Hot! Hot! Hot!

As usual it's been a crazy past few weeks, and now that the pour is finished, it seems so long ago.... This is one pic from the second day of the bronze casting. Everything went smoothly, all 24 of my pieces came out though some have some cracks that will have to be filled.

Fibers

Today we were fortunate enough to have a visit from fiber artist Erin Curry! She gave us a brief presentation on her work, introduced us to many beautiful natural fibers, demonstrated various spinning techniques, and gave a felting demo. What an awesome, inspiring experience!

Bronze Casting!

I've been working on the mechanism for heliotropis mostly, and this week I will cast the bronze petiole plates, which will join the glass petals to the central hinge hub. The process I use is lost wax ceramic slurry- you can see all of the brown wax positives before dipping, and the chunky orange ceramic silica shell after 8 layers of dipping.

Central hub

Sent from the field!

TJ Erdahl and Dialogic Sound

Last week I had the opportunity to collaborate with TJ Erdahl on this beautifully rich ceramic sculpture installation. TJ is an extremely talented ceramic sculptor who combines texture with electronics to create contemplative works about inner and outer dialogues. The interaction was an artist's residency of sorts as TJ was awarded a supporting grant from NCECA, the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. I'll have to get the exact title from TJ, but the conceptual thrust of the work is based on an opposing dialogue, that of boy and world as in a young boy being told what he can and can't do. The electronics are a mashup of arduino, mp3 players, and other custom electronics. The audio is triggered by an Infra-red sensor and is randomized to give many unique compositions of the always opposing voices. It was a lot of fun to work with TJ on this piece! Check out the thick, crunchy textures! Amazing! Thanks TJ-

Massage Peddler

This is a custom-altered Burley D-Lite kids trailer, re-designed to carry a massage table above and sheets or clothing below. It was a fairly simple conversion- just cut the sidewalls down, re-sew sleeves to create new, lower edge, and bend new pipe to form side rails. After that, I added two pinned cross bars that quickly clip out to allow flat folding of the sidewalls. With this light and practical trailer my friend Aaron will be a Massage Peddler for hire, going zero-carbon and biking to you to give you a great massage!

Crystals

I've been thinking a lot lately about crystals, how they display the complexity of nature in a visually simple way, and how they are symbols of value that men and women place upon them.

The Klein Bottle is a sort of crystal, it's interior and exterior are one and the same, interchangeable surfaces. I am thinking of doing an open space frame in stainless, more geometric than the drawing above.

progress

Here are a few images of four finished petals for heliotropis:

Zeta Beta Tau

Last week Katy began this mural for the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity at the University of Florida. They provided the general idea for content and Katy came up with this design. I helped a bit and did some of the background work and lettering- it was a lot of fun! Check out more from mural artist Katy Castronovo on her website here>

Heliotropis

Here is the final design for Heliotropis. It will be a solar powered kinetic sculpture, collecting energy from the sun to open and close the glass petals throughout the day. Eventually different environmental stimuli will be added into the mix to give variation to it's behavior. I'm well on my way, pulling the ceramic mold out of the kiln today to start forming petals, and welding the main stem structure. Scheduled completion is Spring 2010!

Fountain Restoration

This fountain was created by Gay Hanna, and is owned by Amy Vigilante and Taylor Dickerson of Gainesville, FL. It is about 13 yrs old and in desperate need of attention after years of sitting outside in the Florida humidity. The wooden basin, lined with fiberglass, was totally rotten and the copper and brass elements had lost their original verdigris and tarnished a dark mineral rust. After re-building the basin, cleaning all metal parts, and re-applying patina, the sculpture was ready to soothe and calm for many more years!

New Commission: Heliotropis

Here is a sketch of my new project Heliotropis. It is a solar powered kinetic piece, a flower that blooms with the day and responds to its environment. The colors are still uncertain, i've been considering red for the petals, but I like this violet a lot... the flower and stamen will be glass, the stem stainless. This work is being commissioned by Beth Deutch and Larry Rubin in Rumson, NJ.

Rose Colored Lenses

Here is the installation at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre: more images to come....

Progress.....

Here's the latest, time to start making molds for slumping the glass!

Rose Colored Lenses

Here is a sketch of my current project, Rose Colored Lenses. The sculpture is a commission for the first annual Florida's First Coast Arts Festival, hosted by the St. Augustine Amphitheater and produced by Tony Mata and Kevin Marshall of the University of Florida's Colege of Fine Arts. The festival will be a week full of music, theatre, dance, and an outdoor sculpture exhibition of works by UF School of Art and Art History students and alumni.

The material here is raw, rusty steel and seven deep-red, hot-formed glass domes or lenses.