Thread: stitching begins

shmick spring,
love the third pic, I imagine the process is quite meditative,
can't remember, were all the pieces cut and drilled individually? or did you set up for it?

Thanks Undy. Work takes up most of my time and except for the weekends I'm often too tired to put good time into artwork so I'm in the habit of making things made up of repetitive pieces that I can work on half asleep. This is one such example, another is nearly cut out, pallet wood again but in red gum and another planned to make the group of three. All pieces are cut and drilled individually then tumbled with sand and pebbles. Then painted with acrylic and sanded again. Most were then stained or dripped with bitumen paint then soaked in turps and linseed oil for a couple of days and dried.

I suppose it is meditative, a long process though that at times I feel bogged down in while other ideas fly by but for me it's a way of getting somthing done, eventually.

That's so striking Springwater. The sheer size of the work is going to add to its impressiveness. Can't believe how well all the parts interconnect! Steamline

Very nice, Springwater! I like the patina from the tumbling Can you post us a pic of that setup please?

Cheers

Looking awesome

Good to see it coming together. Sewing is a good passtime for sleep deprived art production. DAMHIK. ( Although I like knitting wire. )

Originally Posted by clare

That's so striking Springwater. The sheer size of the work is going to add to its impressiveness. Can't believe how well all the parts interconnect! Steamline

Thanks clare, I'm thinking it'll be good to get back to some smaller more intimate things after all the big scale stuff that I've gotten myself into

Originally Posted by Andy Mac

Very nice, Springwater! I like the patina from the tumbling Can you post us a pic of that setup please?

Cheers

Thanks Andy Mac, The "setup", was a cement mixer. For these pieces I used a dry mix of sand, bluestone pebbles, old nails, metal offcuts and gang nail plates off the end of the bearers of the pallet. Water certainly aids in abrasion but I felt the pieces were too fragile to weaken by getting soaked and bashed about. I advise you get the cleanest cement mixer you can as the dried cement coating the not so well cleaned ones can stain wood cement grey, especially if you use water in the tumbling process, believe me I found out but a good rinse and bleach can get rid of most of the stain. One other thing is that it makes lots of loud noise!

For something else I'm working on I need a gentle tumbling action so I've built a wooden tumbler to fit into a cement mixer to soften the blow. Here's the thread address if your interested, look especially for powderpost's tumbler, something I'm sure you are more than capable of making: https://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=85672&page=2

Originally Posted by flynnsart

Looking awesome

Thanks flynnsart, I did a row of stitches after work tonight as I promised myself, but a hot shed, linseed oil from the wood and dubbin from the leather mixed with swarming mozzieswith no mozzie coils left was all too much, it's times like these that I look forward to winter!

If there's such a thing as half way milestone here it is. So far, 50 metres of Kangaroo leather stitching, a sacrificial cow hide belt and the straps once used to secure the canvas sun blind holding it all together, I hope.
Attachment 98666

Whooooah! Looking GREAT Perrier! Love how the distressed paint looks so sky/water like. Beautiful work.

Originally Posted by clare

Whooooah! Looking GREAT Perrier! Love how the distressed paint looks so sky/water like. Beautiful work.

Thanks Clare, for me somehow a forest came to mind. I always think it could have been better, perhaps I should have laid it out differently and not relied so much on serendipity to some degree. Sometimes while working toward finishing one thing the start of the next thing happens . I conceived this one to be in hues of blue but I repainted some with Alizarin Crimson darkening it with a wash of bitumen. I've become more aware that I can't help but be effected by outside influences and have reactions to them even when I think the way has been chartered, or something like that

Well, you know, I guess there are a mulitudes of alternatives, and decission-making is all part of the process and keeps us going forward. It looks great-the overall effect is striking and your precission is gobsmacking. Subliminal refelctions of forest/sky/water are highly subjective I guess, but regardless, it gives your work depth. Great work.

Originally Posted by clare

Well, you know, I guess there are a mulitudes of alternatives, and decission-making is all part of the process and keeps us going forward. It looks great-the overall effect is striking and your precission is gobsmacking. Subliminal refelctions of forest/sky/water are highly subjective I guess, but regardless, it gives your work depth. Great work.

It's not that precise, the pictures tell a few lies, I wasn't aiming for perfection the naughty few odd one outs don't worry me, more importantly I want it to look like its been around a few times. I've considered making one that looks as though it's falling apart.

Your words on art read to me as coming from someone with a natural affinity towards it, thanks for your comments

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNBTT20aDlQ"]YouTube - Wiyathul Live[/ame]

Looks great Springwater and whats wrong with Serendipity, I always believe that chance comes to those who prepare the ground.