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Joysticks
commission,
Collection of Eileen Szychowski
Scottsdale, Arizona
wood
49" x 8" x 3"
created 2004
When you use crutches to walk, they're almost like another set of limbs. You rely on them.
Standard crutches are held together with bolts that make them adjustable to your frame. You only need to adjust them once, but if you use the crutches everyday, those unsightly bolts loosen and catch on pockets and other clothing.
Eileen Szychowski's days of tightening bolts and torn pockets are over now, thanks to her Joysticks, as she dubbed them.
Built from the trunk of a large mesquite tree that grew down the street from the artist's home, each crutch is made of a single piece of wood for the body, and another for the armpit brace, the latter of which is glued on firmly.
Like many of Kevin's projects, however, the Joysticks provided an opportunity to make the piece truly special. After removing the bark in a small divot on one crutch, he carved a "plug" that featured on its face a parrot, which is perfect for a woman whose family includes two of these feathered friends. The natural finish used on both the crutches and the bird brought forth the wood's color, which, in the case of the perched parrot, was a most appropriate green.
For one of your own ...
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