Rustnstuff

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Back to my morning walks

This week has seen Fiona and I getting back into some routines including early morning exercise and walking on Monday and Wednesday and gardening on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

And I indicated in an earlier post I was surprised on returning home from our trip to Scotland and Wales just what a difference a month makes and how dark it is in the morning.

But by the time I get into Treehaven Way the sky begins to light up.

And wake the bees up.

And show the dew drops on buds and flowers.

And the wind from the south west spun the peace prayer wheel - hopefully sending a few peace vibes out into the globe.

The Camellias are creating cascades of petal - like snow in autumn.

And for those who have enjoyed the white crucifix orchids - how about these tiny droplets on the orchids.

And of course the valley does light up with soft pastel light.

What is not to love about early morning walks - apart from the early morning part that is

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Preparing metal for etching

The weekend has in part been used to progress the post commission (well one post and what will be one seat). Sanded the four ends of the logs I had cut to size - but more about that at the end of the post.

The important thing for me next was to: cut the metal panels; sand the metal to a brushed finish; and transfer the images to the metal so that Fiona and I can do a big bath etch during the week.

The metal (3mm aluminium sheet) was pretty dirty from being stored in the carport at the shed. Marked up ready for cutting with the angle grinder and fine reinforced offcut blade.

The offcut blade tends to leave quite a large burr on the metal so all edges needed filing and sanding.

The final outcome though is clean brush finished plate.

I marked up the designs using paint marker pens and on the bigger areas needing blocking in I used some of Fiona's thick liquid shellac. The paint pen and shellac provide the resist when etching.

There are two 1.15mX.15m panels; one 1.15mX.2m panel and lots of odds and sods - all will find a home on the two timber pieces.

The theme of the work is water, plants and trees; but the client requested hands be featured somewhere as the post and seat are to commemorate a community environment project. The hands and small leaf panel will go on the seat along with a plaque.

I got to sand the ends of the posts - got Fiona to help me stand them up and turn them over - very heavy. Used a 40 and 80 grit 'sand-paper' in my belt sander for the job - pretty heavy on the hands and arms. Still the outcome is good.

Enough for a weekend - I'll see how it progresses during the week.

Friday, May 6, 2016

From the paddock - timber that is

This week I have been working on a couple of commissions: one to make cheese boards for official gifts; and the second to make a couple of post sculptural pieces.

As you might know I don't usually make cheese boards but sometimes they come about as byproducts of working with timber for lamps or sculptures. Anyway an artist friend was impressed with my hairy oak cheese boards and asked if I could do a job lot as gifts for a group of folk holding a national meeting on the Sunshine Coast. I still had some timber so I could too this job and make a couple more lamp bases. The boards are complete - ready for tagging.

The sculptural post pieces are being made from a large 300mmX300mm piece of timber milled from a fallen tree that had been in a paddock for about 20 years - salvaged spotted gum. As you can see from the photos below this is a big piece of timber - weighed 250-300kg. And I had to cut it with a handsaw.

Making the 4 cuts took about 3-4hours - very hard and dense wood. But as you can see from the photos the pieces i need (1.6m and .8m) are now cut and I have begun to sand the cut ends to give a good finish.

I will need to seal the ends of the timber with timber wax to stop splitting. Sometimes the first steps in creating pieces is just hard work - I think I have earn a glass or two of red.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Light, clouds and cartwheeling cockatoos

Whilst it is grand to travel I must say it is also great to be home especially at the time of autumn-winter light.

First of call because it is the season where rainbows appear in the most unexpected places in the house including reflected through the kettle onto the stone bench.

The valley below has just been spectacular - going from bright morning light and windswept clouds to navy early light and puddles of cloud covering the valley floor and townships below.

I walked Treehaven Way mainly in semi-darkness this morning - and I met no-one on the walk - it was quiet and soft. When I came home I was moved to photograph the white crucifix orchid that is in glorious bloom and stood out so clear and strong.

When I was doing my 5 rites routine I was distracted by the joyful raucousness of a flock of Black Cockatoos - they were going crazy doing all sorts of bomb dives and loops etc - just seemed like they were having so much fun. I tried to capture a bit of the bird action and colour of the clouds - but the iPhone is not great on zoom.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

A trip through the detail

We are home on the mountain doing all those post trip chores - unpacking, washing, sorting, uploading photos to computer etc.

The 'souveniers' Fiona and I bring home and many of the photos we take tend to convince me that we are a bit odd.

Below you can see my stash of souvenirs - blow lamp and large rusted nail from Orkney, spirit level, thermometer, brass taps from The World of Rust Trecastle Wales and another spirit level from Cardiff. And of course there are stones, sea glass and brass rods….