MOONSCAPES-Tondo Style – K. Randall Wilcox Fine Art

Well, this is a new format right?!?

Yes!

I was recently asked at one of my regular monthly pop-up markets the story behind these new round pieces.

I had seen a few people I follow on Instagram doing them and was inspired to break out of the traditional square and rectangular formats so I got curios as how to make my own tondo wood panels.

PART 1: Making the sled jigs.

First, I was like what’s a “tondo”? Well, its origins are rooted in Italy and its Italian for circular or relief for paintings. Always fun, to learn a little bit of history.

So i obviously googled who to make round wood panels and found quote a few video tutorials on how tot make a sled for your table saws. FYI, yes, you can buy ready made artisan panels but I have a small workshop out back and plenty of plywood scraps, so lt me start there.

I’ve always been a hands on guy when it comes to creating art.

I grabbed some scraps, glued up sled, trimmed down some runners for the sled and tried it out.

One thing I needed to address after cutting my first one was to the need for a side sled or base that could catch the scrap corners so they wouldn’t fall in between the blade and the throat guide. Easy enough to make. Just repeat the steps for my circle making jig and then add a clamp so its stationary.

There are zero tolerance throat plates out there but didn’t have the time to get purchase one because i was focused and really curious on how these would turn out.

PART 2: The inspiration behind them.

If you have seen some of the large textured canvas moons I did back in 2019 and into 2020, those were inspired by a meme I had seen on Insta that had the silhouette of a small human standing in front of a large crescent moon with the quote “Honey, you dont have to be whole to shine.” Well, how appropriate and inspiring for this series of pieces as well.

I have long held the belief that Art Heals. Much like music it has a way of unlocking those hidden pieces in my life that have been the roots of depression and anxiety the often fuels my insecurities. For years, photography was my vision, voice and outlet that captured so much of the abandonment and where do I fit in in this world …

Well, these four little moonscapes are bold, bright, colorful and 3D representations of what trauma, anxiety and depression can look like or feel like inside of me. The craters represent those traumas and each one of those things are a apart of my healing journey and story.

I wanted to created some 3D pieces that are each unique on their own but that could also thread a story or journey that takes the viewer someplace deep. Deep doesn’t always have to mean dark and scarry, it can also mean bright and hopeful.

I get a choice each day to wake up and either let the inner critic try to derail me or buckle up and go create stuff that may help other people remember where they were at and how far they have come.

Here are some process pix and videos from these builds.

Enjoy

Some videos of me making the tondo jig and side sled