Screw Art – No Really – Screw Art!

I can see how you might interpret the title the wrong way. I don’t quite look like an art connoisseur. But I love the inventiveness and true feeling in unique art pieces. If they use some form of a tool or hardware, then it’s even better. Bonus points if they use a tool and hardware. With that said, I introduce Andrew Myers artist extraordinaire. A former resident of Germany and Spain, he now lives in California where he went to art school. Andrew was trained in both painting and sculpture, which is lucky for us tool-heads. If you watch the video below, you will notice that he and others suggest that you really don’t learn something like screw art in art school. That is where true artistry comes into play.

By first sketching the sculpture on a piece of what looks to be hardwood plywood Andrew is able to get a rough shape. As he finishes the sketch, he then has to laboriously pre-drill a grid so that the screws don’t splinter or crack the wood. By the looks of it, he’s using a Milwaukee M12 Lithium Ion Cordless Driver, or its predecessor, to drive the screws. At the 8:40 mark it looks like he may be using a Ryobi to pre-drill the holes towards the end of his work. Not only is he a heck of an artist, but he’s also a man who likes power tools. Just our style.

Andrew gets his texture by driving the drywall screw in at different depths to create a 3-d effect. Even prior to painting the screw heads (which he also does meticulously, one by one), the basic shape is pretty evident. After several layers of oil paint the piece really comes together. If you notice, his earlier pieces were relatively simple, if I dare use that term, portraits of people. But with the one showcased in the video, Fading Thoughts, there’s a deeper meaning to it as well. And just like the man in the piece my mind is blown away too. Kinda makes you wonder what you have lying in the box of deck screws or roofing nails just waiting for you to create. If you’re the next Andrew Myers, let’s see what you’ve got and we’ll do our best to make you famous too!