Rustnstuff: 03/16

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Great vibrations, silver moon and other morning matters

Okay this post is not about sound - part of the title of the post came to me as I looked at the above image. I was down on the terraces taking a couple of photos of our Camellias which over the last week have just gone ballistic again - we have about 50 bushes so you can imagine the amount a blossom developing and also petals falling to the ground.

Whilst taking a photo of the whitish Camellia I noticed a tiny spider's web in the background. There was a a slight breeze so the web was being bowed by the breeze as you can see from the photo below. A couple of the shots I took captured not only the bowing but also the vibration of the web - bit of a headache for the tiny spider (only 2-3mm) at the centre.

Bees of course are not to be outdone by the spiders.

And yes the Camellias are in fine bloom

White out kind of Monday; and a peach Wednesday.

And a bit of blue moon

Talk about a mish-mash kind of post

Sunday, March 27, 2016

After about 5 years a relaunched website

Fiona and I thought it was time to refresh our websites. Over the last month or so we have been working with Katie White of Phoenix Designs to create our new look; but a look that maintains a strong link to our old sites.

So you are invited to visit and check out the relaunched website.

In designing the website I have attempted to give a better look into the work that I'm doing now. There are images with a few more words to give some insights into what I'm doing; and occasionally why I'm doing it.

The landing or home page is a grid of 9 images (see first photo) that will take you to 9 portfolio pages.

Each portfolio page will provide an opportunity to drill down a bit further on images and explanations-descriptions.

There is a page and a menu that enable one to check out places my work can be seen

There is a direct link to my blog and a list of more recent posts.

And of course there is also my online shop and a how to contact me page. The online shop won't go live until mid May as I intend to review current stock and then restock the shop.

It has been great working with Katie (an artist and tech wizard) - we had to do the content but she did the magic - and it is a website I'm proud of. I have tried to give a bit of a teaser; but you check it out as there is quite a lot to see so you can click here

Friday, March 25, 2016

Trash to functional treasure

I had an unusual request - could I make some interesting garden plot name stakes-signs. They needed to be something that had a bit of interest in their shape, colour, material etc.

In my metal stash I had an old very patinated, worn and dirty brass tray. I decided that if I cut it into wedges like a pie it would produce interesting triangles with a curved top. I could stamped the words on two ledges using 10mm plumbers metal stamps. And the backside (which is the front of the tray) would have the beauty of the worn pattern. Basically I was simply adopting the existing shapes and design of the tray and repurposing them in the new design.

I think they have worked out well - quite a funky thing to have in the garden as a functional ornament.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Moon, magpies and a bit more

Whilst the moon pretty full it has not always been visible in our part of the globe because of cloud cover. Still the cloud can off some interesting halos, shadows and unusual cloud colours.

A few photos from last night - first few from about 7-8pm. Moon photos taken with Canon Powershot.

We are not sure why but we have hard about 50 Magpies hanging around our neighbourhood. Some of the bolder birds walked out of my path this morning rather than just flying away.

It must be the time for birds as I was much more aware of their presence on Treehaven Way.

And of course there were the other little surprises on the walk.

As you could see from the photo with the silhouettes of the three native Mynah birds the sun is now rising at the time I walk. This means it is getting to be quite dark when we rise as you can see from the valley photo below.

I think autumn is truly here and is even starting to get a tinge of winter about it - either that or I'm being pathetic.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Peaks complete

I got a good solid run on my two tabletop sculptures over the weekend. I can now say they are complete and in time ready for public outings.

Of course there was more cutting of templates and metal; sanding of bases to ensure they would stand unassisted; and final oil and polish.

Couple of views of the 7 peak sculpture (just over 1m long) - one piece with seven parts.

And a couple of the 5 peak piece - again one sculpture with 5 parts.

I must say that it is good to have another artist with a critical eye and sense of design, Fiona, to talk through set out of the elements of each sculpture - getting the angles, spacing and heights right is important. I have numbered each of the mountain forms and indicated which direction they need to be set out. I have also taken a topdown photo to show the set out.

Now I need to do paper work and packing for each of the sculptures.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Wrapping wood

As time permits I'm into adding the metal to the mountain forms. The metal is quite structured to contrast with the more organic mountain forms. So not only does it mirror one edge of the mountain form; it also is attached to the wood with a grid of screws which reflect the angles of the mountain forms and have a square drive head.

Each form is slightly different so I need to cut paper templates (Fiona's suggestion) which are transferred to the different widths of aluminium strips (vary from 6cm to 20cm in width). I end up with lots of paper templates and paper and metal offcuts on the garage floor.

I find vises and clamps to be my good friends in holding metal in place for marking, drilling and screwing.

It is good that I have two rechargeable drills and a rechargeable screw driver for this job as each piece has 20-40 screws in it. At the end of the making of the two sculptures I will have used about 250 screws.

So far I have finished attaching the metal to 6 forms.

And another almost finished on the bench.

Yesterday afternoon and this afternoon have been good art blocks of time. I'm looking forward to finishing these sculptures over the weekend. But enough for today - I'm off to make a pizza and share a wine or two with Fiona.

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