Respect your personified vegetables
The past couple weeks at work have been the best in the two years I’ve been full time at my fathers company. I was assigned to the project of model making for a three foot tall version of Mr. Potato Head. Amanda and myself are making the original parts that the molds will be cast off of. There’s a substantial amount of hand work carving involved, which is something I spend a lot of my free time doing anyway, but its three fold more fun now because...
1. I’m getting paid to do it.
2. I’m learning new skills.
3. I’ve finally taken the opportunity to prove to everyone that I am capable of more than pushing a broom or grinding steel.
Respect from the shop foreman, my co-workers and my father means the most to me. They’ve finally placed their trust in me and I’ve delivered, and not just to the tune of approval, but to high praise from everyone. And honestly... it feels pretty fucking good. I’ve been overshadowed by far more experienced workers since I started there part time 3 years ago. And now after two years of this full-time job have passed my actual skills are finally seeing the light of day. It feels like my words have some weight to them now... It’s actually shell shocking in a way.
Example.
Today my father (owner of the company), Jeff and other management were brainstorming ideas on how to make a mold of the part I carved. The issue with making a mold for something so complex is that it takes multiple sections and each section adds the possibility tens of thousands of dollars to the sub-total of the project. Normally we use 1 part or 2 part molds, they were discussing the possibility of a 4 part mold. The obvious issue is that it would rocket us over budget. I made the suggestion of a flexible silicon mold, and it wasn’t only instantly taken into consideration, but agreed upon by everyone as the future plan within a minutes time.
I think to myself... “Now hold on... I’m the youngest person working here, I’m one of the least experienced people, and above all I’m the boss’s son and nobody is supposed to like the boss’s son never mind listen to him.... What the fuck just happened?”
This is the original toy version of the parrot for "Pirate Potato". It's a little blurry but you get the idea.
This is what the enlarged foam version looked like as of yesterday.
And today, Almost finished with the carving stage
Front view of the face detail.
These are the unfinished face parts that Amanda is working on.
Heres the older version of the 6 ft. potatohead left arm next to the 3ft. potatohead arm being prepared for fiberglass by Amanda.
1. I’m getting paid to do it.
2. I’m learning new skills.
3. I’ve finally taken the opportunity to prove to everyone that I am capable of more than pushing a broom or grinding steel.
Respect from the shop foreman, my co-workers and my father means the most to me. They’ve finally placed their trust in me and I’ve delivered, and not just to the tune of approval, but to high praise from everyone. And honestly... it feels pretty fucking good. I’ve been overshadowed by far more experienced workers since I started there part time 3 years ago. And now after two years of this full-time job have passed my actual skills are finally seeing the light of day. It feels like my words have some weight to them now... It’s actually shell shocking in a way.
Example.
Today my father (owner of the company), Jeff and other management were brainstorming ideas on how to make a mold of the part I carved. The issue with making a mold for something so complex is that it takes multiple sections and each section adds the possibility tens of thousands of dollars to the sub-total of the project. Normally we use 1 part or 2 part molds, they were discussing the possibility of a 4 part mold. The obvious issue is that it would rocket us over budget. I made the suggestion of a flexible silicon mold, and it wasn’t only instantly taken into consideration, but agreed upon by everyone as the future plan within a minutes time.
I think to myself... “Now hold on... I’m the youngest person working here, I’m one of the least experienced people, and above all I’m the boss’s son and nobody is supposed to like the boss’s son never mind listen to him.... What the fuck just happened?”
This is the original toy version of the parrot for "Pirate Potato". It's a little blurry but you get the idea.
This is what the enlarged foam version looked like as of yesterday.
And today, Almost finished with the carving stage
Front view of the face detail.
These are the unfinished face parts that Amanda is working on.
Heres the older version of the 6 ft. potatohead left arm next to the 3ft. potatohead arm being prepared for fiberglass by Amanda.