Rustnstuff

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Cutting metal for Funky Fish

You may remember the blog post I did on the Flying Funky Fish in July. I have been asked if I had them for sale. I thought before I put them up into the shop (which is a bit empty at the moment) I should make a few more.

I have been using the curved sides of a couple of old and large brass jardinieres for the bodies of the fish. I particularly like the curves that have stripped or diamond patterns on them - reminds me a bit of the markings on some fish.

Anyway I got the angle grinder out, put in a fine reinforced cutting disc and cut the top section off the jardiniere (fancy name for pot plant pot).

I cut 5 fish bodies from the top section. In the past the jardiniere had been coated with varnish so I had to burn that off - interesting green flames. Of course it annealed the metal at the same time.

The metal was curved in the wrong direction so while it was soft from annealing I bent the pieces spot they curved the way I wanted them. But you can see they are pretty messy at this point. So over to the grinder and polisher to give them new life.

Interestingly enough as I was fossicking around in the metal pile I found a few other fish bodies I had cut months and months ago. So they got a grind and polish as well. Love the small one.

Now it is a matter of setting aside time to add fins, tails, gills etc.

Roses rust

A few iPhoneography images from Japan

Friday, October 7, 2016

Art paperwork

As I have said in a number of blog posts in the past, the art-life is not always about making art. There is also planning; sourcing of materials; and of course the before and after paperwork.

As part of my contract regarding the buttress root poetry sculpture I needed to submit a set of detailed drawings and installation plans for the sculpture; and a set of fabrication and installation costings.

The photo below shows what a set of art-sculpture drawings can look like.

The costings documents needed to include: a quote from me regarding my artist's fees; a engineer's quote; a metal fabricator's quote; a poetry CNC etching quote; and an installation quote. The photo below shows what a a set of costing documents can look like.

Art paperwork is an investment in the making of the art. This sculptural art work could occur sometime in 2017.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Catching light

The morning walks are now being taken with the the sunrise - very light. This morning I was taken with how the sunlight coming at an oblique angle was lighting small blossoms, leaves etc.

It was a bit early for this visitor to be on the wing which meant I was able to enjoy its presence without disturbing it.

We are off to Japans it could be a good omen that the new growth on our Japanese maples is a deep red - catching the early morning light beautifully

It won't be too long before the summer light is waking us at about 4-4.30am.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Metal women

We had our friend Caren visiting over the weekend. It provided another of those opportunities to have fun with metal. Fiona was keen to join with Caren in hammering a bowl and making a brooch.

We started from scratch - a piece of metal cut from a small silver-plated tray.

Great apprentices - I demonstrated various techniques and tools and Fiona and Caren went down their own paths.

Hammering...

Grinding and polishing

And the finished products

Karen's brooch and bowl

Fiona's brooch and bowl

So two more metal women.

Exhibition in Japan

As part of the Sister Cities relationship between the Sunshine Coast and Tatebayashi Japan we are holding an exhibition in Gallery Fantasia in Sano. Fiona, Christine Elcoate, Noela Mills and Merv Jefferson and I are in this group exhibition.

I packed and transported 3 works to Japan.

We set the exhibition up on the 8 October - a few photos to show how it looked.

The exhibition will be taken down on the 16 October.

Friday, September 30, 2016

Sometimes there is not a lot to be seen

Today has been one of those days: Rhonda's sister picked up the ladles and Artisan Lamp; I repaired a garden fork so we could dig the potatoes; I built a garden edge; and I hammered some stems to be riveted to the leaf forms that will make up the commission Bending 5.

For me the stems are the most interesting and creative part of the day. I need to make 20 stems to attach to the leaf forms. I started out with 24 lengths of rusty iron rod from my 'rust bank'.