First work off the new pliers

Got my german surgical pliers today. Fantastic tools, and basically jewelry in and of themselves. This is a necklace I'm working on as another present.

Finished Necklace

This is a gift. For whom? I cannot mention here. Stainless wire, onyx and jasper.

New Necklaces

Here is the start of a new design. This is about 25% of it. Higher quality shots to follow.

Scan vs Photo

Recently Ruth and I have been in image capture hell. Or, to put it more mildly, we have learned a lot about what makes a good image capture. Here are two examples showing side by side crops at 100%. These are Ruth's original oil paintings on paper. They are about 25" x 15" overall. We need to capture for Ruth's upcoming book Lonely Bird's Friend. Of course it's obvious that a scanner is going to have higher quality than a camera if it is possible to use a scanner in a given situation. This experience really drives it home though.

Prior to seeing the scans, we were blown away by the image quality from our recent shoot on the Nikon. The right hand frame on each image here is from my Nikon D90 with a 50mm prime at f5.6 on a tripod and using diffused halogen lights. The left side is from a sheetfed scanner at 600 dpi, the right side is from the nikon at 300 dpi and 12 megapixels. To compare, the nikon's raw images are about 12-15 megabytes. The scans are 376 megabytes. So what's the catch? The scanner at our print shop is perfect in every way except it leaves banding and lines in the images making them unprintable–we think the scanner is out of adjustment. We go for an appointment next week to another print shop to try another scanner. High hopes for it.

Good advice, for some.

Don't fly kites near power lines. It is pretty good advice. Like many rules however, some can be bent, others can be broken. We often fly in our front yard. It has some really beautiful lines right above it. Getting close to them can be really photogenic.

Ruth in the studio - nearing completion of the book

These are among the final images which have to be done to complete Ruth's book - Lonely Bird's Friend

Finished lamp - carbon, stainless, spectra, cuben fiber

The makings of a counterweighted lamp

Two weeks ago I made this lamp. I'm working on the second. This one has a wooden base, the next one will be all carbon. This is a wall-mounted lamp that is counterweighted so it can be adjusted with two fingers to go anywhere within the 5 foot radius. It started with an idea for a bent wire junction.

Leather Jacket

In process, this is the first leather jacket I've ever made. I knocked off a patagonia jacket that I have and really like. The templates were very hard to get, so i used clear plastic to lay over the patagonia pieces. I traced the shapes onto the plastic, then I backlit them and traced them into paper templates. It turns out that I got the shapes within about 2 mm because the leather went together perfectly. I will post more images as I continue to finish this out. It's really soft, and not quite as shiny as this shot might suggest.

Raw silk shirt

I'm learning how to use this raw silk. It is a dream to sew. Amazing the way it takes stitching. I want to do gusseted dresses next.

Rust Wire Mobile

I made this when I was living in Australia. Ruth was taking a sculpture class and I was sitting around in the studio. There was a huge roll of this fantastic wire that had a really nice finish and took a curve really well. This was just a quick doodle and it came before this silghtly more complex wire mobile that I did from stainless steel.

How to make Dust Goggles.

I made these goggles for the dust in the desert at Burning Man. I am posting these images as instructions for those of you who might want to try making some of their own.

Good goggles for the desert are hard to find and they are very expensive if you do.

These are made from an old leather jacket, and from two pieces of tempered and UV resistant glass that I got from the halogen 'puck style' lights. I popped the glass out of the plastic ring. They also sell tinted circles that can be used for torch brazing which would be great. I wanted these for night also, so I'm leaving them clear.

The whole process took about 3 hours. If you have any questions please email me. You can get the address from our website.




Here is the link to the main page on our site. How to make leather and glass goggles.

Silk is amazing

So I finally finished this shirt. The strength of this sheer silk is beyond belief. I must admit that I had no idea that silk was as strong as I'd always heard. Like many things in life, they don't make real sense until you experience them for yourself. I can't wait to make some more clothing from silk now. Between silk and merino, I think I have my fiber requirements for my clothing totally covered for life.

Painting - Ruth Whiting - Tell Someone

Near completion, this is Ruth's first painting in this series. It's called Tell Someone. It's 3.5' x 5' and oil on canvas, I love it.

Mike Emery's Razzle Dazzle Flame in Finland

This is a razzle dazzle Flame designed for and living with Mike Emery. It's Flame number 16. Ruth and I designed it with the idea of the world war I camouflage scheme for the british and american ships. This flame is cold, but seems very at home in the snow.

LaceWings and Metalwings

Shadow work with a Lacewing Flame by Tim Elverston and Ruth Whiting. Ruth Whiting's shadow. Jose Sainz's winged rokkaku. Spread Eagle stainless wings by Bryan Tedrick of Glen Ellen, CA. Photos by Ian Lauder. Perhaps out most amazing day at BRC last year 2008.

Tell Someone | new painting by Ruth Whiting

I personally love this new direction for Ruth's painting. These are a few shots of the new work she is doing. I find the story so simple and powerful. The final image will be rendered to a very fine degree. I can't wait.




No this isn't flash photography, Ruth is projecting a sketch as a guide in the above two images.

Our facebook page

Here is a little page on facebook where you can find some info about what we're up to.

WindFire Designs Facebook Page.

Hand-tied iPhone Case

After resisting the urge to buy a case from the at&t store - I have a strong dislike of retail these days, I made this iPhone case using some scraps of kitesurfing kite bridle line. I figure it beats buying yet another thing with lots of packaging. Since having knots in this stuff in this context wouldn't work, I pierced through with a bridling tool and used spectra to bind it at the key points. This protects it well from being dropped on the corners, and stays out of the way of the controls and the invisible sensors on the front of the screen that sense brightness and holding it up to your face. Second gen might be sewn at the white points using the machine.




So, I couldn't stand it. I went through and replaced all the spectra with bar-tacks done with the sewing machine. Here is the design all cleaned up and nice looking.

CubenGami Kite - Mark 1 - It Flies!

I'm so excited, this is a long time in the making, at least in my head. This is the first of many and it still needs some tuning. The shape when it's loaded with wind pressure is outstanding.

Folded cuben fiber, carbon, spectra, stainless steel. No adhesive=happy Tim.

Major inspiration from Anke Sauer. Look under pyramid>pictures.

Great in case I forget where our best friends are

Paul builds his foil - a WindFire Zyzzle 1.4

This foil is a 1.4 square meter buggy kite that I designed with gracious help from dean jordan back in 2000. Paul is making one for himself in this series of shots. It's an incredibly fast and responsive small kite. Unlike trainer foils of a similar size, this kite has no shortcuts taken with the design and has a full bridle and rib count. It's amazing for high-wind buggying and because it's also built as an ultralight, with no unnecessary reinforcements, it can also fly in near zero wind. Revisiting this kite makes me want to design some more, almost 10 years later, wow how time flies. Here is the first flight.

Tangle study | by Erin Curry

I'm not sure if this piece has a name yet. I do know that it's a study for a much larger piece that will be made in a similar way. Erin Curry is a good friend of ours, and she is an amazing artist. I don't have the urge to purchase art very often, but when she showed me this series, I knew that one or two of these seductive objects had to live with me forever. Perhaps it's her consciousness and granular insight into materials and detail that I identify with and that draws me in to her work.

She is a primarily a fiber artist and a sculptor. To look on her time line, you would see that she is just starting her career. However, she shows maturity and vision in her work that would suggest a lifetime as an artist. If you pay attention as you get to know her, you'll understand at a deeper level what it can mean to work with fiber. She collects, understands, cares for, listens to, and gives back her life to the materials she works with, and it shows. She and her husband Tommy live near Ruth and myself here in Gainesville, FL. They are always commenting on the limits of their space, which is even smaller than ours. However, I think working under a quality constraint such as limited space is a great way to achieve intimacy and beauty in your work.

This piece is 12" x 6" x 3". Hand-spun wool, graphite powder, polycarbonate sheet, cotton binding. I adore it.

People seem to like boxes - Painted photon number 8 in a box

This painted mini photon is one of only 8 like it. This one is number 8 and it is leaving the nest. We thought it needed a suitable way to travel and a place to stay when it gets where it's going. It was purchased as a birthday gift from a sister to a brother.





This is a stainless steel winder that I made. It clips into the case and is easily removable. Kiters will see that it is a simple classic design that holds the 10 pound spectra neatly in a figure 8. I got a lot of positive response from the box I made for a necklace which I gave as a gift to Ruth's mother. This is my second presentation box that I've made so far. This one is made from black foam-core and self-adhesive dacron.

Ruth's Camera Kite | Process shots of the painting

The second layer of paint on this amazing quadline kite.

Ruth's Camera Kite | Process shots | painting first layer

This is the beginning of a quadline kite that is conceived of by Ruth Whiting and will be finished by Tim Elverston. This is on Cuben fiber and done with oil paint. We realized that we needed a way to chase the photographers that are always chasing us. More process shots to come soon.

Wing tip

Building a mini photon

Here is a time lapse of the final stage of building one of these little kites. This particular kite is sold to Scott Howlett - thanks Scott! I'm first putting clear reinforcements on the tips, then black fibrous reinforcement which gets hot-tack welded to prevent creep, and black bridle point circles. Then I hand bend the stainless fittings for each tip and fit and adjust those to the carbon frame, assemble the kite, and tie the bridle. This is nearly two hours of actual time with a photo taken every 5 seconds. Kite designed by Tim Elverston and Ruth Whiting of WindFire Designs. Carbon, spectra, cuben fiber, oil paint, stainless steel.

Clicking the HD button once the video is playing will increase the quality dramatically.

Painted cuben micro morpho

The painted mini morpho glider. I have made only one prototype that is blank. Ruth designed these graphics and this is number two. Shown here lying against a window patiently receiving her beautiful design.




Ruth continues to develop her style painting on cuben fiber. Here she is putting on the second layer of color after the first layer was dry. This is stuck to a window using water so that she can see in real time how the color will look when backlit. I will post images of the finished paint job in a few hours.

Foil design jig

I decided long ago that while computers are perfect for many jobs, they were not suited to accomplish the entire task of designing the foils that I wanted to fly and make for ourselves. While I do indeed use computers for much of the process, the core of the shape is done very like lofting a boat. These kites really are far too much work to be for sale, but this is how I sculpted them with a life-size model. This jig is used to to find the non-intuitive shapes of each cell. These were taken in 2001—hard to believe it's been so long.

Flying the MiniMorpho under the streetlight

Well, we really like this kite. Graphics come next, Ruth is excited. We were worried that it wouldn't glide, but luckily we were wrong. This thing almost flies itself.  We were getting 30 and 40 second runs with totally slack line.

Cuben MiniMorpho Glider | Snipits from the build

I built this very small cuben morpho glider last night. I haven't flown it much yet, but it seems like a lot of fun. There is a problem at this scale with the stiffness of the cloth, and I think this might come into play with this kite. We'll see.

Micro cuben fiber pocket

It sews itself on as you insert the rod. This one is a test fitting, but I'm about to use it in an actual kite. I'm quite proud of the minimalism here, and I also like the fact that this fitting avoids glue, have I mentioned lately that I dislike glue? The rod is .030 - this stuff is tiny.

Time lapse of the Rabble Mobile

The Rabble Mobile. This mobile is actually 7 kites called mini photon fighter kites. Designed by Tim Elverston and painted by Ruth Whiting. Each kite weighs only 4.6 grams. They are 22 inches in span and can be removed and flown indoors or out. Materials are: carbon, cuben, spectra, stainless steel, and oil paint.

If you enjoy this, I highly recommend watching it in HD. You have to click play first and then 'watch in HD' near the bottom right of the video - then full screen it - this is easier if you go to youtube. Thank you Tom and Edith for letting us play in your beautiful house. Tom Smith designed and helped build this incredible piece of architecture.

Seven piece painted photon mobile

Not sure what the actual chances are, but now that all 7 are in a space that they like, waiting around for them to line up like this is quite the game.

Mobile from Photon kites

When you want to fly them, you can easily detach each kite and hang a 4.6 gram placeholder in its position. I put this together last night after living with the now seven mini photons for almost a week. They were hung on a line all together in my office. They were obviously dying to become a mobile. This is a 5 piece, which you can see is the maximum allowed in this space. I am going to a friend's house to do all 7. I will shoot and post a time lapse.

The details of the pieces

As with all mobiles, this one is also very difficult to capture. These are detail shots that show the wire work a little more closely. They are so light, and the joining method makes the whole system so frictionless, that they move absolutely constantly. I often imagine them moving even when I'm not there, perhaps in the middle of the night when no one is even watching.

Black and white mobile - ten piece

Along with the installation of this lamp, I also made this two-layer mobile for Sidney Wade. In her house she has this fantastic flight of stairs with a very high ceiling. When I first saw the stairwell, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for it. I started with 14 rectangles of the simple fold pattern. I then decided on the progression of the sizes. Cut the circles and stitched them to the wire frames. I worked out that there are over 270 knots in this mobile but they are nearly invisible. 

Evan Roth - Vienna show - Available Online for Free

Our friend, and we hope a future collaborator of ours Evan Roth, is having a show of his recent work.  It's in Vienna.  Two good links are here ni9e and here advancedminority. From the show's text:

February 26th 

Advanced Minority, Vienna

AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE is the first solo show of Graffiti Research Lab co-founder Evan Roth. This exhibition contains new as well as past work and includes pieces currently in the permanent collection of the MoMA NYC as well as prints from the latest Jay-Z video. Driven by his motto “release early, often and with rap music”, humor, activism, hip-hop and technology are frequent themes that carry across multiple media, including custom computing hardware, lasers, prints and canvases. The title of the exhibition, AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE, alludes to the friction between the artist’s interest in utilizing the web as a medium for freely sharing content and ideas, and the art world’s interest in unique objects and limited editions. While many of the works created for the gallery are indeed unique, they are also made available for free online in their digital form.

Party for six mini photons

Well, here are 6 of the 7.  I need to take them out and fly them together and do a real photo session. We are going to take these to San Vito Sicily this year. I'm thinking of clustering them, but first I guess we need tails for that. They fly so well as fighters that I'm a little reluctant to put tails on them.

Second color scheme for Mini Photon

All seven mini photons are now painted. We're trying to decide on the sex of the two color schemes. I'm not sure which I like best yet.

Tape folding jig

I made this ages ago when I worked for Guildworks. I was digging through old photos and found it. I love this jig. It folds tape in half and removes the paper backing all in on operation. Each part is is adjustable. The wire is actually wire we stole from a nail making factory upstairs from our shop. What a crazy time.

Four Morpho Grandes

Four of our 14 foot deltas. They are polyester and carbon.  

Wire mobile doodle

I got some new wire recently. You can get this stuff from mcmaster carr. It's stainless aircraft wire. It's thicker than I've ever had and takes a beautiful curve. This is a quick doodle, but I'm wanting to make some large outdoor mobiles this way.

Four show kites

I built these four cuben morphos for a show a few months back. I was particularly happy with the fittings. I never flew them, but we did make two painted lacewing ones that we kept.

The smallest origami pattern my fingers can do

This is the simplest origami pattern I know, but done this small it's not quick. I'm gearing up to make a new mobile. This piece was used to make the smallest circle in this 7 piece mobile I made about a year ago.

Mini Photon's first flight in the daylight

Daylight is certainly good for these little creatures. You can tell they flourish in it, and possibly get some nutrient that we are not aware of from enough exposure. Ruth and dean helped it fly while I tried to get a few photos. The other night I said that I bet it weighs less than a nickel. We weighed it today and I was right, as shown here on the scale it's 4.6 grams. Ruth's paint and the light properties of the cuben show more and more compatibility as she gets used to working with it. Bowed back as it is in flight, it's span is about 22 inches or 56 cm.

Built mini photon

Wow, how things change when they actually become what they are meant to be. They fly so well I don't even know what to type. We flew this last night at the architecture school here at UF. It's a semi-enclosed space that is open at the top. There was an updraft which I was able to take advantage of. It was flying directly over my head in vertical wind that was escaping the building through the absent ceiling.

Second layer on the mini photon

Ruth is about to put the third layer of color on this design. I thought I would capture an image of them in the second stage of their paint job.

Ruth Whiting's flying fire hydrant

Ruth made this kite last year. It started with some research and a sketch. The sketch was done full sized and then traced onto heavier Cuben fiber. She then painted it in and framed it. We were ever-so-lucky to have one of Robert Trepanier's famous quadline dogs show up for a visit.