Sunday, April 29, 2018

Finishing

©2018 Barry Smith - I love the curly bit on this smaller Artisan Lamp - about 20cm high
I got some time both yesterday and today to put the finishing touches to four lamps in all: I finished grinding and polishing the last two from Friday so I was able to assemble them and add cords and light fittings; I put a new cord on the lamp with the pulley wheels as the rocker switch on the first cord was faulty; and I finished the assembling a fourth lamp and added the cord and light fittings.

Few photos of three of the lamps.

©2018 Barry Smith - Shiny bits
©2018 Barry Smith - Highlights in the darkness
©2018 Barry Smith - Quite a tall lamp - old broken industrial temperature gauge  - and light fitting from Krakow
©2018 Barry Smith
©2018 Barry Smith - This lamp has many bits from old gas light fittings and a bakelite light fitting
©2018 Barry Smith - Looks a bit out of proportion but in reality it is quite well balanced
I also did a bit of clean up of the work surfaces in the garage-studio and discovered parts for another two lamps that I think will come together during the week.

©2018 Barry Smith
All in all a good weekends work.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Some Artisan Lamps call for a bit of engineering

©2018 Barry Smith - A study in brass, iron and aluminium
I had hoped to finish three Artisan Lamps (see photo below) today; but that was not to be as there were other more important priorities to attend to.

©2018 Barry Smith - Three potential lamps on the grinding-polishing bench
©2018 Barry Smith - The bits that formed the working parts of today's lamp
The lamp at the beginning of the post required a little more work than can be the case.  I needed to be able to get the bigger iron wheel sitting flush on the base plate of the lamp for two reasons: so that the wheel could still turn and so the corded could be threaded up around it from the underside of the base. This required drilling and filing to create the rectangle in the aluminium plate. The sequence of the photos below show how it worked.

©2018 Barry Smith - Drilling out the aperture
©2018 Barry Smith - Aluminium plate riveted to the brass base plate
©2018 Barry Smith - Testing to see the wheel fitted flush on the base plate and in the aperture
I wanted to create an industrial feel with this lamp including the 'riveted' aluminium back and the various cogs and wheels. I think it has worked out well.

©2018 Barry Smith - View that includes under the base plate
©2018 Barry Smith - Reflection of the wheel in the polished aluminium back plate
I'm hoping to get the other two lamps finished over the weekend.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Pausing for peace, gentle light and capturing bird activity

©2018 Barry Smith - Flame of remembrance - imagine peace across the whole globe - too much to ask?
Bit of a mixed bag in my Wednesday iPhoneography today. It is Anzac Day in Australia. Always a mixed day for me - Fiona and I attend the dawn remembrance service which in our town starts at 4.28am. By attending I honour the suffering, sacrifice and human loss of all war and peace keeping missions. But I also use it a yet another way to remind myself to pause and imagine peace. The remembrance service today achieved that balance.

A couple more photos on the peace theme.

©2018 Barry Smith - Peace books on the terrace - imagine and peace peeking out
©2018 Barry Smith _ Old metal flower in the rosemary bush - rosemary a symbol of peace.
And by way of magic  - today I was out the back painting a wall and was working about 8m from the fire pit that now an avian font. I was amazed at the number of birds that came in for a bath and totally ignored my presence. I managed somehow to get a sequence of a bird using the avian font: on the rim, in the water and taking off. Never happy with the zoom on the iPhone.

©2018 Barry Smith - Getting ready for the dive
©2018 Barry Smith - A quick splash

©2018 Barry Smith - Up and away in a blur leaving the disturbed surface of the water behind
The rust in the fire pit font looked glorious with the sun on it.

©2018 Barry Smith - Rust under water
We are definitely heading into autumn-winter now. The morning sunrises, when the sky is not overcast, are soft pastels over the valley filled with cloud.

©2018 Barry Smith - Soft pastel sunrise on Tuesday
And the sun is now at such an angle that the sunlight is creating unusual light and rainbows through the water in the glass kettle at breakfast time.

©2018 Barry Smith - A fan of light and refracted light
Celebrating nature, light and imagining peace.

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Assembling and wiring

©2018 Barry Smith - A very layback kind of Artisan Lamp
I got a good run over the weekend to work on the Artisan Lamps. Saturday afternoon I managed to do some more development work on three lamps; and today I managed to grind and polish three lamps- yes it was fine; and this afternoon I started wiring a bunch of the lamps.

First some of the groups of polished bits ready for assembly; and assembly in progress.

©2018 Barry Smith - Quite a few components can go into a lamp
©2018 Barry Smith
©2018 Barry Smith
©2018 Barry Smith - Bench full of goodies
And the finished products so far.

©2018 Barry Smith - Smallish lamp with centre lamp
©2018 Barry Smith - Another view of the lamp built around the record player arm - I kept the small bakelite light fitting because of proportions - but had no bulb in my stash
©2018 Barry Smith - Bunsen burner lamp - tallish and slim lines
©2018 Barry Smith - Shoe form lamp - all aglow
©2018 Barry Smith - Shoe form lamp
©2018 Barry Smith - Lamp built around a gas welding unit head
Hopefully during the week I will finish the other three lamps on the workbench and be in a position to do a delivery run to Entangle in Dayboro.

Friday, April 20, 2018

On the work bench

©2018 Barry Smith - The light globe for this lamp will come out the the circular aperture in the centre.
I have managed a bit of time in the garage-studio progressing a few more of the planned Artisan Lamps. Before heading over to the grinding-polishing bench I usually try a mockup of the lamps. This can include using a bit of bluetac to hold pieces together. It gives me the opportunity to see if the pieces are fitting together and/or are complementary.

I find it amusing that though the core elements of planned lamps can remain the same there is always the chance-need to add other bits and pieces into the mix. For example with the lamp above the wheel and the centre section were in the original design; but I have added the tap and brass bits on top in place of the heavy steel rods you can see in the bottom righthand corner of the photo.

Following are some of the other mockups on the workbench today.

©2018 Barry Smith - I love the organic sinuousness of this mockup - not sure if I will stick with the small bakelite light fitting or add a larger one - that decision can be made at the point of assembly.
©2018 Barry Smith - I could not find a suitable frame for the cogs and wheels - in the end I've gone  with an industrial look using a polished aluminium sample I had made for a job a couple of years ago - it is definitely a work in progress.
©2018 Barry Smith - The plotted brass should look good against the 'riveted' polished aluminium
©2018 Barry Smith - Definitely looking at a pressure piece here
©2018 Barry Smith This lamp is based on a very solid bunsen burner plus an antique garden hose nozzle - still needs another element to the base to give it more gravitas at the bottom.
Obviously there is quite a bit of grinding and polishing before the lamps are ready for assembling. Hopefully the weather will fine up enough over the weekend for me to get to the outside grinding area. But enough for today - a red wine beckons.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Rainbows bring colour to a rainy day

©2018 Barry Smith - Rainbow - not bending around the corner
On Monday the house was full of rainbows. As Fiona said as the sun tracks north in autumn and winter the morning sun through the edges of our glass louvres sends rainbows onto many surfaces.

©2018 Barry Smith - Rainbow on the Wall of Small Things
©2018 Barry Smith - Rainbow on fabric covered chair
©2018 Barry Smith - Rainbow on a filing paper stack
©2018 Barry Smith - Rainbow on black woven fabric of the office chair
©2018 Barry Smith - Rainbow on a sheet of paper on the printer
This was in contrast to today where the valley and my walk was in grey and foreboding light.

©2018 Barry Smith - Beautiful blue-grey tones of the valley with a blush of pink
And yet the pumpkins,  camellias and crucifix orchids make their own statement in Autumn.

©2018 Barry Smith - Pumpkins in hiding
©2018 Barry Smith - Female pumpkin flower with ants
©2018 Barry Smith - The purity of newly emerged white crucifix orchids
©2018 Barry Smith - Delicate pink camellia
The morning walk though grey was filled with quiet.