 'normal' drum kit has five cymbals he considered for laser art.   After some consideration for the design, he told me what he was thinking of; 'circles, flowing like water'.  Now I had what I needed to start designing.  After several attempts and not getting what I wanted, it hit me that a whirlpool effect would create a flowing effect and imply movement better than anything else I had tried, so I began working whirlpools into the design and found it to be like opening the window on that first warm spring day!  Over the next few days I created a variety of designs similar to the on in the image.  When I showed them to Jody, there was no hesitation in the "yes".

This cymbal represents a handful of hours working on the design and roughly ten hours working on the laser.  Due to the convex shape, it is impossible to etch an area more than a few square inches at a time without the angle becoming too great to be effective. That shape also causes spacing to become distorted and needs constant attention to how the "Z axis" is affecting the result.  This cumbal was finely aligned, focused and etched in a small area nearly thirty times.  Each time with particular attention to alignment, as it all has to meet up on the other side.  

Once I had finished this cymbal and taken some photos, I sent a pic to Jody and he wasted no time getting here to lay his hands on it!  That smile is what it's all about.

I've seen Jody perform hundreds of times through the year, always with his brother Stoney, who also happens to be an incredibly talented musician.  I've been on the "customer side" of Jody sharing his art with me for years.  This is the first time I've been able to be the artist and the rewards are stellar.  Thanks for putting your trust in me, Jody!

One complete and four to go.  I'll keep you updated as we go along and there are more pics in the gallery.