I love using clothespins to build tiny automata. The spring is already built in, so it’s just asking to be animated. I’ve made a bunch of simple kissing machines. One of my favorites is a princess leaning in to kiss a frog.

But the one I’m most proud of is called Relationship Workout. It shows someone lifting weights, but the weights are heart-shaped. Took me a while to figure out how to get the movement right. I ended up using cloth-covered cable for the arms, and it works really well. There’s something satisfying about the way it moves.

The idea behind it is simple: relationships take effort. They don’t just happen. You have to lift, stretch, and show up. Like a workout. So I built a machine to remind me of that.