Rustnstuff

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Light, lines and looking up

There is no doubt that we are just over one month away from the shortest day of the year. Light when we rise for our exercise-walk is now close to dark - but through the iPhone lens there are some great deep colours.

Some of the plants indicate they are finished for this season.

Birds, clouds and powerlines dominated the walk along Treehaven Way.

Light refracted through the water and clear glass kettle never fail to intrigue me.

Orchids have there own way of offering colour and light

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Silver and rust and a couple of 'love' jobs

The good news is that I managed to grab a couple of hours yesterday and today to do the grinding and polishing of the bowls. They have been given a high polish which in turn makes them hard to photograph as they just want to reflect everything including the photographer. But first a photo of the bits on the grinding-polishing bench.

I could not resist photographing some of the bowls on the rust-bank bench. I just love the contrast of the rust and hammered metal.

A few of the bowl have been turned into ladles - the smallest and biggest are below.

I made a gift leaf for a new born - a leaf hopefully with good vibes for a good strong life.

I get requests from time to time to repair family heirlooms; or to make stuff out of family objects. I was asked if I could repair and polish a bone and brass bangle that had been handed down. I do some of these tasks as a way of giving back to community. I think has been restored to its former glory.

All in all a good weekend.

Friday, May 11, 2018

Not pretty - starting many bowls and the tools used

Yesterday and today I managed time in the studio-garage. The aim is to make 4 sets of Daily Leaf Word sets and about 12 ladles. As you can see from the photos above and below using cut up old, and often dirty, salvaged silver-plated serving trays means that the initial stash of metal can look pretty ordinary.

The fire treatment and hammering does not really improve the look. But they will shine once taken over to the grinding-polishing bench.

I loved the fact that the work bench just became populated by hammers and stakes - all the tools were used in the process to date.

I hope to get time over the weekend to finish the hammering and get to polish the bits - something shiny to show on Sunday.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Ah - reflected beauty and other fragments.

I know I have posted photos of the clouds reflected in the water in the fire pit before; but I'm afraid this morning's scattered cloud and soft colour in the west was just so inviting to the eye.

All the more so as the sky was quite dark as I set out on my walk.

Light was the sky on my arrival home.

With more light I was able to enjoy the camellias and bees hard at work.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Hammer, stake and fire

Over the weekend I was able to grab a couple of hours to do a little metal work

I had cut and selected quite a few bits and pieces (below) over a month ago; but had not got back to working them.

I must say it gives me joy and a sense of satisfaction to be able to take 'found object', offcuts and pieces of silver-plated trays and hammer them into new shapes.

The piece at the start of the blog started life as the base of a goblet - but it and the other three bases will become beautiful hammered forms.

The two pieces below were small silver plated eggcups; but after several rounds of fire and hammering on a stake they will become bowl section for a pair of small deeper ladles.

The small piece below (about 6cm in diameter) will be one of a number of fungi forms.

And the funnel like piece will be just a beautiful form.

None of the pieces above have been polished yet. I will continue to work on the rest of the pieces over the next week.

Friday, May 4, 2018

Cute Artisan Lamp and a whole cluster on the work table

Today I have finished my current run of Artisan Lamps. I have finished off a couple of retro-funky lamps - one made from what I think was a very early electric coffee pot water kettle; and the other from a vintage solid fuel soldering iron head.

A couple of before and after photos of the bits on the grinding-polishing bench.