Dug North creates contemporary automata — sculptures made primarily of wood that employ a hand-cranked mechanism to animate a scene or creature. His work centers around themes that are whimsical, historical, and fanciful. Dug particularly enjoys animating quirky wooden monsters and creating magic-themed automata that perform illusions.

He was interviewed as a subject matter expert for a history of automata included as a bonus feature on the DVD/Blu-ray release of the Martin Scorsese motion picture ‘Hugo’. In addition to founding one of the longest-running blogs on automata, he writes extensively on the subject for other outlets such as the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre Blog.

His work and writing also appear in print for MAKE, Woodcraft, and Scrollsaw & Woodworking Crafts magazine