metal and glass: 2009

Saturday, December 26, 2009

A hole is drilled to initiate creation of the kinetic apparatus at the top- the whole structure that holds the crescent and the wing, and allows the wing to rotate.

The beads are ground down into plateau looking forms that will accept a sealed powdercoat protection at the end of the metal construction process.

Grinding the beads of splatter weld.

The three sections of Mari's Fire that hold the slumped glass have been "splatter welded" on the outside edges. This is for texture only, it adds organic design to the otherwise static triangular corners along the length of the sculpture. The splatter weld has been cleaned, and scrubbed with a metal brush to disengage any loose beads of metal from the surface.

Week 16- The glass fits so the grinding begins

The bottom apron pieces fit into the metal work!!!!! The template for the next section is checked against the metal frame and adjusted so that the glass work can begin. Linley is now able to go forward with the splatter welding and grinding so that Mari's Fire has the organic feel we want.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Fire and air.

Water and fire.

Small element tiles on light box.

Reworked air element with courage character.

Water-fire-air

New water element with spirit character.

Fire and water element tiles-the water will be reworked.

Close up of fire element.

Fire element.

Water element-this will be reworked.

View in the kiln-fire and water (which will be reworked)

Building the bottom glass elements-mosaic/frit and small element tile.

Eeva's frit paintings. Earth, fire, air water and Chinese characters.

Week 15- earth, air, fire, and wind

The concept for the glass in Mari's Fire is to represent the elements of earth, air,fire and water. Within each of these natural elements will be animals and Chinese characters that are significant to Eeva.

One of the great things about working with glass is that if you are not happy with the results you can rework a piece to get it to what you want. These bottom pieces were all started with the same mosaic technique and the same type of glass. The idea was to insert with powdered frit the colors of fire, water or air into the mosaic work to start the panel that will represent the element. The first two fired were fire and water. I was not happy with the water piece so I reworked it and it became air. The result is shown.

As I build each sculpture glass section, I am duplicating the glass and techniques in small 6x8 inch tiles. The next activity will be to fit the glass into the metal frames of the sculpture and to check that the center template is the correct size and shape.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Distance, front view on stand

Other side view

Side view

Front view on stand

Finished! Just more grinding and filing of welds to complete this section.

Nearly done. All of the joints (at welds) have to be ground down, filed and sanded smooth. Reaching the back side through the gridded enclosure to weld and grind is a challenge.

The building of side two.

The first consideration was the welding of the platform holding the crytal and then the front wall of the enclosure. Here's a picture of the bare platform and then one with the crystal on the platform.

The rod is made into a curve in the "bender" (placed in this apparatus horizontally and then the lever is torqued to bend the rod) and angles are cut by plasma cutter on these saw horses with clamps to hold the round and rolling rod.

A design first sketched on paper over a photocopy of the metal section, a design was made for each side, and even though the sketch was not followed exactly the plan gave direction.

Week 14- Crystal Metal Section

This is a section of metal rod which surrounds and encloses a large crystal called "the bear claw"
It's a large crystal, beautiful, and does indeed look like a bear claw. From a collection of crystals it's a favorite of Eeva and Mari's, discovered and bought by them some years ago. Eeva wanted Ann and Linley to incorporate it into the sculpture.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

View from a corner angle showing two panels of the glass in metal on the triangular column form.

Another experimental panel.

Closer

November 19

Today was going to be a day of fusing glass at Ann's studio with Eeva and the DragonFire Gallery Staff, (Marsha, Lotte, and Kathy) from Cannon Beach. The very stormy weather and flooded routes caused the group to cancel our anticipated time together.

This is a peek of the metal and glass together. We are pleased! this gives us such a motivating view of what we are doing. Ann made this glass panel from a template taken directly from the
sculptural frame. It was made specifically to determine the thickness and fit of the glass. As an experimental piece it looked good and was a perfect fit. Hooray! This allows us to view the glass and metal together and to consider the density and colors of the glass- Things to consider- How will it look lit from within? How will it look 8 feet off the ground? Should the glass be shiny or matte finish?

Stacking it up!

A favorite sight at the end of the day is taking a look at the sculpture again in its full stature (minus one metal mid section here). The changes may not be evident, but the little time consuming tweaks are definitely there.

This is a welded division. Glass to go along the bottom at the base and metal above, this section will become the earth, the grounding element of the scultpture. the section of glass and the section of metal will flow together and overlap in places.

Week 13- Travels and sickness have recently entered into our ongoing creation

The mid section of the sculpturerests on sawhorses where the work is done to grind slag off the hand cut metal edges. Slag is teh fused refuse left from cutting the metal with intense heat.