Bringing timber and metal together

 

I was able to sand some of the timber blocks I had cut earlier; polish some of the etched aluminium with a steel wire wheel; and attached the plates to the timber with small brass nails. A finished 100mm cube above; and the stash of cut timber below.

In all I managed to finish 4 small tabletop timber and aluminium sculptural pieces. Some photos of the finished four pieces follow.

The pair of pieces below are about 240mm high.

  

The cube below is 100mm - I was informed the timber for the cube below is mulga as is the timber for the pieces above.

The final cube is 150mm - very hard and heat ironbark timber - .

You can see I have played with some wrap around pieces and different shapes - rectangles, square and triangles. I probably have another 6 pieces to go.  I'm pleased how they are turning out. 

Etched panels for small sculptures

 

Today I finished etching some 27 aluminium plates of various sizes that will become elements of small indoor-desk sculptural pieces. I still need to do the final cleaning of the plates but I am happy with the outcome. The plates ranged in size from 5cmX5cm to 12cmX20cm.

The process started with making some templates; and then doing the blockout using red, blue and white paint pens.

Today I did the etching using copper sulphate and table salt - based on Fiona's instructions and quantity measures. Wanting to get the 27 plates done I made 2 litres of a strong solution. Lots of heat and copper froth being given off. The etch on the aluminium is about .25mm-.5mm deep. Etching was done outside with mask on and breeze to blow away and fumes.

The pieces were given a couple of washes when they came out of the solution. Then the remains paint needed to be removed - using Fiona's non-acetone nail-polish remover. 

The final pieces still show signs of paint stain - this will be removed using a wire wheel. The edges of the plates will also have the edges ground.

I'm hoping that by Sunday I can have the timbers sanded and a couple of pieces complete.

A beautiful soft dew infused morning

 

A gorgeous gentle morning to walk in. A cool evening resulted in many blossoms having clusters of micro droplets; and many just looked so refreshed and bright like the tibouchinas above. Note the tiny bug on the stamen of the white-purple flower.

But back to the micro droplets on tiny blossoms and web a blade of grass.

The wallabies were very wary and stood a long way off watching me pass.

I came across a magnolia blossom outside Graham's orchid house that was shedding stamens I think - the bees just seem to love the stamens at the point in time they begin to drop off the centre pod - nectar I think. I counted about 15 bees all competing to collect nectar.

I dropped into Graham's orchid hose and enjoyed the couple of new beauties below.

Colour and refreshing air to lift the spirits. I paid my respects to the big tree bathed in morning light.

Not to everyone's taste

 

It amuses me that many of us tend to collect odd bits and pieces and say to ourselves that they will be good for something. As part of my approach to the new year I decided to look at small bits that I have been holding on to thinking they might be elements of something. In the end I decided to use them in making earrings with a difference.

As you will see from the photos I've used: cleaned vertebrae of a carpet python I found down the back of 601; small brass bits - I think from a chandelier; some primitive looking stylised tiny skulls made from bone - I don't know where they came from; and some silver beads - again not sure where they came from. Some crystals and bone beads added.

I think the pairs of earrings are unusual, unique; but not to everyone's taste. All the earrings have solid silver wires.

I have used up those pieces that have just been around. I think the contrasts between the bone, crystals and silver work reasonably well.

For friends

 

For many there was a great sigh of relief when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were inaugurated without violence; and graciously offered hope and anew way to many.

I knew I wanted to print something to mark the day and to be able to offer them to friends; and so these micro-posters (aka postcards) rolled off one of DEP's presses. I started with words picked up from friends' messages as you see below; and then picked out the words that would act as shorthand for the statements.

As you see below the posters took on many shades of colour; but the colour that they were printed in is strong purple. Purple for suffragettes; purple for Kamala's coat; purple for the equal place of women in society; and purple for ............ 

And there was even a bit of metal dusting on a few!!!!

Because one does not want to waste ink in the end I printed some paper scraps from the cutting bench so that individual words were also captured.

We can breathe again; we can hope; and we will persist.