Rustnstuff

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Melted metal with a message

I wanted to melt a few different and small amounts of gold and silver that had belonged to me, Fiona and her mum to create a couple of small pieces of jewellery that carried the memories of all three of us. I had to do this metal melting on my own as I wanted it to be a surprise for Fiona. I wanted pieces that showed the natural texture of the molten metal as it set as soon as it hit the air. As you can see from the photos below I managed three small pieces: one pendant and a couple of pairs of earrings.

And of course because I had fired up the electric melting melting furnace I decided to replace a few of my heart shapes; and pour a a couple of ingots etc using the fine offcuts of silver-plated brass and EPNS.

Again I was doing this on my own so it was a bit hard to juggle the propane flame to keep the moulds and the pouring metal hot - therefore the metal had a bit of a tendency to cool in blobs very quickly as it came off its 1100degree centigrade peak. Still I managed some good heart shapes with texture.

A couple of broken hearts?

I plan to stamp the back of the hearts with the words love, hope and peace.

A good solid ingot poured the last of the metal into a rectangular mould.

I largish pendant ingot.

And offcuts that will find homes. Look a bit like gold nuggets???

I still think metal melting is a two person task from both the safety perspective and keeping moulds and metal at optimum temperature. Still not a bad outcome.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Art to acknowledge the contribution and giving of others

During the week I completed some art pieces that would be given away to let others know that their giving and contribution to community does not go unrecognised.

I made a double jointed quirky Artisan Lamp for a friend to let her know that she is a special kind of person.

The lamp started with a collection of bits including: a machine wheel and bearing; brass and wood sections from two brass spray pumps; some hidden hinges I picked up in a box of junk; a hammer brass bowl; and a vintage brass light fitting.

The lamp can be bent to different angles by opening and closing the hinges; but can stand tall when the hinges are closed.

The second task I set myself was to make 60 smallish (about 7.5cm to 10cm long) silver-plated peace and love leaves to distribute to the volunteers and workers of one of our local services. The photo below shows what 60 smallish leaves look like on the grinding bench.

Couple of photos of metal chips and the residue from the grinding wheel on the bench top.

It is useful to have the skills to be able to make small offerings to recognise the great contributions that others make.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Orchids and blossoms in the morning light and super moon at night

Fiona and I are minding a few of her dad's orchids whilst he is on the road. I was taken by the way the soft morning light was just capturing the delicate beauty of some of the wee orchids. Just brilliant shapes and colours as you can see below.

And this morning the vibrant purple of the blossom below caught my eye as I walked Treehaven Way; and the ginger blossom was perched a couple meters in the air capturing filtered light.

And what is not to love about a clear sky and a full superman - just one photo from about 7pm on Tuesday evening and another captured at about 2am this morning. The rotation always gets me.

The simple things around one can make one smile even in hard times.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

The beauty and chaos of stashes

It is nearing the end of the year; and that means in January there will be a clean up and a cull of unused stuff including art material. This made me have a bit of a look at my different stashes of recycled material - how bad were they looking, how much chaos?

The the photos in this blog post do not show the whole range of stuff; but they do give an idea of the range of 'collections' I will be sorting through.

Lots of rusty bits

Brass and copper objects.

Wood and stone.

Silver-plate.

Tools.

And workspaces.

It will be a renewing and refreshing time as it helps me to think a bit more purposefully about what my art practice will be in 2017.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Bone and metal

I knew today that I'd have a few interruptions whilst working in the garage studio even though it is Friday; so I decided to do some work that was straightforward and could be picked up and put down. I have had some clean beef bone on my bench for a while; and an ornate bone handled fork - so I decided to go with those and make a few pendants and pairs of earrings.

As always it starts with cutting - bone and fork sawn with a fine blade.