Thread: WIP sculpture (mixed media)

Hi again.
I cut out 7 roughly identical petals, and then flipped them on their sides to cut curves, but didn't do each the same. Some were flipped one way and some the other...if you know what I mean, as I don't want the finished item to be perfectly symmetrical.
I then hogged off the waste with the big linisher, using the roller "nose" at the front, before settling down to finishing the shapes.
I clamped them in one of my homemade carving vises, which allows good access all round and sits high above the bench.
If you know even a little woodwork, you'll see there are some serious weaknesses in the form, short grain, and yes I did have a couple of breakages in the vice! Nothing that Araldite or Superglue won't fix..
For this whole process I've only used rasps and files, no carving gouges...does that not make it a carving?! Mainly because the form isn't in relief, and an 8" half round bastard will get in everywhere I need. The macrocarpa is nice to work, but a bit gummy and has a tendency to clog the file, so cleaning it regularly. I have a tendency to work in all directions with a file, somethings with the grain, sometimes across, then cross hatching, or even circular strokes, and then draw filing like I would on metal. Whatever it takes to chase the form where I need it.
I have since spent several hours with sandpaper, working from 80 grit to 320, settling back with some Blues compilations and a beer!
Here's a shot of the vice work.

Cheers,

I managed to get a bit of the metal work done last night and this morning. The first bit is the collar which the petals are attached to, about 50mm al. tube with 7 angle brackets rivetted to it. The pop rivets are 3/16" and the longest ones I could buy in Australia, have used them several times for texture. It helps to have a pneumatic pop rivet gun!!
The other piece is the first stage of the tail section, a tapered tube. Each segment will be joined to the previous with a rubber skirt, and as each will be angled, the resulting form will curve...hopefully.
Aside: As this particylar project has come about during a thread that Grunt started, about Chernobyl, which I have followed with mush interest, I have infused the piece with my thoughts about nuclear power...the whole seduction of technology and the way it can sometimes get out of the "master's" control. Consequently I have titled this work "Frankenstein Flower-Corpus chernobylii). Thanks, Grunt, for the inspiration!!

Cheers,

Here is the roughly assembled piece so far. Only one petal is finished, that is, fine sanding and oil/wax. As each petal curves slightly differently, I will tune them later by bending each bracket to suit. Then they will all be closed in, so the resulting form is slightly cone-like.
I'm happy with the way the wood has come up, although it tends to look like our local cypress (Callitris) which is not my favourite! Its only redeeming feature is that termites don't like it, I dislike the smell and it has a hard, brittle feel when worked.
Anyway, I now have to turn a rim for the front of the collar, out of rosewood for a bit of contrast, then a bulb for the other side where the tail joins on, and keep working on the metal parts.
It needs to be completed by this Friday!:eek:

Cheers

Gidday Andy

VEry VEry Cool ....................... am watching this one with interest. Thx ssssssssoooooooo much for showing your process of concept design through to creating the 'piece'


VEry nice indded can't wait to see the finished product!!!!

REGards Lou

Geez Andy, you've done a lot of work since, what, Thursday last week. I can't wait to see what p.. No, no pre-empting allowed just yet

cheers
Wendy

Cool Andy! Thanks for posting progress shots. Can't wait to see more as it progresses!

Cheers
Dan

Hi there,
I managed to get a bit of turning in today, got the rim done from a nice old bit of Rosewood and it turns nicely! I also did the bulb part behind the collar, out of macrocarpa, and it too turned very sweetly.
As I want a bit of a curve over the whole length I actually tried multi centred turning for the first time! It is an interesting experience which I'll need to follow through with, but sort of worked for what I need. Still had a lot of hand work to be done, blending in the different radii, and maybe was just as easy to not worry about the turning part?
Anyway, here is the result...

Cheers,

I've just got in from the shed, a bit carried away with fitting the turned sections to the metal, then decided to extend the metal segments. 1 am and up for work in another 4-5hrs, I think I get obsessed! During that stint my heater had a melt down, so was a bit chilly when I left.
The aluminium is fairly soft, malleable stuff, recycled from a baking or griller tray out of an Op shop. I often work with this sort of material, mainly because its cheap, but its so nice to work instead of harder industrial grades. I rough the forms by hand and modified pliers, then with a planishing hammer over a home made stake before rivetting. I follow up with a buff to tone down the secondhand look, then final shape over the stake. The next segment will be tricky, as I want it long, tapered one end then flared at the other. A new stake might be in order.

'Night!

This is inspiring stuff, Andy. I love the concept, and the mixture of wood and aluminium looks great. I appreciate the idea behind the title too.

What are the noodly bits inside the collar? Are they part of the rivets, or did you have to make them up? Either way, they look great.

Certainly different, is it going to be free standing?

Free standing? I hope not; it should be shackled to a BIG concrete block! :eek: My poor, poor Daisies are trembling in their pots, they are.

That's amazing work Andy... wish I had half your talent. [sigh]

Thanks guys! I have made a bit more progress, but no photos yet. The aluminium tail is almost there, and really only the finial to do, with the off-cast gear. I did make a new stake, long and tapered, from a gearbox shaft and it worked well, so that was my lunchtime gone!
Zenwood, those noodles, as you so aptly described them, are indeed the rivet body. Being so long (30mm-ish) and the sheetmetal so thin, the leftover portion just does its own thing when "popped"...bending randomly as the tail is drawn through. I love that contrast of aluminium and wood together, like the early aero frames. A US guy called Michael Cooper did some amazing laminated wood constructions with handshaped aluminium elbows and joints, including an articulated road racer. There's one of his in storage at the Qld Art Gallery, which I organised to go and have a look at; and I saw another one of his at the SA state gallery in 1980, which was a trike-cum-revolver. Did you see that? AMAZING stuff.
Harry, I'm anticipating the whole thing will lay on a gallery plinth, propped up by the cone of petals and the tail extending over the plinth. The weight of the gear on the end should keep it stable.
And Skew, don't be so down on your own abilities, you're a better turner than me for a start! Have you tried multi-centred turnings before, any tips? I just apply a lot of half-learned skills to my own ends .

Cheers,

Corpus Chernobyl?
Is this about mutation Andy?

Hi Harry!
Yes its about mutation, I have made many mutated versions of flowers, seedpods and insects etc. Usually combine aluminium with timber, so there's a sense of technology and organic.
The title plays with the Latin for body, corpus, obviously relating to deaths, but also the word used for seed, carpus, which I think means swelling and is familiar to many in names like Exocarpus and Macrocarpus. Many of my titles muck around with Latin: the way I see it many people don't really know it in any depth, but there is a Latin root to many English words, and we get the hint without knowing it.

Cheers,