Thursday, June 2, 2011

Designer Vinyl Toy Blowout Sale June 10th



FRIDAY JUNE 10TH 2PM - 10PM

Former local Vinyl Toy shops Synthetic Compound and Kaiju-X3 have teamed up along with Red Hot Robot and The Rusted Nail to bring you this fully loaded Designer Vinyl Toy sale. Featuring items by Kid Robot, threeA, Toy2R, Play Imaginative, Ugly Doll, StrangeCo, Super7, MINDstyle, and many more. Including autographed, rare & sold out items, open blind box, custom fodder, and much much more.

Come down and buy/sell/trade with local collectors and shops. Door buster deals, snacks and drinks, raffles, and more. At 6pm the local 2nd Friday art event kicks off, so stick around and check out other local shops and vendors set up along Main Street.

Have stuff to sell? Tables are available for $10. Share a table with friends and save some cash to spend on more vinyl. Grab your friends and family and see you there June 10th.

Contact therustednail@cox.net for table info and event details.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

2010 - year in review

rustedhalo 2010 - the year Steampunk broke



Click For Image Set On Flickr

I spent most of 2010 doing Steampunk related art shows and events, mostly locally here in Arizona. Kicked it off with the Steampunk Spectacular show at Evermore Nevermore in Mesa, AZ Feb. 12th and 13th. Discovered Arizona had a lot of talented artists who were into Steampunk. I met Ed Schenck who makes some awesome metal sculptures. He introduced me to Davin Lavikka who owned ArtSpace on Sixth, a gallery in Scottsdale, AZ. Davin invited me to another Steampunk show later that month at the gallery. As a kid in art class, Scottsdale art galleries were the only art I was exposed to back then. So for me to have my work in a Scottsdale art gallery just blew my mind. The show was insane and I met a bunch more people that were into the Steampunk scene.

In march I did something a little different. I was asked to be a part of a custom Kubkar show of sorts. Kubkar is the Canadian equivalent to the Pinewood Derby cars the Cub Scouts have here in the US. It wasn't a typical art/custom show, but something put together by a scout leader and art lover. The kids enjoyed it and I was glad to be a part.

One of my biggest and longest projects of the year, actually probably of all time took a greater part of two months. If 2010 was anything else it was the year of threeA for me. Other then a couple Doktor A and Andrew Bell releases most of my money went to threeA and Ashley Woods awesome robots. Well I decided to take a stab at robot making myself and constructed a 1:1 scale(about 5-6') cardboard Bramble. I posted WIP pics over on the Custom Toy Union message board and received lots of comments. Cardboard is the new vinyl.

After doing the show at Evermore Nevermore I discovered that Mesa had it's own Second Friday Art Walk and had a nice selection of shops, galleries, and vendors on Main Street. In May I set up for the first time and sold a bunch of stuff. Needles to say this was a repeat even in 2010 for me.

2010 also saw my first 100% sculpted, casted and painted resin figure in my Zombie Slugs: From Planet 13. After meeting local resin guru KiLL! and becoming good friends, I got a bunch of tips on doing my own resin stuff. They saw their debut at Phoenix Comicon May 26th-30th. After setting up at Designer Con in 2009 I was stoked to do another show. Splitting the booth again with KiLL! to save on cost. 5 days of PHXCC was a bit much for the both of us, but sales were great. I broke even on Friday and by Sundays end made $300. Not too shabby.

In June I was asked to be a part of Evil Dead: The Musical during it's opening night at the Phoenix Theatre. Being an Evil Dead fan I was stoked about this. Ended up being mostly the same vendors that are out in Mesa for Second Friday, but it was a nice laid back atmosphere and we all got tickets to see the show for free.

July, well we all know what happens in July. It's time for San Diego Comic Con. Despite all the drama that went along with the custom Dunny I did for the Custom Toy Union Dunny Series that was released at SDCC I had a good time at the con. There wasn't too many big releases this year I was chasing so I was able to focus on my own art. Other then the random tweets with give-a-ways, I had some customs in my bag selling at random places. Like in front of the October Toys and Steamcrow booths. I also had 2 custom Symbiotes over at the Symbiote Studios booth. One of the owners really liked my piece and said they'd be in contact with me about doing a possible artist series.

Along with the Second Friday Art Walk setups another new venue and showcase started in 2010. Atomic Comics Bizarre Bazaar which showcased local artists, mostly comic book related. It was a once a month thing with different featured artists. Indoors and really laid back. Didn't do a whole lot of sales, but then again the event was FREE so it was worth it just to set up and meet people and chat. KiLL! and myself brought something different to the comic book crowd.

October brought yet another Steampunk event. This time Steampunk Street in Mesa Oct. 8th hosted by Evermore Nevermore. Tons of Steampunk artists, vendors, cosplayers took over Main street Friday night. I was asked by Bob of Evermore Nevermore to help with this event by bringing in some talent. I got local Monsterologist Daniel Davis of Steamcrow to join in the fun as well as up-and-comer edstuff from the Custom Toy Union message board, who sent me two of his awesome metal robot sculptures. Again, crazy to see this Steampunk thing just take off in front of my eyes.

November was a crazy month for me. With Designer Con quickly approaching and several projects not anywhere near done it was time to get cranking. Along with the Designer Con stuff I was also asked to be a part of the custom Sketchbot show at Munky King the day before Designer Con. Along with the regular customs, I was also working on my second resin piece. After meeting and talking with Sucklord at SDCC I wanted to do something up his alley. I'm a huge Star Wars fan and especially enjoy the droids. So I created a Steampunk styled Power Droid 3.25" figure and of coarse it came in the classic blister pack style. Designer Con was a blast. I finally got to meet one of my favorite artists, the great Doktor A. He stopped by my booth on Friday while I was setting up and introduced himself. One of the nicest artists in this scene I've met.

Hot off the heals of Designer Con, back in Arizona KiLL! and myself were asked to headline the Nov. 27th Bizarre Bazaar event at Atomic Comics. It was nice to have our names on the flier, but the event still seemed it was lacking promotion. Still a nice FREE event to set up at.

While out in LA I was also asked to be a part of the custom OMI show at Munky King. I was a little disappointed with the cheap plastic figure and its shoddy base that quickly broke when I tried to assemble it. It was a pretty simple custom, but I was still happy with the way it turned out.

2010 also saw the soft launch of rusted-halo.net my first real website and me finally setting up some pieces at local vinyl shop Red Hot Robot. The first couple pieces sold instantly and I'm sure 2011 will see more of my stuff at Red Hot Robot.

So what does 2011 hold? Well throughout 2010 I have been all over Arizona checking out local art scenes and galleries. I've been looking into opening my own gallery for some time now and only met with disappointment and over priced property. After discovering the scene in Mesa I think I've found a place I'd enjoy. After a lot of juggling with realtor agents I finally spoke with the owner of a property I've been eying up. Last week I got the key and walked in. The owner is out of town and we still need to discuss some issues, but 2011 will see The Rusted Nail Gallery in Mesa, AZ.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

SDCC/CTU custom Dunny Capt. Dornburg



Capt. Dornburg, a social reject has vowed to make his presence known. Created by the evil genius rustedhalo, Dornburg must now fight his way back into the hearts of Dunny collectors. Armed with only his ray gun, he will blast anybody that stands in his way.

Custom 3" Dunny complete with hand casted resin hat and cloth cape. Initially supposed to be a part of the CTU Dunny series, then pulled from the series. I went ahead and did them anyway and released them at SDCC(San Diego Comic Con). The remainder are now available for sale online through the CTU Store for $35. At last check only 7 remain.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

SDCC Zombie Slugs: Comic Con Charcoal Disguise exclusive



San Diego Comic Con exclusive charcoal colorway limited to only 6 pieces. $15 each. I will not have a table or be set up anywhere so you'll have to find me. Follow me on Twitter @rustedhalo for more info on where to find me and ways to score some FREE swag just for finding me at SDCC.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Evil Dead: The Musical art show


I was invited to be a part of this art show during the opening night of Evil Dead: The Musical at Phoenix Theatre's Little Theatre Art Space 100 E. McDowell Rd. June 12th @6:30PM. The art event is FREE to the public and does not include entry to the Evil Dead: The Musical show.

I'm not sure what all I will have out at the event as a lot of my stuff was sold at Phoenix Comicon. I have some single buttons left, but all button packs are sold out. I hope to make some more jewelry and have some of my new T-shirts done in time for the show. If you're in AZ be sure to come check this out.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Zombie Slugs: From Planet 13 resin figures




My first resin figure entitled Zombie Slugs: from planet 13 was available this past weekend at Phoenix Comicon. The first picture is of my original sculpt using Super Sculpey, my preferred sculpting medium. I tried using 2 different casting materials/methods. A brush on mold using some cheap Cast n Crafts latex brand which yielded a figure with less bubbles, but more distorted and messy. The second was a 1 part mold using Tap Plastics Silicone mold, it yielded more bubbles bit with a bit of sanding a much cleaner figure. You can see the varied results in the second pic.

The figures stand in at just over 3" and come bagged with header cards(as seen) for $15 plus shipping. I still have some available if interested. SpankyStokes posted a review with a pic of my first test paint. I'll post some updates on the message boards so if you want one act fast. However if you do miss out I'm working with a couple companies to release other color exclusives. Stay tuned for details on that.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Introducting the Incandescent Bros. custom Dunnys


I found some old small light bulbs in the garage and this little idea just clicked in my head, like a light going off. Not much to these guys, a simple dry brush copper and rivet effect to go with the old light bulbs. I decided to name them Swan and Edison after the two most notable creators of the Incandescent light bulb. They will be available for sale this Friday in Mesa, AZ at my table for the 2nd Friday downtown event.