Googly-eyed Car

You can see for miles

2007-11-08T22:51:00.000-06:00

The glow-eyes that Link, Maury and Todd gave me are on the rearview mirrors. I found a really dark place, put a flash light right up next to the glow-eyes (first photo), then took a photo before the glow faded (second photo).

It was really hard to get a good photo, but I like the eeriness of this one.

The eyes are the mirror of the soul

2007-07-12T19:20:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Sara and a very belated thank you to Trixie for giving me more eyes. I think this count is a little off now, but it's close. Total eyes for project: 18,755

The car just reached 100,000 miles. No wonder it needed a new battery.

You need a new battery, hon!

2007-07-11T09:51:00.000-06:00

The car wouldn’t start again last night. This time it died at a post-work trip to Sonic at 10:30 p.m. Another tow truck and another trip to Groovy Automotive. It’s only a dead battery, so the car will be back on the road in no time. Here a picture taken at 7 a.m. of the car’s favorite waiting spot.

Back to work

2007-07-07T13:01:00.000-06:00

I got both the driver’s and passenger’s side mirrors covered with eyes before the sky got cloudy and the wind picked up. I used the eyes that Kendra, Link, Maury and Todd gave me to complete this part of the car.

You can see the huge difference in the color of the eyes that have been on the car for a few months and the new ones. I like the “antique” look better in general, but the shinny white eyes give me a sense of satisfaction.

It never actually rained and the sky clear up, so I went out for a drive.

Eye-Catching Car

2007-06-28T20:25:00.000-06:00

I haven’t worked on the car for awhile. It’s been raining a lot here in Austin, but I guess the car breaking down before Vegas has impacted my work ethic.

The car and I just got back from a trip to Oklahoma for my great-grandmother’s 95th birthday. That’s the first time my family has seen the car in person. My grandfather thinks I have a lot of time on my hands. It’s funny because his mother made a lot of art work that was essentially the same thing I’m doing. Only her’s were usually different color seeds glued onto wood and mine is eyes on metal. One of my second cousins (my mom’s cousin, so that should be my second cousin, right?), said the car was eye-catching.

After the birthday party in Sterling, we went to “the big city” for a few days. While in Lawton, the car got a lot of attention with several people clicking photos on their cell phones.

On the road

2007-06-01T16:50:00.000-06:00

The car is fixed (and has been for awhile.) Thanks to Sara, who took these photos from our office window.

Googly meltdown

2007-05-19T07:01:00.000-06:00

The googly-eyed car had a meltdown on Friday night. It’s currently sitting at Groovy Automotive and I’m waiting for them to call with an estimate. We were supposed to have left on a road trip at about 5 a.m. today. That trip may have to be canceled.

If I had had my camera with me last night I could have captured some of the fun.

I would have taken a photo of the Autozone dude who gave us the phone number of an after hours (wink, wink) mechanic who works at some auto dealer. The dude then proceeded to talk about how he is eating squirrels because he has no money.

I would have taken a photo of the very nice man and his family who tried to help us start the car even though his tools were in his other vehicle. This man apologized more than once for leaving us alone while we waited for the tow truck even though it was way after 10 p.m.

I would have taken a photo of the googly-eyed car being lifted onto the back of the wrecker and of the tow truck driver and his dog Sheba, a scuffy, shaved dog with a lion’s mane haircut who goes with him on all his trips to “keep the bad guys away.”

More photos

2007-04-26T19:16:00.000-06:00

I finally got more photos up on flickr.

CARgos

2007-04-25T16:51:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Maury, Todd and Link for the cool glow in the dark eyes!

Total eyes for project: 18,625

Here’s another potential car name, this one from Hoyt. "From the Greek myth of Argus (sometimes spelled Argos) Panoptes — the hundred eyed giant. He was killed by Hermes while guarding Io from Zeus. So, it looks like you have a 'CArgos' or a 'CARgos.' You probably shouldn't park it next to a Mercury!"

Your car is looking at me

2007-04-22T22:27:00.000-06:00

I didn't get a lot done this weekend. It kept raining when I was trying to work.

Someone said "Your car is looking at me" but I can't remember the circumstances now.

Douglas Rushkoff was in Austin last week for a KLRU event at the Paramount. My car was parked in front of the theater so I could load up some of KLRU’s stuff to take back to the station. Rushkoff saw it and came over for a closer look. He told me not to be driving the car when I’m 70 because then I’d just be the crazy old lady with the eye car.

The Eyes of Texas

2007-04-16T19:31:00.000-06:00

Thanks to theK for the birthday gift of 283 eyes. While theK, Beth and I were surveying the car before our Happy Hour, an older man came up and said "What is this? The eyes of Texas?"

Total eyes for project: 18,125

Also thanks to Vince for his donation. I bought glue with the birthday cash.

I am programmed at 33 to perform childishly

2007-04-12T14:40:00.000-06:00

Kurt Vonnegut died on my 33rd birthday. For all I know, he really died on April 11. But for me, Kurt Vonnegut left my world on April 12, 2007. My 33rd birthday.

For weeks, I had been trying to decide what to put on the hood of my car. I could just do random eyes like the rest of the car, but I thought the hood deserved more ... a design that meant something real to me. And about a week ago, I decided it would be the asshole drawing from Breakfast of Champions. For anyone unfamiliar with it, it looks like a giant asterisk so it’s family safe, but it’s something that symbolizes a lot more to me.

Last weekend, the weather was so bad I did not get out the glue. Instead I continued my rereading of Vonnegut’s work that began when I picked up Breakfast of Champions to make sure I got the number of lines right on the design.

I do not go to work on my birthday (if I can help it). I took today off with the hope that the weather would be clear so I could work on my car. This morning I woke up to beautiful weather. I was excited to get to work. Excited to celebrate my birthday doing something I love. Then I heard that Vonnegut had died. He died on the day I planned to put a large googly-eyed replica of his asshole drawing on the hood of my car.

So it goes.

rainy days

2007-04-09T18:15:00.000-06:00

The bad weather prevented me from working on the car at all this weekend. Now the car is on a trip without me. I'm hoping for good weather once it gets back. It's so close to being done that I'm anxious to work on it again.

The eyes have it

2007-04-01T19:51:00.000-06:00

Another four hour day. Lots of chats with neighbors. Really bad sunburn even though I used a lot of sun screen. Special thanks to the self-proclaimed most amazing person in the world for going out and buying me glue when I ran out of it.

One of my neighbors rode up on her scooter and said "What are you going to call her? The eyes have it?"

One side down, one to go

2007-03-31T19:45:00.000-06:00

I worked for about four hours Saturday and finished the passenger side of the car. I learned that I can talk on the phone and work on the car at the same time. Thanks to Steakfinger for helping me test my abilities. Yeah multi-tasking!

You can see everywhere

2007-03-25T21:11:00.000-06:00

I spent close to four hours working on the car Saturday and it is now symmetrical again.

The beautiful weather meant a lot of my neighbors were out so I met several new people as I worked. One of my blind neighbors felt the car while waiting for his ride. I love the texture myself, so I suggested it as a way to explain what I was doing. Many drivers stopped to ask me questions, as I was working in one of the main cab/passenger drop areas for my apartment complex. One said that I should be safer while driving since all the eyes on my car will make it so that I can see everywhere.

That's a Fancy Car

2007-03-11T18:06:00.000-06:00

I've gotten a lot of questions recently about how I wash the car. The car has been through a drive-thru car wash and came out unharmed (although I didn’t stay under the drier for the entire time). I always wash the car before I start gluing eyes and normally, I just go to a self-serve car wash to clean it.

I didn’t get many eyes on the car today. I had planned to make the passenger side match the driver’s side today, but it started sprinkling. I continued gluing for awhile, but it soon started raining too much to keep the glue dry. Maybe with daylight savings time, maybe there will be enough light after work for me to focus on the car a little each day.

After my failed work attempt. I went to lunch at Phil’s Ice House. When I was leaving a family that had been at Amy’s Ice Cream was looking at the car. The mom asked if it was OK for them to touch the car. One of the little girls said “This is a fancy car. I like fancy things.”

Daily Texan

2007-03-08T17:42:00.000-06:00

My office is next to the office of the Daily Texan (the University of Texas' newspaper) and yesterday after work Katherine Fan saw my car and talked to me for a few minutes while Garrett Traya took photos of the car. I went into work this morning to find this looking out from the newsstand.

Such a great photo and write up. I think Katherine does a good job of describing what it's like to see the car in person. The story begins:
"When other drivers began yelling at April Burcham a couple of days ago, she was afraid she had cut someone off. It turned out they just wanted to compliment her car, and with good reason. Burcham's red Ford Escort seems to be covered in bubbles. Upon closer look, they morph into googly eyes. Dozens and dozens of colorful plastic eyes, commonly used for dolls, line the driver's side and trunk of her car. Some of the plastic eyes retain moisture from the air, catching even more light depending on the angles of the sunlight."

Vandalism2

2007-03-07T18:35:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure if someone was writing their name or if this is just random symbols. This appeared on the car sometime between Saturday and Tuesday. This image also shows how dirty the car is. Any glue residue attracts a lot of dust.

what you lookin' for?

2007-02-25T23:03:00.000-06:00

I only finished the driver's side door today. Direct sunlight makes the glue set up VERY fast. It also results in very bad sunburns for fair-skinned folk.

A truck load of people stopped to look at the car while I was working. They asked several questions from far away and then drove closer to say "What you lookin' for?" then "See you later." Ha!

Eyes in the wind

2007-02-24T18:12:00.000-06:00

I worked six hours today. It was very windy and several little eyes escaped into the parking lot. For the most part it was a beautiful day, so several of my neighbors stopped to ask questions about the car.

The older lady who drives her rascal scooter at breakneck speeds through the apartment complex said her special transit service driver (cap metro little bus that picks her up to take her to places her rascal won't go) had been asking where I got all the eyes. She seemed disappointed that it was via the internets.

An exchange student was surprised that I was working on the car in the parking lot. He thought I had some other place to do that work. He also asked me if I was an artist.

Passenger's side (I just did the line that goes from the trunk to the front of the car above the window on this side today)

Driver's side above the window

Driver's side (I also finished half of the back door on this side)

Eyes

2007-02-23T19:04:00.000-06:00

I now have enought eyes to finish or to come really close to finishing.

1250 black variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
1250 multi-colored variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
1250 painted variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
1250 bright color variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
4000 12mm
5000 15 mm
20 40 mm
20 35 mm
80 28 mm
80 30 mm
20 40 mm color eyes
20 35 mm color eyes
80 28 mm color eyes
80 30 mm color eyes

Total this entry 14,400

Total eyes for project: 17,842

Short pause

2007-02-13T19:05:00.000-06:00

I'm currently pausing the work while I build up supply reserves. I want to have enough eyes and glue on hand to do the sides before I get started. The car made it back from its trip with no damage. Reports have it that while cruising the parking lot at Wal-Mart in Lawton, Okla., it was admired by oldsters and hipsters alike. I can’t wait to get it completely covered.

Googly eyes are watching you

2007-02-03T14:26:00.000-06:00

I spent about an hour putting the eyes removed earlier this week back on the car and finishing up the trunk lid. I had a few more eyes, so I also did the gas tank cover. The car is about to go on a long trip, so we'll see how the eyes hold up to long periods of 70 mph.

Eyes

2007-02-03T14:18:00.000-06:00

The bulk company sent me the rest of my order at no charge, woohoo!

125 black variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
125 multi-colored variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
125 painted variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
125 bright color variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
108 14mm
150 6mm(?) donated eyes. Thanks, Sharon!

Total eyes this entry: 758

Total eyes for project: 3,442

Vandalism

2007-01-29T11:00:00.000-06:00

This morning about 10 of the eyes were ripped off the trunk and lovingly placed on the windows of the car. I’m sure this will be the first of many times I will have to redo work on the car because someone decides they want to mess with the eyes.

I’m sure if I lived at a house with a garage, things might be different – the car wouldn’t be such a temptation. But I felt sure that if I kept waiting for the perfect conditions, I would never actually do it. I’m going to try parking in a place not so close to the sidewalk from now on to see if that stops the vandalism (at least until I’ve got more than 1/5 of the car done.)

Trunk day two

2007-01-28T20:12:00.000-06:00

I couldn't do much today because I couldn't find any eyes that weren't all black to keep the ratio the same as the rest of the trunk. I spent maybe 10 minutes gluing today.

more eyes

2007-01-28T20:08:00.000-06:00

I'm going to need a few more small eyes to finish the trunk top.

102 10mm
96 12mm
72 15mm oval
30 20 mm oval
18 15mm wink
24 15mm multi-color
96 15mm

Total eyes this entry: 438

Total eyes for project: 2,684

First day's work

2007-01-27T21:17:00.000-06:00

Below is after two hours of work. It's almost exactly half the top of the trunk done.

Below is when the 2.8 oz of glue ran out.

Below is where I stopped for the day. It was a total of 4 hours actually gluing.

The trunk

2007-01-27T21:16:00.001-06:00

I started at 9:30 a.m. I worked for two hours then took a break because I was getting a little sloppy and I could see I would need more glue to finish the top of the trunk. I worked two more hours after returning from this trip.

I purchased a different type of glue bottle and it was harder to use. I ended up using a lot more glue with this type of bottle. Also when I switched glue, I started putting things closer together. The wind was really blowing so that made me work closer in and a lot of the medium size eyes were used early on so it was mostly 12mm or less left ... these two things may have also contributed to the closer gluing.

I ran out of little eyes with more than 3/4 of the car done and went to get more. I think because of the closer gluing, I still didn’t finish the top of the trunk. I had estimated that I had enough to complete this part of the car today (and I guess I could have but it would have been just big eyes and since I started out with mostly little/medium on the trunk I want to keep it that way). I made those estimates with the full order from the bulk place, but I think I really did still have enough. It’s just that early on I wasn’t putting enough of the 40mm eyes on and the closer gluing also impacted my project.

Lessons:
Only work for two hours at a time.
Use glue with a little spigot to control the flow.
Mix-in more big eyes.

Bulk eyes

2007-01-27T11:00:00.000-06:00

Got some eyes from a mail order bulk seller. They did not send me every thing I paid for, but said they would send me the rest and a free packet of eyes to make up for the mistake.
Here's what I got:
1000 12 mm
10 40 mm
10 35 mm
40 28 mm
40 30 mm
125 black variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
125 multi-colored variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
125 painted variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm
125 bright color variety pack 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm

Total eyes this entry: 1,600

Total eyes for project: 2,246

A few more for the test

2007-01-26T21:04:00.000-06:00

10 eyes on the passenger side mirror. I really wanted to do more, but I want to make sure it works first. If all of these eyes are still there when the rain clears tomorrow, I will be a gluing machine for the entire weekend.

Goodbye Ford

2007-01-26T20:58:00.000-06:00

10 eyes on the Ford logo on the front of the car

7 eyes on the Ford logo on the trunk of the car

The Fist Eye

2007-01-26T20:54:00.000-06:00

I put too much glue on, so the eye is slipping a bit. I randomly picked the pink wink eye, but I like that it gets the honor of being No. 1.

Testing

2007-01-26T20:46:00.000-06:00

I looked at several web sites to find tips on art car gluing. A lot of the suggested glues require you to put a little on both pieces let them sit for 5 minutes and then place them together for a firm hold. I can’t imagine spending 5 minutes between each of these eyes, so I’m not using that type of glue.

I’m going with a silicone glue, but I don’t want to buy a lot of something that won’t work. This evening I got a 2.8 oz tube of a silicone glue and am doing a little test. Weather reports say it’s going to rain tomorrow morning and then get clear in the afternoon. I put a few eyes (27 total) on the car to see how it will hold up to the weather.

eyes

2007-01-26T20:41:00.000-06:00

Exploiting the Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon, while I still have the chance, so I can get as many of the big eyes as possible. The coupon expires on Saturday.

16 40 mm
16 40 mm
16 40 mm
16 40 mm

Total eyes this entry: 64

Total eyes for project: 646

more eyes

2007-01-25T20:08:00.000-06:00

Hobby Lobby discount coupon and clearance

16 40 mm
16 40 mm
6 15mm multi-color oval
6 15mm multi-color oval
6 15mm multi-color oval
4 19 mm blue wink eyes
4 19 mm blue wink eyes
4 19 mm blue wink eyes
4 19 mm pink wink eyes
4 19 mm pink wink eyes
4 19 mm pink wink eyes

Total eyes this entry: 74

Total eyes for project: 582

Googly eyes

2007-01-24T19:14:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to find the cheapest way to get eyes since I don't have unlimited amounts of money to put into this project. Most purchases will be via bulk suppliers. Thanks to a couple of tips, I learned about Hobby Lobby's internet coupon and Joann's store closing sale.

Here are my first eye purchases:
102 10mm
96 12mm
72 15mm oval
30 20 mm oval
16 40mm
192 15mm

Total eyes this entry: 508

Total eyes for project: 508

The Car

2007-01-22T20:21:00.000-06:00

I have a red 2001 Ford Escort. I've never loved this car. It was bought out of necessity after the first car that I personally bought and loved was totaled in a wreck. The “red car” as it is called is fine. It drives OK. It looks all right. I pass at least two other cars just like it every day. I did some measurements and, if my math is right (which it likely isn’t) there is about 25,000 square inches of non-window surface space to cover.

Googly-eyed Car

2007-01-22T20:09:00.000-06:00

I've wanted a car that didn't look normal all my life. Not sure how it started, but when I was a kid, I dreamed of having a black VW Bug that I would cover with various color handprints. That never worked out.

About a year ago, I lucked into a bunch of clip art. After covering a dresser with it, I began to dream of covering a car in these outdated images of cheerleaders and businessmen. I couldn't figure out a way that wouldn't cost me too much money to make the paper water proof. As I spent month after month pondering the problem, I became more and more convinced that this would be a thing that I would dream of and never do. As 2007, began I decided to give up on the clip art car for now.

At the same time I was mentally working on another art project. I was planning to get a bunch of googly/wiggly eyes and put them on one of those spinning things that you use to decorate cakes. The idea was that it would hang on the wall and you would spin it to make all the eyes move. I had been looking for months for a used one at thrift stores (I enjoy the hunt), but hadn’t found one yet.

Then I realized that maybe I could combine the two projects and the googly-eyed car was born.