A blast from the past

T

Thomas Wayne

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was just going through an old hard-drive, pulling off any photos I care about before I shred it, and I found a bunch of mid-90's images I had forgotten about.

This one was poster art I made for a cue I called "Puzzle [for Maurits]", depicting the two inspirational sources for the cue. Along with the cue, the buyer got the poster, and a deep-frame shadow box with the original Escher Sky and Water II print and the tear-out from a tattoo magazine featuring American sideshow "freak" Paul Lawrence ("The Enigma"). Also on the shadow box were various extra ivory inlay in the form of "puzzle pieces".

The entire cue is inlaid using unique 4-axis techniques that had not been used by anyone (even me) prior to this cue. A close look at the buttsleeve reveals that the thin Ivory lines separating the Ebony puzzle pieces are continuous without seams - which had never been done before, and to my knowledge has not been done since.

Enjoy:

NEWESCH_zpsklsynpvo.jpg


TW
(PS: Baseball great Dizzy Dean famously said. "It ain't bragging if you done it". One of my favorite quotes.)

 
I'm trying to imagine how the hell did the ivory get onto the cue....or....the ebony got on the ivory.

Good stuff.
 
ill bet you spent an hour designing the front and back "obvious puzzle pieces" and a month designing the transition from each. I'm not sure a better flow could have been achieved, at least not one I can visualize.

Top 5 of your most difficult?
 
The puzzle cue is cool and all, but there is a hard drive full of TW pics from the 90's, and all we get is 1-puzzle cue pic?
That's it?

I read "I found a bunch of mid-90's images I had forgotten about" and got a little
psyched up about seeing some cues I haven't seen, so you can imagine my disappointment.

:smile:
 
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Cue is mind boggling. Would be impressive if finished yesterday. To have done it twenty years ago is unbelievable.

Larry
 
Thomas Wayne said:
I was just going through an old hard-drive, pulling off any photos I care about before I shred it, and I found a bunch of mid-90's images I had forgotten about.

This one was poster art I made for a cue I called "Puzzle [for Maurits]", depicting the two inspirational sources for the cue. Along with the cue, the buyer got the poster, and a deep-frame shadow box with the original Escher Sky and Water II print and the tear-out from a tattoo magazine featuring American sideshow "freak" Paul Lawrence ("The Enigma"). Also on the shadow box were various extra ivory inlay in the form of "puzzle pieces".

The entire cue is inlaid using unique 4-axis techniques that had not been used by anyone (even me) prior to this cue. A close look at the buttsleeve reveals that the thin Ivory lines separating the Ebony puzzle pieces are continuous without seams - which had never been done before, and to my knowledge has not been done since.

Enjoy:

NEWESCH_zpsklsynpvo.jpg


TW
(PS: Baseball great Dizzy Dean famously said. "It ain't bragging if you done it". One of my favorite quotes.)
Click to expand...


TW, my man. Long time no see, my friend. My wife still has that straight ebony cue we got from you at the expo back in '99. It's a little banged up here and there, but overall, still in good condition. Hope all is well with you.
MULLY
yeah, let's see some more of these pics
 
Love this cue... Just remarkable not only for the time it was done but now as well.. TW, this is one of if not THE cue that started it all IMO..
 
LGSM3 said:
ill bet you spent an hour designing the front and back "obvious puzzle pieces" and a month designing the transition from each. I'm not sure a better flow could have been achieved, at least not one I can visualize.
Click to expand...

Damn! I forgot to mention if you sight down th length of the butt you see that the ever-growing ebony "spaces" form five obvious "points". When I debuted the cue at the 1995 Showcase of American Cue Art, everyone held it and studied it from the side view. So when they were done pondering it I got an extra "kicker" reaction by holding it so they could view it in perspective. It always surprised them that I was such a genius to have thought of that... and it always surprised me that they didn't realize I had no idea it would be that way until the cue was finished. All in all a very happy accident.


LGSM3 said:
Top 5 of your most difficult?
Click to expand...

Not even close.

TW

 
dom_poppa said:
but how does it hit?
Click to expand...

Big bolt flat faced joint, 1" ivory ferrules and triangle tips stacked on a thin black pad. Except for Tad's two-piece tips (of which I still have several packets) there was no such thing as "laminated tips", and LD shaft technology had yet to catch on. So you tell me.

TW

 
Absolutely amazing, beautiful, and mind boggling.
As others have already said:

1) would be extremely impressive by today's standards nevertheless 20 years ago.
2) ease, let us see more!
 
Genius at work, there.

I take my hat off to you sir but not outside because it is currently hot as hell down here in The Hill Country of Texas!
 
Gorgeous cue! What an insane design. I'd love to see any other pictures you might have to share of your work.
 
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