Folding

What started as a sketch has developed into model investigation; both physical and virtual. These are a few Google SketchUp models, although I'm not really excited about this part of the development process. I'm experimenting with process, to see which yields the most satisfactory result. I suspect it will, as in the past, end up being a hybrid between physical and digital. 

Welder's up!

Major milestone yesterday....the TIG welder is up an running after sleeping for many a year. To celebrate, I welded a simple base so it could be mobile ( a requirement in the small upstairs portion of the studio).

I also produced sample number 2. It's an aluminum sheet with pop rivets...  the mandrels are left on. It diverges from my original intent of producing "samples" that I've first investigated in my sketchbook, but it's a technique I've been pondering for some time. It actually derives from thousands of rivets used for a commission in St. Croix from 1998 or so. Even though it wasn't sketched first, I'm also working towards more intuitive responses as well. Not so sure about the irregular pattern, but I'm trying not to over-evaluate so soon after completing each sample.

Looking outward

After completing an installation yesterday for a client (which always feels good), I spent tome time browsing the periodical section of my local Borders. I was looking for the latest issue of American Craft. I came across Clear magazine [ www.clearmag.com ], which unfortunately is a bit too far on the "fashion" end of the design spectrum, but the current issue has an article about Wendell Castle and one on the work of Belgian Artist Arne Quinze [ www.arnequinze.tv/ ]. It was interesting to see the fluff written about Castle, but seeing Quinze's work got me thinking back to a piece I had designed months ago (more as a doodle than fully developed).

Castings.2

Unfortunately, I had other things to get to this weekend, but the very cold weather gave me an excuse to stay inside the house and try to pull off some molds from the deteriorating "fruits". Great success. I first poured two silicone rubber molds from (2) of the globes. Just in case they didn't work, I poured some Alginate molds of two others. I then pulled (4) plaster castings off the Alginate right away, since they will start to break down themselves.

The photo at the top is a detail view of one of the plaster castings (I also cast beeswax as an experiment). The next one down is a top view prior to pouring the Alginate, showing the breakdown of mother nature quite clearly. The final is the bag of globes that I'm working from. The orange and honey smell from the "materials" is a nice by-product.

Castings

I feel like I'm running out of time... to get castings off the Osage Orange "fruits", or seed pods, or whatever these wonderful green objects are. I've been drawn to their color and especially the surface texture, which varies widely. There is a OO tree a few blocks north of our home, and on our walks we find them "littering" the ground in late fall. This tree produces globes about 4-6" in diameter. Some have said they're often used to ward off spiders from the dank basements; they do indeed put off a significant citrus smell. 

In any case, I've been planning on using them as models to produce castings for insetting into furniture.. but they're starting to deteriorate from the inside out. Hopefully I can get some molds made this weekend.  

Image source: www.edupic.net/images/plants/oasage_orange326.jpg

First Official Day

With the kids returning to school today, I'm considering this the real start of the sabbatical work. In order to get the studio ready, I spent a good deal of time working to complete a commission for a residence in Elmhurst, Il. It should be complete by the end of the week. 

I also spent some time cleaning, straightening up, and organizing. It's daunting to begin. the studio is like a puzzle that may pieces have to move until the one piece can be put in place. It's been like this for some time, but now it's VERY distracting.

I had to go pick up some supplies for the commission, so I also picked up some materials for the first _material board_. I purchased some plaster lathe...after completing a jewelry cabinet years ago for the Chicago Contemporary Decorative Arts exhibition at the Betty Rymer Gallery at SAIC, I'm going to look at using "real" lathe instead of material to give the impression of lathe. We'll see.

"Material Board_1"