Gift of Time
Noah Smith
Noah Smith is a freelance graphic designer and artist from Wisconsin. This beautiful clock was his first foam project, designed for a local healthcare charity.
“This was my first project working with foam; actually, my first sculpture project of this scale, so I may have taken a bigger bite than I intended from the beginning, but the end result and challenges throughout were 100% worthwhile and a growth of interest and skills.
I worked on this for roughly one year, while also working my full time job, balancing this in between; lots of 3am mornings and a few sleepovers in my friend’s business shop.
This project was for “Tomorrows Hope” of Jefferson, Wisconsin, a local healthcare charity granting help for those in our community affected by life-limiting illnesses through donations. The materials for the project were donations received from friends and family of my own, and local businesses of Tomorrows Hope. My time on this project was all pro bono volunteer.
Once the drawing was approved and materials were bought, I started cutting away, starting with the outer sphere for the clock. This took a ton of manual sand work, but it was the main piece to the puzzle, as you can see. The actual face of the clock background is based on Tomorrow’s Hope’s logo which sort of resembles a dove and a sunset.
Within budget and with space for the deadline, I was able to add some features including: Adding the outside engravings, LED rope lights to light up the word “HOPE”, 2 functioning clocks, and plexiglass removable cover (to access the clock batteries).
The gears were cut using the Hot Wire Foam Factory Pro 3-In-1 Kit (including the Freehand Router, Sculpting Tool, and 6-Inch Hot Knife). These products truly helped bring my vision to a reality.
The entire piece was hand cut and sanded. In the end, it turned out well. I applied a few coats of Styroplast and painted from there. We all have the blessing of time, until we simply don’t anymore. It’s not something we can give or borrow, it’s so truly valuable, but so free. Sometimes, life brings hardships and tragedies that simply gifting someone your time can change their world for the little time they may be here.”
The piece is currently hanging in Jefferson, WI in a multi-business building, including the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce and Tomorrows Hope.