Rustnstuff

Sunday, September 18, 2016

The "apprentice"; and display case for Fire Within mini sculptures

We had a whirlwind 24 hour visit by our friend Kath from Melbourne. As is the case with our visitors Fiona and I offer them the opportunity to chill out or do some art play and chill out. Kath wanted to do some metal work with me and printing with Fiona. When asked what metal work she would like to do she nominated a ladle with a copper soldering iron handle. Had she done metal work before? No. We had a window of about 2-2.5 hours - was it possible to make a ladle from scratch in the time? We decided to give it a go.

My approach is to make one alongside the "apprentice" (as Kath called herself); and the "apprentice" makes her own doing all the same steps. The photos below show Kath at work.

And the photo below show the two ladles completed - great job by Kath - another metal woman.

I have had a perspex display case made for the small Fire Within pieces. I want to send them off to Blackall (Qld) for the Heartland Festival art show. The display highlights the beauty and preciousness of the pieces.

A good weekend's work.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Memories in a lamp and ladles

About a month or more ago I committed to making an Artisan Lamp and a couple of ladles by way of saying thanks for being gifted a heap of stuff by Rhonda McK. I agreed to turn a set of vintage Indonesian scales into the lamp without impacting on the integrity of the scales; and I said I would make a couple of ladles from a couple of small very worn silver-plated trays and some plumbers hand copper soldering iron.

As is often the case the task begins with dismantling the pieces and cutting up metal.

Then moving on to hammering bowls and making the light fitting bracket; and grinding and polishing the pieces.

When I gently sanded and oiled the timber section of the scales I discovered that there were heaps of measure markings on the timber. The markings had been made by drilling very fine holes into the timber and hammering in brass wire. As you can seen in the photos below this is very beautiful.

Once all the polishing was complete I could assemble the lamp. I threaded the cord through brackets etc and attached with black ties as I did not want to drill into the timber. On Fiona's suggestion I used a long globe as it fitted the slim nature of the lamp.

The base was made using recycled timber Rhonda had given me; plus the hanging hook of the scales and the weight used on the scales. So all parts of the scales are present in the lamp. I drilled a hole in the recycled timber so that the scale timber pole could be inserted but not glued. If the family wants to dismantle the lamp it can easily be returned to the glory of the scales.

The ladles of course have a beauty of their own that stands out against the rusted circular saw blade in the late afternoon sun.

A good bit of creativity to finish on Friday. Pizza and red wine is the order of the night.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Of clouds and spring activity

What a difference a couple of days can make. The photos below are of the light, scudding and rolling clouds of this morning.

Compare those with this photo taken on Monday morning - rolling but in a heavy ominous way.

The mornings are becoming lighter and the evidence of spring can be seen in the bursting buds, colours and the activity of bees and birds.

Seeds are shooting including the clump of pumpkins seedlings in our pumpkin patch. I dug six holes and threw clumps of seeds in thinking a couple would come forth - well I now have six clumps of seedings. I will thin the clumps to the strongest two plants.

I'm enjoying the light and cool of spring.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Geared - Artisan Lamps

On my recent road trip with Fiona's dad I bought a couple of vintage geared hand-drills. I had a couple of lamps in mind. I have been able to create a pair of sibling lamps from the two slightly different hand-drills.

There was a lot more work making these than meets the eye. I needed to strip the section out that takes the drill bits; drill a hole down the shaft; thread the drilled out section to take the threaded pipe for the light fitting; and drill an entry point in through the thread under the head of the drill.

I wanted to cover the cord; so I brought it in through the silky oak base and threaded it through an antique gas pipe that has a flat ornate profile. I think it worked.

With the addition of stop-cock handles, silky oak bases and other brass bits and pieces I think they have worked out well.

These Artisan Lamps will go to Entangle gallery in Dayboro. Today I also started making making the floor lamp for Rhonda McK as a thank you for the stash we collected from Bundaberg;l but more on that another time.