It is Friday after all - so it was time to give metal beating a go. But in the spirit of gently going forward I decided to do a few small bits and only take them to the raw beaten stage. And because I was restarting I just wanted to do something that did not require too much thought and manipulation therefore it had to be about bowls and leaves.
A close inspection of the bowl photos show that it still has its fire scale and rough edges etc - but beautiful in its own right. The bowl is 60mm in diameter and 35mm deep.
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| ©2012 Barry Smith - Small EPNS bowl in the rough. |
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| ©2012 Barry Smith - Small EPNS bowl in the rough. |
I had a go at making a very slender and longish set of earring leaves cut from a light gauge nickel silver drink coaster. I wanted to retain the coaster design on the insides and hammer marks on the outside. The annealing to open the leaf forms has resulted in beautiful rainbow colours - not sure how to deal with these in the polishing stage - be great to preserve them. The leaf forms are about 60mm long and 10mm wide at the top.
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| ©2012 Barry Smith - Rainbow nickel silver leaf forms |
And just for something different I wanted to have a go at creating a spiral form. I started with the idea that the spiral might hint at a lilly pad form. The test spiral is below. I think I have worked out the beating sequence. I will have a go at a few others in different sizes. Once I have perfected the technique I would give silver or nickel silver a go. I think the spirals could be just beautiful forms in their own right; or small versions could make their way onto ears. The spiral form is 50mm long and 42mm wide and high.
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| ©2012 Barry Smith - Copper spiral form in the rough |
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| ©2012 Barry Smith - Copper spiral form in the rough |
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| ©2012 Barry Smith - Copper spiral form in the rough |
It was good to fiddle with metal on Friday. Over the weekend I will polish the bits; and also see how I pull up muscle wise. All pieces are made from recycled metal.
such gentle forms for you first 'beating'! seriously, i am always so pulled to your bowls... your vessels seem as if they were made for sacred offerings - they exude it through the screen... the nickel really did come up beautifully with heat and the shape of the earring is so delicate... and i love your spiral... i have to laugh, because i was thinking about how you studied with clb and was wondering if you had done some of the other forms i had seen... seems you do - i can see the spiral form being used in so many ways in your work - large and small... well done!
ReplyDeleteWell done Baz - a great body of work under the circumstances - loving the spiral XX
ReplyDeleteBarry, the spiral forms are really beautiful! You seem to be making progress in leaps and bounds ....well I hope no leaping is involved just yet :-)
ReplyDeleteYou are quite the man....right back on top of things! Love those delicate spirals, especially...yes, very lilly pad-like! Great to see your metal work reappearing! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteGo slow Barry. Love your work but staying well is most important.
ReplyDeleteLooking good! I always love the way metal can look like a rainbow - hard to keep it that way. The big "lily pad" is very interesting. Glad you're back in the shop a bit...a bit - key word here. Take carry Barry
ReplyDeleteSo very beautiful, Barry. The rainbow colours will not endure a polishing... and that spiral form really sings...
ReplyDeleteGlad you are feeling up to this work - such a good sign. Take it easy.
beautiful Barry :) i just love all the patina on these pieces. i wouldn't want to do anything else to it if something i made turned out this way ...just in case :p glad you have started working again ... pace yourself tho, becos we tend to forget when we're "into" something, esp true when having fun making art :)
ReplyDeleteMJ, N, R, P, JM, SZQ, S/R & L - thanks for the support ; and yes I'm approaching it slowly and not doing too long a stretch. But it is good to be back doing a bit of beating. MJ - I often think the burnt bowls look like old bowls that were used for sacred purposes in the past. My spiral was a bit different to CLB's. I started with a flat disk - whereas with clb we tended to start with a folded tapered length. N, R & P - glad you liked the spiral shape. R - no leaping yet - but it is getting closer. JM,L & SZQ - yep just doing it slowly. S/R - I decided not to polish the back of the leaf forms to preserve the rainbow. L- I'm working more these days to preserve patina but also polish what needs to be polished - lovely tension. Go well all and enjoy life. B
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