Fragile to Strong

Faces of my Dreams - Smiles

Hand-crafted Moth

Framing - copper wire.

Shape - tissue paper and tacky glue.

Detailing - Colored pencil and micron pen.

Just Something At The Vet's

Baby Leonard!

Only the coolest cat ever!

Daddy

The Warther Museum = Unforgettable Experience!

Moody was a mathematical genius, having only completed the second grade.  

He and his wife Freida worked happily for many years 

in the small town, country setting of Dover, Ohio.  

They lived  humble lives, and enjoyed entertaining the neighborhood kids.  

Mooney had his workshop for carving and making cutlery, 

while Freida pieced together elaborate patterns 

using thousands of buttons.  

  

Ivory for the white and ebony wood for the black, 

were used in his proportionately precise, 

and fully functional train sets.

 One day, young Mooney sat next to a hobo at the train station.
The man showed him how 10 cuts into a single piece of wood
 could create a functioning set of pliers.  

Mooney took that idea, and made what he called 'plier trees'.  

This one is only a small sample.  

His largest was recognized by Ripley's Believe it or not.  

It consisted of 511 pliers, and 31,000 cuts.

This was his self-designed protective footwear
for when working in the factory as a young man.  

It was long before they were
sold as steel-toed shoes.

Just a few of the scavenged hand-carved pieces and parts 

that were not used in his train models.

Sometimes, for details, other materials like shell were used (as seen here).  

Freida would not be shocked to find emeralds missing from her jewelry, 

and re-appear as lights on the front of Mooney's trains.

 All his work was hand-made.  

He just saw the image inside the wood that needed to be created, 

and carve away all the rest. 

Glue at the time was not a very permanent adhesive, 

so almost everything was made to fit together.  

See all those little white dots?  

Those are individual rivets made from ivory, 

pushed through pre-carved holes. 

Mooney had no father growing up.

 Abe Lincoln was his greatest role model. 

In this walking cane, notice the sphere sculpted inside the bars.
It's all from the same piece of wood!
Similar methods were used to create long
chains made from a single block.

Before constructing a model, Mooney would spend time studying the train.  

He would go visit the train on sight, look at photographs, 

and in rarity observe blueprints.  

What shocks people to this day was his ability
to create mathematically precise replications 

using no measuring tools or equations.

Because of arthritis, Mooney's last work was incomplete.  

He chose for it to stay that way, not allowing his family to touch it.  

He stated that his hands have done 

all the work God wishes.

 These are a mere few of his many models and other
fascinating works in display at the Warther Museum.  

Also, see the Freidas's garden kept up by staff, 

and her Button House.  The old Warther Home too 

is now open for public viewing.

A visit to the Warther Museum is an unforgettable experience.  

You will leave with a changed perspective

 on humans' capability, including your own, 

to love and create. 

Blank Canvas

Photograph by

Lauren Thornberry