About the Artist

Although born in London Ontario, Al has lived in the west end of Toronto for most of his life. As a young child his interest in art was influenced by both a grandfather and mother who painted. While he trained in art as a child his very handy father and older brother, an engineer, led him to choose a career in mechanical engineering. He held various positions working in the petrochemical industry over a period of 35 years, his last being the President and CEO of a pipeline company.

​Al has always been an avid woodworker and has completed many projects including wood carving, boat building, home construction and renovation. Focusing on his more creative and artistic side he has found his niche making automata. For him designing and building automata is the perfect blend of his engineering and artistic interests, and their whimsical nature allows him to employ use his wry sense of humour. His approach in creating automata was inspired by the work of Philip Lowndes, a contemporary automata artist from the United Kingdom.

After “imaginengineering” an automata concept, Al’s designs are created on a 3D CAD system, to insure fit and alignment of components and then cut, assembled, and tweaked so that everything works smoothly. Large complex automata pieces take weeks of design and experimentation to develop and are ultimately produced in his workshop at Balsam Lake in the the Kawarthas. His automata pieces are predominantly made from wood because he believes it is traditional, and beautiful when finished. He enjoys the considerable challenge of making complex mechanisms and pieces out of this natural material in our current high tech world.

Al Conquergood

Read Al's PHILOSOPHY on making automata