A Little Inspiration: Carson Fox

Carson Fox is a sculptor living in New York. I really love her work and I think it's pretty obvious why.

Pink Ship

Broken Cobalt

Peach Sorbet Fantasy

The sculptures above are roughly 20"x20". I had saved images of her work a while back to my inspiration folder. I was browsing through those images again today when I came across these and thought the sculptures were real crystals.

Landscapes from Afar

Here are a few of the photos I have been taking in my studio lately. These new images have solidified that I need to make a piece that incorporates light.

 

 

Beautiful World

I love having a camera phone because now I can capture these fleeting moments. Last night's sunset was pretty amazing. This is the view just outside the wood shop doors at Herron.

Thanks goes to Kim for pointing out how cool the sunset looked reflected in the JW Marriot!

A Little Inspiration: Kirsten Kay Thoen

I stumbled upon Kirsten Kay Thoen's work on Pinterest. Thoen says her works "utilize structural elements such as plexiglass, wood, and metal, and are often light based, incorporating the subtle life-like quality of an internal light source. Digital manufacturing techniques are employed to expand the works capacity to take on complex forms. Once transformed into photo-sculptural works, the images are no longer mere depictions of nature, but vital forms of their own."

I was drawn to these because they have a similar feel to a series that I have started working on. I'm still developing my concept for this series and seeing Thoen's work has definitely given me some things to think about.

If you want to see more of Kirsten Kay Thoen's work her website is: kirstenkaythoen.com

A Little Inspiration: Cole Caswell

I was recently turned onto the artist Cole Caswell by one of my graduate committee members. Caswell's work in photography "investigates landscape, place, environment, and geography, through strata of observation, technology, subjectivity, and his surroundings." 

The first series of images I was drawn to is titled Atmospheres. Caswell describes the work as "the abstract and celestial forms that are revealed in these experimental photographs depict climatic conditions through direct reactions with photographic film and chemicals. The entire collection offers a subjective description of the humidity within my laboratory and allows the images of this colorful and chemical world to play out on a variety of scales." Below is a selection of works from the series.

The next series that really intrigued me is called Colonization. Caswell says these images are "high resolution scans of found mold colonizations. Interested in growth patterns and the apparent stages of colonization found in each specimen." 

These images are hauntingly beautiful. It is interesting that the mold colonies take on a creature like form. Some look very bird like and others take on the appearance of insects. 

You can find more of Cole Caswell's work at his website: colecaswell.com

Sawyering 101

This weekend I took an awesome workshop at The Indianapolis Art Center. It's called Sawyering 101 and is taught by Shane Strodtman. At the beginning of the class Shane went over the basics of trees and how we get the boards we are familiar with from them. He also talked a little bit about the importance of using local materials and how to be economical with our wood. Shane is a professional landscaper and gardener. He actually took down most of the trees that we milled himself.

Shane explaining where the different cuts of wood come from.

After this we went outside and got introduced to the Wood-Mizer! Shane doesn't own the saw mill, so he hired Schuyler Marks from Columbus, Indiana. Schuyler is a woodworker himself and has a real passion for wood. He was so enthusiastic about the milling process that it really made for a fun learning environment. Schuyler gave us an overview of the machine and explained to us the value of milling your own lumber.

Schuyler (in the hard hat) explaining the milling process.

The Wood-Mizer was set up in the parking lot at The Indianapolis Art Center and behind it you can see all the pretty logs!

This wood mill is a manual set up. Schuyler Hand cranked the saw through the logs. He also had to manually adjust the blade height, log position, and clamping mechanisms. Shane explained to us that there are saw mills you can buy that do all of that for you. Completely automated and run by a computer. Schuyler told us that you have more control with the hand crank variety. It allows you to adjust your speed if you get hung up, where as with the automated ones, it's usually too late once you realize something is wrong. The inside of the machine looks like a band saw that has been turned on it's side. The blade, however, is much larger than what you typically see on a band saw.

The saw mill opened up for blade replacement.

These giant hooks were used to lift the logs and help maneuver them up the ramp to the bed. Schuyler told us how dangerous these hooks can be and then showed us his thumb where he can only grow half a finger nail. Yikes! Some of the logs were pretty large. One was estimated to be 2,500 lbs!

Hard at work!

Once the log is in position and clamped down it can be cut. He started off by trimming a little off the top and then went down cutting 8/4 or 5/4 boards. The majority of the boards were plain sawed, except for one. There was a red oak that was large enough to get 9 inch wide quarter sawn boards out of, so Schuyler insisted on taking the extra effort to get these beautiful boards.

Massive red oak tree

We ended up with a lot of unique looking wood! We milled mulberry, butternut, silver maple, red and white cedar, red oak, and ash. Each tree was incredibly beautiful.

In the end I got to take home four good size boards and a lot of small bits, which is perfect for me. Now all I have to do is wait 2 years to use them! That will definitely be the hardest part. First, trying to figure out a good place for them to dry and second having the patience to wait that long! It was a great experience and definitely made me wish I owned a saw mill. I will leave with a video of the Wood-Mizer in action!

Resin Casting with Color

I finally got the nerve to cut off the plywood sections of this piece. I replaced them with solid maple and to connect them I cast black resin between them. I did one test with coloring resin before doing my final pour. I was originally planning on buying special pigment for the resin, but one of the sculpture grads told me I could use oil paint. So, I decided to give it a try. The oil paint never quite fully mixed in with the resin, but I still like the effect I ended up with.

This weekend I took a workshop at the Indianapolis Art Center. One of the other students in the workshop, Stacy, is a jewelry instructor. We started talking about the work that we do and I told her about the resin castings. She actually teaches a resin jewelry class and had a lot of great advise for me. First off, she seemed a little concerned about me using oil paint in the resin. She gave me the impression that it might degrade after a while since the oil paint never fully mixes in, it just kind of stays swirled. She gave me a few suggestions for other things that I could use to add color. The one that intrigued me the most was spices, like paprika, turmeric, or cinnamon.

I've also been having some problems when it comes to getting all the air bubbles out before the resin sets. Since I am dealing with natural wood edges and wood that still has the bark on it, I end up with a lot of trapped air. She had some great suggestions to help eliminate these problems. First, she said to allow the resin to settle out in the cup you mixed it in for a few minutes before you pour it. This allows some of the initial bubbles to rise and pop. Then paint some of the resin onto the edges of the wood where I'm going to pour. Stacy said that resin sticks better to resin and that forcing the resin into the grooves of the wood before pouring will help prevent some of the unexpected bubbles I have been getting. Next, start pouring the resin in, slowly, and continue to "paint" the resin up on the sides of the wood as I go. She said if I still have bubbles trying to escape that I could use an orbital sander to vibrate my mold and help the rest of the bubbles rise to the surface. This is so genius and obvious that I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it!

I am very excited to try these new techniques!