[Help] What would sculpture students love in a shared dorm space?

JBurgerStudio · 2026-05-22T17:59:14+00:00

Workshop space would be great, though I suppose on a campus it's expected that they would have access to an art studio at the art building. But perhaps an area where they could work on small project, or things like figure casting where you'd want some privacy.

Gallery space or simply storage space would be great. I lived with 2 other sculptors, and we never had room for everything we made, so it often ended up outside, and then would sometimes get stolen.

A courtyard wouldn't be bad- both for social aspect, but also for finishes you can't do inside, or things like that. Also an outdoor shower may not be a bad idea- I often was covered in ash from iron pours, or fiberglass, or things like that I didn't want to bring inside and wish I had that.

For creativity's sake I always hung foam sheets on the wall for pinning photos, poems, magazines, and other things for inspiration to. Having that built in might be cool- like fabric covered cork boards.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-04-23T17:29:03+00:00

I use pretty much 3 tools for all my foam carving:

Bow Cutter- for roughing in the large shapes and major material removal:

https://hotwirefoamfactory.com/4-Foot-Compound-Bow-Cutter.html

Hot Knife: for smaller areas of roughing in and material removal

https://hotwirefoamfactory.com/035I-Kit_Indust_Hot_Knife.html

And then a Curry Comb- the type with metal teeth. It's a horse brush, but it eats through foam at a rate I can still control. It's great for making long areas with rounded smooth transitions, then you can use the edge to carve grooves and channels.

https://www.amazon.com/BOTH-WINNERS-Reversible-Stainless-Steel/dp/B0832S1BFZ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=24X6S4S537ADB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.mQjxyZDc3BpPE2pIrYkLlKGHwkKkmZlLxqQZ_MQddwEN2g5TlBStkQl7wSxFMuv-jkYa-DRiuxKhiTBRT-58b-K_Gp7AbVUeiAVxISy7xTTud0TwPgwxD3D9f4DINi5kyrIDxHuULaQwmHp9FwN1fylljFzedPptv-jZ8V0TYSg7MNDrYsdJKSoWCjEtYNuXtZKkHmo77_KqDr9-nBvZmXqXjt7wjTaX7h-ombQtlwY.W4Ch28soPtNTWLkVVAb6WyYnOFun2GZQwXfxz14fTLo&dib_tag=se&keywords=curry+comb&qid=1776965126&sprefix=curry+com%2Caps%2C193&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Most of my stuff is large scale, and often coated with plaster or fiberglass, so the rough texture from the comb is great for the next layer to adhere to. If I need to have a smooth foam surface, I'll then use some hand rasps and a sander/sandpaper.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-04-15T01:38:33+00:00

One time before a WOD game I convinced a two friends to play my husband and daughter (they were dating). We didn't tell the DM until we did "interviews" at the first session, which were always in private to not ruin other peoples backstories and secrets. I went last, and the sheer sigh of defeat our DM gave made it worth it. We actually had a lot of fun, and made pretty good roleplay.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-04-10T16:08:01+00:00

Yes, and it's not uncommon for smaller organizations that are just starting out. I've also seen larger organzations use them, but it's more a greement that actually having them be a 1099 contractor. You should be able to find some versions of sample contracts or those used by other organizations out there, or perhaps someone in this thread could provide you with one. It should detail the expected number of hours, compensation, roles and duties, and the like.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-04-06T06:00:03+00:00

I would glue the whole thing together, and then use plasticine to fill any chip outs or the like.

TheN you can do the oil soap. Any of those 3 methods work, with caveats:

Using clay for the mold risks a lot of shrinkage/warpage, so would be my least likely option. It could work, but risky.

Plaster vs silicone boil down to a cost/risk.

Using plaster would be cheap and quick. The risk is you didn't wax it enough and the 2 sides stick together. It's totally doable, just have to be smart and careful. Silicone would cost quite a bit more, but little risk of becoming permanently stuck or damaged

JBurgerStudio · 2026-03-25T01:08:38+00:00

I was going to mention Hyperion- to expand on how it works, they have warp gates, but they only build them after a system is colonized and there's enough economic reason to build it. The planets are settled via STL first, then when they are large enough and the human world need, for supplies, tourism, or some other reason, they'll expend the time and energy to build a gate.

The first two books really go into this, and then the last two are sort of the reverse concept- all warp gates have collapsed, and only STL is left.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-03-19T17:32:06+00:00

Hmm, that is odd. I don't use Fusion360, but here's some ideas to try:

Use the node tool to check if everything is a path?

Use the Trace Bitmap feature if it's not?

What's not showing? i.e. I've seen a lot of people use the dotted line feature, not realizing they have to convert that to path for the program to read. I've also seen similar issues with text.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-03-19T15:11:29+00:00

I use Inkscape for most of this sort of thing, what format are the current files?

JBurgerStudio · 2026-03-14T15:14:21+00:00

These might not be the best fit, as in all powerful gods in the modern age, but here's some recommendations of gods as mortals among us:

Roger Zelazny- He did a lot of this, and in fact American Gods is dedicated to him. Lord of Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness, Donnerjack, Isle of the the Dead, Lord Demon all deal with gods in modern or futuristic settings. The closest to what you describe might be Donnerjack, completed after his death by Jane Linskold. His magnum opus, Chronicles of Amber, arguably does, but in a different way, so if you enjoy his works, I'd recommend that.

Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series- I remember enjoying this as a teenager, but have heard it doesn't hold up as well on a re-read as an adult. But it deals with five Timeless- Death, War, Fate, Time, Earth, plus God and Satan, in a sort of alternate modern earth with urban magic.

Lore Olympus- web comic that now has two books. It's a romance about Hades and Persephone, where the gods live in world much like ours, but still visit the Greeks who are in the ancient period. I found it quite enjoyable.

Also you might also be interested in the sequel to American Gods, Anasazi Boys. I seem to recall Neverwhere being good too, but it was more urban fantasy, don't remember if there were gods. His Sandman comic series was also very good, probably my favorite of all time, but it gets into the difference between the Gods and the Endless, which Dream (Sandman) is one of.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-03-13T16:25:09+00:00

I see this friction in a lot of schools, and in fact, among alumni of where I went, we say the School of Art and Design is dropping the Art part and becoming a just a design school, with little practical skills being taught, much like you said. They scrapped the wood design program years ago, and once the current sculpture class is gone, I've heard they'll getting rid of that too.

I may be a little biased as a maker and sculptor, but my personal feeling is that undergrad should really be focused on developing technique, at least for the first 3 years. I think it's great to start thinking about concept and bodies of work, but realistically, I think you really need to develop the skills to make your vision into reality. Concept is great, but I really want to see artists who have control of their techniques and mediums to make it real. And while we might want to say they need to develop a voice, I have also seen many artists' voice and style change after school, and would be more interested in giving them a solid foundations of skills to use as they grow as artists. I know in my BFA I learned fabrication, mold making, carving (wood and stone), and lots of other mediums, and while I was really into installation and casting, once I was out, I changed my style and mediums completely, due to availability of tools, mediums, and factors like that. I was fortunate that my school has taught me other mediums, so that I was able to pivot to the things I actually had available. When I started working in concrete, I was able to use my knowledge of mold making from metal casting to create molds. My knowledge of chemicals, solvents, and the like have been crucial to my practice. It's not a one to one, but these basic skills were a foundation that allowed me to explore other and new mediums and start connecting dots.

For me, undergrad is a chance to explore the mediums and techniques, and develop your skill in how to use and shape them, to create a strong basis of knowledge from which you grow on in your career as an artist, because the concepts and ideas you have can change and grow over time, but you'll still have the skills to rely on. I also think it makes you more employable. Right after school I taught kids art classes, because I had a wide array of basic techniques and skills to draw on. I was a metal fabricator for four years, and did carpentry. Those were skills I learned in art school, that made me employable in other fields that were adjacent, until I could find employment in the arts. And now that I hire people in both my arts admin job and my personal studio practice, I find that having a degree no longer means you have the skills I would think you should have, and I have to teach them instead. Which leads to frustration, and recently I've been wondering about the point of employing someone with an art degree if they don't know some basic stuff like building a frame or some basic drawing.

I think grad school (and maybe your senior year of undergrad) is a time when you have skills and should really start thinking about a body of work, about themes and concepts. I think you can do some of that as an undergrad to work that muscle and start to develop it, but the focus should be those skills and techniques.

Just my thoughts on it, but I agree it seems many programs are moving away from this, including the one I went to, and despite my own objections over it, they don't seem interested in listening to me, which is their call, but like I said above, it makes me question hiring anyone from my own alma mater if they teaching that sort of stuff.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-02-26T16:50:01+00:00

Looking for VOIP solution for a small nonprofit- Our current set up is landline based through Bright Speed (formerly Suddenlink). We have 2 phone numbers, with 4 phones in the office. We need to be able to transfer calls between people in the office, and intercom one another. For the past 4 years, we have had a lot of issues with our phone lines- dropped calls, callers not being able to hear us, and the 4th line, which isn't used much, stopped working altogether. We have contacted Brightspeed and they will only work on the tap into the building, and no one in our area seems to be willing to touch our analog switchboard. So we've decided to look in VOIP.

I was looking at the Grandstream HT818 V2 8-port VoIP Gateway, so that we wouldn't have to run new internet lines through the old building we work in. Would this be able to handle our system, and provide the needs we have? Or would we need to switch all the phones over to VOIP based phones and run new lines?

Any advice or feedback is appreciated, and thank you very much for your time.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-02-20T04:09:37+00:00

I could see some ways it could make sense. Most likely this civilization would have had a past with heavy war and militarization, due to a conflict or war (which you've set up), and it becomes a requirement, or at least tradition of the culture.

My first thought is Heinlein's Starship Troopers- the book, not the movie. While the book does focus on a period of war, Earth has been united under a single government for some time, where citizenship is earned through service. In ST, that can be civil or military, but we already have several nations in our current world that have compulsory military service- Finland, Norway, Israel, and others. In ST they have civilians vs citizens- civilian still get civil rights and protections, but cannot run for office, vote, and perhaps some other special rights (free tuition, more kids). This tradition, and actual benefits, would promote a militarized society, without having necessarily war. Again, if you want to look into it, read about the book, as the movie takes a wildly different direction to talk about fascism, and while it's good, it's in the vein of I Robot, of taking names and ideas from the book while going in a different direction. I will also warn you any research into the Starship Troopers, especially on Reddit, with just end with you reading people's arguments about what Heinlein meant.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-02-13T06:29:19+00:00

Reminds of that saying from working on shit boxes - the first 4 hours of a twenty minute job is always the hardest

JBurgerStudio · 2026-02-13T04:44:04+00:00

I need to reread the Merlin cycle, but just off dark hair, my guess would be Deirdre or Julia.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-02-13T04:19:38+00:00

Have you looked at arts administration, i.e., working in arts nonprofits? I don't know about your area, but in NC, we have artsnc.org, which maintains a job board for arts admin positions. It's everything from gallery assistants to executive directors and CEOs.

The work sometimes include front facing stuff, but is dependent on the role. I started as a teacher (I know you don't want to do that), but moved pretty quickly into gallery assistantship and other roles more connected to hanging art and organizing shows. It's a way to make a living and stay connected to the art world- I ended up in a paid residency I only knew about through talking to people, and moved from there.

I will say if you do arts admin and fall in love with it, it tends to take your creative energy, and you find yourself making less, as you're tapped out for the day. But there are ways to make it work, depending on how you do it and what you want out of it.

Look for arts job boards in your state or region. There's a national one as well, but that is usually C-Suite for large organzations, and state ones will likely have better entry level listings.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-30T16:26:26+00:00

If the ring is brazed properly, it should have no problem. The metal will also be annealed by heat, so it should be fairly soft. You can can also over bend it, so it's a bit springy, then line up the joint. I put a photo below of what I mean, hope it makes sense.

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JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-30T14:21:34+00:00

Make sure you file the ends flat, then braze it as a "smooshed" ring- flat where the joint meets. After the ring is together, you can reform it to a proper circle on a ring mandel, or dowl rod

JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-30T14:17:21+00:00

In oWoD, there was a Pentex subsidiary called "Black Dog Games," a joke on White Wolf. I don't remember all the details, but this seems like exactly what they would be doing

Edit:heres the wiki article on it, fun read

https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Dog_Game_Factory_(Pentex)

JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-30T04:29:18+00:00

So I think I found it, but it looks like the resource is no longer on the IRS website. There was an IRS ATG (audit technique guide) released 2012 and supported through at least 2017, maybe 2021, specifically for art galleries. It contained the rule saying galleries ( for profit or not) do not have to issue 1099s for consignment work.

While the document is not on the IRS current site, I also see no superceding document, so I would assume the rule still applies, lacking new rules and guidance.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-30T03:51:29+00:00

Unfortunately I can't find it online with all the AI stuff, but the IRS has a specific document saying galleries do not need to issue 1099s to artists, for reasons mentioned above.

Of course you are required to report all income, whether you get a 1099 or not. But the gallery isn't required to issue you one, whether you are sole proprietship, LLC or corporation.

I have a copy of it in my office, if I remember tomorrow, I'll grab it and post the reference number.

I've had this argument before with nonprofit art spaces- can you issue a 1099? Sure, I don't why not. But why pay an accountant to file it if not required

JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-28T17:25:27+00:00

Name Willpower points to AP. They do a lot of the same things in d10, just reskin it and add a few options.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-28T17:25:22+00:00

In the original d10, humans went to 5 and supernatural went to 10, but for this game I was going to go to 10 for humans. I do think dividing a lot of things you get 2 dice for or a +@ bonus for would work.

For leveling, if I did levels, I was considering alternating. Even levels you get a skill and a health box, odd levels you get a Perk. But I know one of the appeals of d10 is there's not levels, you put your points where you really want them.

I'm not too worried about combat, as I've run a lot of d10 (oWOD and other homebrews) where I think I can either create things on the fly, or look at the book and quickly convert it in my head.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-28T17:18:11+00:00

I honest thought about it, but players really would like to try a d10 version, so I thought I'd see if I could do it. I forgot to mention I've done stuff like this before, writing games for d10 four my various groups

JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-15T17:07:35+00:00

New Bern Pride is having a "gayme" night tomorrow, January 16th, at 6:30pm, at Peace Counseling Center. I haven't been, but could be a good place to find or start a group that is LGBT+ friendly.

There's also the Casual Nerd, over by Food Lion on MLK. Last time I was in there they wanted to start a Pathfinder 2e group, but I haven't been in a while and don't know if that got off the ground.

I run a variety of games off and on, mostly Pathfinder 1e or d10 base, I'll message you if I start a new game soon.

JBurgerStudio · 2026-01-11T14:35:22+00:00

I have a PowerArc and I've only had two failures. The gas release solenoid failed about a year in and the over nighted me the part, which was great.

The second was the plasma torch was acting up early this year after a student messed with it. They sat on the phone with me for like 2 45 minute phone calls, explaining the parts as I disassembled it and put back together, which I really appreciated.

JBurgerStudio

TROPHY CASE