Rustnstuff: 01/15

Friday, January 30, 2015

Treasures transformed

Sometime ago I indicated that I was asked to transform some family treasures into art and jewellery. Meg C said that the 5 small trays she was giving me to work with were her grandmother's.

Her mother had handed them down to her and she wanted to hand them down to her 2 daughters. But like most silver-plated trays etc few people want to clean them and there are often not the occasions to use them - so they were just stored away.

My brief was:

to make as many pieces as I could minimising the waste of metal;
using only the metal from the trays;
keeping in mind that there were three adult women who would share in the pieces produced; and
that the pieces would have forms or functions that would encourage the family members to use the pieces and so continue to treasure the energy and pieces handed down in the family from Meg C's grandmother.

The transformation process always starts with cutting up the objects for their respective uses.

In the the end, with a bit of planning and judicious cutting, I created the treasure trove of pieces below. In all there are 52 pieces counting all the leaf forms - including a leaf form from a broken pate knife.

Where possible I made sets of three - not always exactly the same as metal features etc. Sometimes I only had two matching offcuts from a tray to incorporate into pieces.

So there are three sets of Daily Word Leaves.

Three flip pendants.

Three brooches.

Three sets of earrings.

Three spiral bracelets.

Five starburst bowls and five fragment bowls.

Four pate knives.

And an extra pendant out of the metal remnants.

Quite a number a variety of daily pieces to be treasured and used for a variety of purposes in a variety situations. Many more ways to honour a grandmother and a great grandmother on a daily basis. And the smaller pieces are easier to maintain and hopefully hand on.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

About lightning clouds and mini webs

Bit of a contrast in this post. Very big and wild thunder clouds over the valley; and a total breakout out of mini spiders' webs on the wire on the decks - revealed by the rain from the storm.

Fiona drew my attention to the magnificent cloud formation below.

It got darker as the sun went down and it built towards a storm.

I managed to capture a couple of lightning flares - luck really.

And emphasised the lightning using an app.

There were (still are) hundreds of small webs on the railing wires on the southern decks - all about 75-100mm in diameter - with baby spiders. Cleaning them off will be a job for a dry day - but for now spiders and humans share the space; and we can appreciate the delicate magic of the weaving - though some of it is a little erratic. Photographed with a cloud whiteout over the valley below.

All photos shot with the trusty iPhone - where would I be without it!!!

Sunday, January 25, 2015

And then there were five

Over the last three days I have put quite a bit of effort into clearing my bench of brass and copper bits and pieces. They of course were there so I could eyeball them to make choices to create a series of Steampunk influenced lamps that just might find a home in the fit out of a new business.

I completed four more assemblages that are the bodies of four lamps: two larger ones; and two smaller ones. Because I only had bigger Edison globes and only a couple more wire-plug fittings I decided to wire up and fire up the bigger lamps. The wiring and globes for the smaller ones will need to wait a bother time.

Photos of the bigger lamps. One made from another welding torch, recycled brass plate and ceramic and brass light fitting from Prague (with chain operated switch); and one from a cylinder of a pump, a brass shower arm and ceramic and brass light fitting. These lamps stand about 500-550mm in height.

The first of the bigger lamps with a different globe - I think it might be a better fit in terms of balance and design.

And the smaller ones - both made from many bits and pieces. The smaller lamps are about 180-200mm in height.

The smaller lamps would make good reading lamps; and the bigger ones would give good tight to a room. The smaller ones are my favourites.

The remaining brass and copper bits and pieces have now been stored away.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Smelting and using the metal

Art is not always about the making. Sometimes it is in the preparation; the ordering of materials; the acquiring of tools etc. Today has seen me ordering sheet metal and steel rod for elements of a couple of projects; attempting to order some equipment; taking delivery of some recycled silverware; and making a Steampunk Lamp (not yet polished).

During the week I spent four days at an art institute learning the art of recycling scrap silver; forming useable sheets and rods from the smelted metal; using the silver plate and rod to make a few pieces; and learning about some sustainable and non toxic processes and chemicals along the way.

In the following I want to share some photos of the smelting process; and the creation of plate and rod. I will then go on to share a few photos of the pieces I made from some of the silver we smelted. I also took along some old worn silver coins that I also smelted to create some coin-sliver plate that I will use at home. We were taught by a silver-smith Claire Poppi.

Setting up the cast-iron mould.

Melting the recycled 925 silver which is mixed with new silver scraps..

The crucible after the pour. We did 6 smelts and pours.

Breaking out a 925 silver ingot.

The coin-silver ingot cooling; and then cleaned (pickled). The coin-silver is probably about 60-80% pure silver.

Making wire - drawing square rod rolled earlier in the mill. I cut off a piece of the square rod for later use in making a twist ring.

Coin ingot after rolling in a hand operated plate rolling mill. All the ingots looked similar to this after rolling down from about 5mm thickness to about 1mm.

Rings made from some plate and square rod. Fiona and her mum scored one each

A couple of pendants made from recycled silver. I added a piece of pearl shell from home to the highly polished piece. And the second one has been pickled in citric acid but not yet finished.

And my coin-silver straightened and cleaned - ready for use.

A very enjoyable week I learnt a lot. Now I must go and make a roast pumpkin and blue cheese risotto to go with the red wine.

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