American Space

American Space is a Science Fiction comedy based on real people I've known projected into a fantasy world.

What is this?

This thing is missing from my imagination. Please contact me if this creature enters your imagination.

Foam Peanut Art

This piece was made from scraps of pink foam left from a dinosaur puzzle and pink foam peanuts.

Water Art

Both pieces of art were made by spraying foam into water and then painting when dry.

Proud Sister

The Sister sculpture in all her glory.

Lost Art

This wall sculpture was part of the emotion series and was named Bravery. Made of hundreds of soda straws and foam the sculpture was so fragile it collapsed under it's own weight. I recycled it into other sculptures.

Nerves

This out of focus picture is the only photo I have of my abstract sculpture Nerves. This is one of the few pieces I have sold.

Robot Parts

In this picture you can see parts to robot costumes. In the middle and to the left is the head, torso, feet and lower legs of Rob-X. To the right you can see the feet and lower legs of the
Tall Robot. Rob-X feet were made by Stephen Duker

Id at the Entrance

The Orb of the Id sits beside the entrance in the cool of the evening in this photo by Heather.

Foam Noodle Flowers

Another great photo of my art by Heather. Of the seven pieces of art I brought to the Holden Art Farm for The Inflatable Studio this was the simple one. While my Geek Guru was fixing my computer his son begged me to work on some of my art. All the foam noodle flowers were put in place by Austin.

Uneven Ground

I ran out of money for carpet and used all the black velveteen I had as a substitute.
Uneven ground isn't the best way to show off the Brother & Sister sculptures.
The next time I do the Art Park exhibit I'll need to have bases for the sculptures.

I have permission to use this photo.

Sister

The Sister sculpture as it appeared in The Inflatable Studio. A neighbor gave an alternate title to the Brother and Sister sculptures, "Ice Cream Cake Melting in the Rain".

I have permission to use this photo.

Brother

The Brother sculpture as seen in The Inflatable Studio. As an only child, I've always wondered what it would be like to have a brother or sister. I decided to paint portraits of imagined siblings but found I couldn't imagine them beyond multi-colored blobs. Those blobs became the Brother and Sister sculptures.

I have permission to use this photo for my blog.

Studio Tumble

This inverted photo taken early in 2006 shows The Inflatable Studio weakness.
High winds can make the studio roll or even go airborne for a short time. In the winter it's bad and in the summer it's even worst. The reason I'm redesigning the studio is because of this wind problem.

It Held Together

Somehow The Inflatable Studio made it through the hot summer day.
You can see a red circle through the bubble window in the door.
My Inflatable Studio has red eye in the photo.

I have permission to use this photo.

Detail of S.F.A.S-A.S.

This is a detail of the Sculpture-Painting hybrid I call Scenes of a Sub-Atomic Sitcom.

Photo used with permission. Art copyright Robert A Vollrath 2007.

First Photo

This is the first photo of The Inflatable Studio in early 2006.

Tired but Happy

Looking through the Brother sculpture I'm exhausted at the end of the Art Farm Garden Party.
The sun had gone down when Heather took the photos of my art inside The Inflatable Studio.
The heat of the day made the interactive part of the studio impossible but just putting my art out in front of the public made me happy.

I have Heather's permission to use this photo for my blog.

The Orchard

At The Holden Art Farm an area is called the orchard, where larger pieces are displayed.

Heather gave me permission to use this photo for my blog.

Eli's Art in front of The Inflatable Studio

Heather Matthews took this photo on the 28th of July, 2007 at the Holden Art Farm.
Eli Pupovac's art is a little crowded by the studio but at the first showing the entrance was so hard to move.

Heather has given me permission to use her photo's on this blog.

Carving a T-Rex Hip Bone

Using both a serrated blade and a hot wire cutter, I'm determined to get my three dinosaur puzzles done by the end of Aug. 2007.

Infinity Flower

Here's one of my crazier concepts for an alien plant & a good view of my bald spot.

An Alien Plant

Because I can always create more art than I have room for, I often bash abstract sculptures together. This alien plant is two such sculptures joined together.

A Robot Head

Here you see me working on the head of a robot costume. Robots are still another Imagination Zone of The Inflatable Studio.

Alien Puppet Head

Another Imagination Zone for The Inflatable Studio is alien life. I really need to build a body for this puppet head.

Freindship

This sculpture is being rebuilt in both the real world and spiritual world. The friend that built this with me has done me a great wrong. As I rebuild this sculpture I'll work at forgiving him.

The Changing Entrance

This is the last photo I'll be taking of the entrance in Aug. 2007. I want the next photo to be a real jump forward in the design.

Moose Horn Cut

I found the moose horn at a garage sale and it has been part of many art projects.
The two cut off ends will become part of the back door of The Inflatable Studio.

Saw All Cut

I laid the entrance over to cut the base.

Cut as Marked

I'm jumping around in the construction process. Before the Garden Party at the Art Farm I thought about making the entrance shorter but I was afraid I wouldn't have time to fix it if I made the entrance structurally unsound.

Saddle Tree

Through the entrance of The Inflatable Studio you can see the tree that the arch of the door came from. As a kid I called the tree "The Saddle Tree" as the arch of the door was a limb that reach 20 feet out from the trunk. When this archway was a living part of the tree it was inverted as it appears now. You could ride the limb like a hobby horse. Three generations of Vollrath's climbed the tree and played on the limb. I'm going to be a grandfather twice over this year so in a way I've preserved it for another generation. The limb was cut down for safety concerns.

Arch Detail

The hollow tree limb that makes the arch of the entrance is seen here after I filled it with foam insulation.

Green Entrance

At the Holden Art Farm I began to paint the entrance all different colors.
When I got back home that decision seemed wrong and I began to paint the entrance green.

Organic Construction

Seen here is the left fan wall under construction. I force myself to work on the entrance or the inflatable bag every day.

Inverted Id

After the show at the Holden Art Farm I had to repair the
Orb of the Id.
I hung it inverted from a tree and poured on the glue.

Tiny T-Rex Brain

I'm painting the T-Rex brain with some lite gray paint. Note the spinal cord coiled in font of the gizzard and the red-orange esophagus coming out of the pink-green gizzard.

T-Rex Gizzard

In this picture you can see me painting the T-Rex gizzard. On the table can be seen the heart and two kidneys.

Wheel Mounts

Here I'm doing one of the many boring but necessary jobs to move The Inflatable Studio forward.
The wheel mounts off a old lawnmower are seen here being savaged to make the entrance mobile and save my back in the future.

Glass Eye for a Dinosaur

What started out as a cardboard egg has turned into a dinosaur head.
When a puppeteer I know was cleaning out his childhood home getting it ready to be sold, this modified paper egg was going to the trash bin. I added all the detail and the glass eyes.
I'm turning what was trash into the beginning of a fine art sculpture of a reclining dinosaur.

T-Rex Bones

Seen here are two views of Brook the T-Rex under construction.

A Dinosaur at Rest

A thumbnail sketch of a young dinosaur. Today I begin to sculpt my first attempt at dinosaur fine art.

Brook the T-Rex

I've been working on a T-Rex 3-D puzzle for several years. Seen here in a early version before internal organs and muscles were added. As I was working on it in my back yard a daughter of a friend ask to help me put the puzzle together. I decided to name the T-Rex after Brook.
Her father took this picture after we completed the puzzle.

Phase Two

Here's a ugly drawing of the second version of The Inflatable Studio.
Phase Two will house dinosaur puzzles, puppets and sculptures.
The dinosaurs are coming.

Project InSECT & Cain

This photo shows Jessa with her son Cain in the early days of the traveling museum.
Yes it's called Project InSECT [Google it] and Jessa and James are the heart and soul of it.
Cain was the first person in the world to hear my theory of nothing.
If he didn't get the joke there would be no Inflatable Studio. I won't explain that more, than to say I've always wanted to be a scientist but I couldn't stop laughing.
Watching James, Jessa & Cain in the early days of Project InSECT was the best education one could hope for. Future History will smile on Project InSECT.
My tribute to Project InSECT is complete.

The painting in this photo is the copyright of Jessa & I had her permission to take this photo.

James

James is a great imagination. Seen in this photo painting a bug on a young girl's arm, James is truly a jack of all trades. James simply is my favorite performer. He is magical without doing magic tricks. When James and I get together it's like two tidal waves of dreams crashing together. At the end of our long conversations I don't know which one of us came up with what idea. The really great thing is James doesn't care. I know some of the concepts in The Inflatable Studio are James, I just don't know which ones to give him credit for. James is a Super-Hero of Imagination, my friend and the most magical man I know.

I had verbal permission from the mother of the girl to take this photo.

Jessa

Art at it's best is a blend of science and imagination to tell a truth. Jessa's art tells a truth that is overlooked by most of us. The truth of a great beauty and a terrible extinction in our own time.
Jessa creates beautiful large scale paintings of insects and is the only artist I know that saved a species of life by painting it. A story others can tell better than I. Jessa is my favorite artist, my hero and my friend. Jessa inspired me to create The Inflatable Studio.

The painting in the photo is the copyright of Jessa & I had her permission to take this photo.

The Last Shot

This is the last photo of the original version of The Inflatable Studio. Moments after I took this photo I broke down the studio. This took place on the 29th of July, 2007 at The Holden Art Farm in Johnson County Missouri. Imagine this version as the caterpillar and the next version will be the butterfly.
My plan was to have The Inflatable Studio up and running by my 50th birthday. I'm a year ahead of my plan. I turned 49 on the 25th of July, 2007. Thanks again Eli for the push.

The Robert I & Robert A; Project

My father; Robert I Vollrath and myself; Robert A Vollrath rebuilt this trailer after ten years of sitting in the backyard rusting. The trailer bed was rotten wood full of ants and termites.
The week before the Holden Art Farm Garden Party we got this far with the trailer.
Three ten mile round trips to set up and three ten mile round trips to break down is 40 miles to many. The mileage should have been 20 miles round trip. Thanks dad for the trailer and all your support for The Inflatable Studio.

A Fan to Far

This photo was taken the day of the Holden Art Farm Garden Party. There I am, the artist with my hand through a four foot rip in the studio. On July 28th in 95 degree heat the tape started to melt from the plastic. Inside the studio it was over 100 degrees. People keep leaving the door open either to let out the heat or for the shear fun of watching the studio deflate. My friend and I were using three of the four fans to inflate the studio faster. I walked away from the studio and told my friend to be sure to turn off the third fan or "the bag would blow". It wasn't my friend's fault the four foot rip appeared a couple of minutes later. My warning sounded like a joke and I should have turned the fan off myself. I did have fun patching the gapping hole in the studio and I'm not sure why.

Eli's Simple Fix

A few minutes after Eli Pupovac posed for this picture in front of a two thirds inflated air bag. The Inflatable Studio rips loose from the entrance and goes airborne for a short time. This happens two more times and Eli comes up with a simple solution to fix the problem. Wind and the heat turn the big bag into a short term hot air balloon. This all happens on the 27th of July and by the next day I had that problem fixed. Eli's fix of a better seal around the entrance, more weight inside the studio and running two fans instead of four seemed to take care of all my problems.