Maker Spotlight: Shawn McClure

Name: Shawn McClure
City: Seattle, WA, originally from Fort Collins, CO.
Makerspace: My apartment, for now – although one goal with my Kickstarter is to get a larger makerspace, dedicated to Skylinyl.
Day Job: By day I’m a studio drummer, singer-songwriter, and work at a local bar.

How’d you get started making? I’ve been making things in a creative sense ever since I was young. For Skylinyl, it started during a trip to Sydney, Australia a few years back. I came across a crate of records headed for the dump, and not wanting to see them go to waste, I took them back to the place I was staying. As it turned out, that was the hottest day of the year (113°F) — and it wasn’t until I saw the weather advisory that I’d realized I left the records outside on a table. They ended up warping similar to Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory,” and that’s when I realized these records had potential. Upon my return to Seattle, I quickly got to work on how to repurpose these records, and after a few cuts with a knife, Skylinyl was born.

What type of maker would you classify yourself as? I’d say I’m a meticulous mixed media maker I guess, from Mesa :) So just a mixed media maker…..

What’s your favorite thing you’ve made? I was asked to make a float for JACK FM 2 years ago for the Seattle Pride Parade (pictured above). That was a huge challenge and it was super fun to make. It’s a 12’x9′ replica of a Seattle Skylinyl piece and it is in the Pride Parade every year now! And the 3D piece below. The 3D illusion is awesome, I love doing 3D stuff like this 3×3 white vinyl Seattle Skylinyl and the MC Escher piece is one of my favorite too.

What’s something you’d like to make next? I’d like to make more 3D pieces that push the envelope as to what is possible using records as a medium. Motorized designs with images that change as the records spin, using the night sky or optical illusions as the design.

Any advice for people reading this? Relentless self promotion, it’s always hard for an artist to put themselves on a pedestal and say how great your work is or how talented you are but you must because if you don’t no one else will! Everyday you have to wake up and breath your own greatness, you must be your biggest fan.

That being said there’s a few upcoming events I will be attending where I would love to catch up and talk creativity, music, and following your passions !!!
Record Store Day April 2017
Upstream Music Festival May 2017
Maker Faire Sept 2017

Where can people find you on the web?
Skylinyl
Kickstarter
Raw Artists
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

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