A new sculpture

These are a couple of models of a sculpture idea. I was looking at an art catalog and saw a sculpture in stone that sparked the idea for this sculpture. It looked nothing like these models. I drew a picture of the idea I came up with... it looked kind of like a very loose knot . . . which I liked a lot at the time. I liked it but I didn't think I could build it. So I thought about it some more . . . what if it was sharp angles instead of loops? I drew another picture, and the red model above looks just like it.

 I'm thinking these should be made of steel. I envision the final size of the finished outdoor sculpture would be somewhere from four to six feet high. I can also see it as a table top sized sculpture. That is the size I would like to build the next, steel, model. On the larger model, the color would be site-specific.
Above,the red model is six inches high, the bronze one is four and a half inches, that includes the bases. I made these models out of cardboard, which is flexible and forgiving, so precision is not required as far as angles and connection joints. An attempt at a wooden version failed completely. Much more precision is required to make everything line up perfectly. I might be able to make this in metal though. That's what I'll try next.

Some small test paintings

Since this is supposed to be an Art blog, I should post some actual art from time to time. Today I'm showing you some small (6" X 6") test paintings done on wood. Here, I was experimenting with making and working on a textured ground. I used sheet rock "mud", or wall patching plaster, as my texturing medium. As experiments will go, some are failures and some are successful.
For the texturing I spread a layer at least an eighth of an inch thick on the face of the wood blank. I could stop right there and let that dry hard or I could use a variety of tools and objects to scrape, scratch, and stamp into the wet plaster.
When the plaster is dry it can be further scratched or carved, or sanded roughly or smoothly. At this point you could even spread on more plaster here and there and working that until you are happy with the textured ground. I mix paint in with a modelling medium and use that to create texture in layers, in different colors, and then sand those down for interesting effects. 
For the painting: essentially, any means one would use to apply paint; using brushes or palette knife with very thick paint, adding even more texture. Very thin paints running into all those marks you made in the plaster. Paint can be brushed, troweled, rubbed, splashed, any way you can think of. These paintings are tests, so I'm trying not to repeat myself and I'm trying a wide variety of methods and color schemes. In the process I'm finding I like this small square format. It presents interesting possibilities.
(click on an image to see a larger version)

Under-painting and Over-painting black. I painted this board and didn't like it, so I painted it black and lightly wiped the paint off before it dried. I did that twice. Then I painted over the black in a few spots, and wiped that off . . . a few times.

Gouging and marking while wet. Dried. Then painting and varnish. Then sanding and scratching, revealing fresh plaster. Then more paint applied, and quickly wiped off, the paint soaking into the plaster but wiping of the varnished paint.

Deep, dense gouging while mud was wet, then several layers of paint followed by an application of  paint mixed with modeling medium applied with a trowel.

Thick layer of mud with a few deep lines incised, painted then dried. Then heavily sanded, flattening all the highest parts, exposing fresh plaster. Several more layers of paint brushed and airbrushed on, some simple masking involved.

All the texturing  here was done in the wet plaster which was dried before painting with no sanding or further altering of the texture. Many light layers of paint, applied with a brush or rubbed on with a rag followed that and resulted in this.

This one started with several thin partial layers of plaster. Cans pressed into one layer, straight lines incise another. When dried, paint was poured, rubbed and brushed on. For my taste, this is the best of the bunch.

Mobile' #59

I made this mobile' rather quickly one Saturday afternoon. I had no plan, only a vague idea, when I started on this. I just made it up as I went. I knew only that it would be not too large and would have three arms with auto plastic "lights". It is welded all steel construction, except for the red inserts at the end of the "arms". This piece is 14 inches high. The legs are steel nails, the cylindrical shape is a solenoid case from a starter motor. Above that, more nails and a screwdriver blade ground to a rounded point. Spinning on that point is a domed disk made from the bottom of a spray paint can. Welded to that are coat hanger wires with big steel washers at the ends. Filling the washers is bits of auto tail light plastic.
I've been making these steel mobile's which incorporate colored plastic or glass in them. I've always liked the idea the these mobile's are "powered" by wind and gravity; natures free energy. And now I'm able to give them "lights", using free sun light to power them. I would point out also that almost all of these mobile's were made from materials I got for free from the trash or literally lying on the side of the road.

Box of the week: Two Oak Boxes

Here are a couple more boxes made from bits of scrap wood in my shop. From time to time I pick out some wood from the scrap bin to make something useful out of it. A lot of the wood I use if from somebody else's scrap bin. I hate to see good wood, even a little bit of it go to waste.

A lot of times my scrap bin projects are tests of ideas I have, or testing a new jig I made. In this case I was trying out a new box joint jig I made. This new jig uses a threaded rod and a crank to move the wood and to make the spacing for the box joint (some call it a finger joint).
So, a little bit of nice hardwood and my new jig and no metal hardware results in a couple of nice little boxes. Both are made completely of (White?) Oak. The box above is about 4x6x1.75 inches, with a beveled lid, and stained walnut color. The box below is roughly 5x5x2 inches, with rounded corners and stained "cherry bark". Both are then finished off with woodworkers wax.

Another scrap box challenge: box

Here's another box made from bits of wood from my scrap box. The main body of this  4.5 X 6 inch box is made from a piece of Poplar trim molding. I made a raised base from pine. The lid is made with 

Teak (the angled part) the flat top is MDF and the knob is Rosewood. I used a stain to make all the wood the same color. No metal parts are used to make this box. 

More boxes

Here are a couple more boxes made recently. This first one is made from a cedar fence board (sides and bottom) and mahogany (top). It has 1/8 inch finger joint corners, made with my new home made finger joint jig. This one has brass hinges and an invisible magnetic latch to hold it closed. The box measures 13 inches by 6.5 inches, and 3.5 tall.

This box is from my "scrap box challenge" project. I decided to see if I could make something interesting from the dregs of my scrap box. Choosing the worst looking bits of wood in the scrap box wasn't quite enough. I picked up some sticks from my backyard as well. The box measures 5 inches square by about 7 inches high. The "knob" on top is a bit of a Eucalyptus branch. The legs are silver maple branch sections, with the bark on. The lid is part of a cedar fence board, left rough, and the sides are spruce construction lumber scraps with 1/4 inch finger joints. The bottom is just a piece of MDF. It's a lift-off lid. Inside box depth is 3 inches. The box is left rough and unfinished. No metal hardware of fasteners were used on this box.

A new box, with corner splines

Here's another wooden box. This one is made with maple faced plywood, a mahogany top, splines and feet. On this box I used a corner spline jig I made. The splines are a two-toned spline-within-a-spline with contrasting wood colors, mahogany and spruce. The box is 6.5" X 12", with brass hinges and an invisible magnetic catch on the front.