art

Today is Saturday. And I almost went into work again. Not because I’m so overwhelmed with work that I need to catch up (even though I probably do). Not because I forgot and thought it was Friday. Not because I’m a workaholic. Because I wanted to.

My job is to take ideas and make them 3-D, then communicate it through pictures to someone who makes it a reality. I haven’t climbed a wind turbine, but I am putting one together piece-by-piece. Every cable, bracket, washer, bolt, bearing, and gear.

And there is an art to it. I not only sculpt these parts from simple shapes, I have to build them as simply and clearly as possible. That information is communicated through a drawing, where dimensioning schemes and tolerances have to cooperate to ensure a functioning assembly. I control the clear expression of information. There is no single “right” way to take a 3-meter-diameter cast metal rotor hub with hundreds of holes, fill five sheets with different views and sections and angles, and produce something that can be handed all by itself to a machine shop to create the final product.

And you’d better believe it’s fun. Frustrating sometimes, sure, but let’s be serious – I get to DESIGN all day long. Model and put together machines that take WIND and make them ELECTRICITY. How crazy cool is that?

I think most of this came about because my fingers are tingling to do something artistic. I want to balance out my visual, virtual job with a visual, physical art – which has been pushing me toward pottery/ceramics, since I anticipate very little success with paint :) But in thinking about why art is so refreshing to me, I took a good look at my work and realized that a lot of the reasons I appreciate creating apply in my office too.

So basically, I’m thankful today for that.