Deep Blue: Testing, Testing

Part 3 of a series of posts explaining the inspiration/process behind my piece Deep Blue. Part 1 is called Deep Blue: Inspiration, and Part 2 Deep Blue: Folding.

My last post finished with the creation of a cardboard prototype for a modular unit which would repeat and tessellate to build up different forms.

But I was a little worried about the unit: it was a truly three-dimensional form with undercuts.  Up until this project, I'd generally used only shallow casting techniques - and so moulds with open faces, rather than reservoirs and sprues...

I therefore decided to look at whether this pattern could be replicated in sheet form - at least that way I'd have a back-up plan! Although borne of being a bit of a scaredy-cat, this did actually result in really exciting line of enquiry!

Via a few leafy lanes (more about them in a later post!), I eventually created a flat relief form based on the same diamond repeat as the modular unit.  This involved some adjustments to a folding pattern found in Paul Jackson's Folding Techniques for Designers, to counteract the natural curve.

The photo is a close-up of the relief - which is folded from a single A1 sheet.  I have to say that, despite the colour, it reminds me of lots of baby birds demanding food...

As this sheet form is an example of an origami tessellation, I knew that, like my three-dimensional form, it could be broken down into a single modular unit.  So from a simple repeated unit, I could build up a larger piece.

 The line diagram is the fold pattern for the single unit - which, with the addition of a reservoir, I used to create the nine cardboard moulds in the next picture.

These are negative moulds, and were used to make positive moulds of the unit in gelflex rubber.  You now get to see a beautiful picture of me (ahem) - as it's the only picture I've got which shows the gelflex!

You can see some of the individual gelflex moulds in the bottom right corner of the picture - and I'm busy pulling the rest out of the investment mould which they made. 

This mould was then charged with some lovely aqua blue casting crystal from Gaffer Glass, and fired up to casting temperature, to create individual glass units.  The picture here shows six of the units after they've been tack fused in a slumping mould (hence the curved shape).  If you're wondering why the surface is wrinkled like skin, this happened during the slump - and I assume is due to surface tension at that temperature.

So the modular unit seemed to work - and to repeat and tessellate fairly well. BUT, the tests had thrown up a rather important issue...COLD WORK.  To tessellate well, there would need to be minor corrections - and the surfaces would also need to be smoothed and polished (especially if I needed to correct for "elephant skin"!)  This turned out to be quite difficult and time consuming on the internal angle.  If I didn't want to spend my life coldworking, I was going to need to modify my thinking again!

 

Deep Blue: Folding

In my last blog post, I introduced you to the lovely Georgian decanters from Broadfield House Glass Museum. Now I'll try and explain how they inspired my final piece...

My normal glass casting method is based on the collagraph printing technique: I build up a relief collage in textured paper and card, from which I make my moulds.

And this is how I started the project - working in my sketchbook with patterns based around the diamond cuts on the decanters, and experimenting with different textures and relief levels.


But it just didn't seem right to be working in a two dimensional format: it wasn't doing the decanters justice.  The sketchbook work did, however, remind me of a folded box form from the book Paper: making, decorating, designing by Beata Thackeray


Using this as my starting point, I started researching / experimenting with folded paper forms - again using the diamond cuts as the inspiration.

Anyone interested in this type of folded form should definitely take a look at the work of Paul Jackson. As well as doing brilliant paper sculpture of his own, he has written books covering all forms of paper engineering. They all include great "basics", ideas to play with and real inspiration:
 - Structural  Packaging
 - Folding Techniques for Designers
 - The Pop-Up Book


However, once you start making taller three-dimensional forms in glass, you need much longer kiln times - in particular because they need to be annealed for such a long time to avoid temperature differences within the piece. For that reason I was keen to simplify - and perhaps create a "unit" which could be repeated to make a larger form.  I took the yellow folded form above as my starting point (because it reminded me of Sam the Eagle from the Muppets..!)

By cutting down the height of the yellow model to just two layers (between the horizontal lines) and adding a top and a base, I found a unit which would tessellate - and also sit - in a number of different ways.  I now had to think about how I could go about casting multiples in glass.  More about that next week..! 

Deep Blue: Inspiration

Lots to catch up with on the blog front..! 

I'm going to start with some posts about Deep Blue - a piece which I made for an exhibition at Broadfield House Glass Museum: Back to the Future (catch it until 27 January 2013)

The Museum invited West Midlands glass artists to propose new pieces of work - taking inspiration from their collections and archives. Broadfield House has a great collection (I've already done a post on their wonderful glass owls) - so it's definitely worth a visit.  Plus, there's the added bonus of seeing glass blowing in action - glass artist Allister Malcolm has his hot glass studio on site.

from Broadfield House Glass Museum (Image: Simon Bruntnell)

Although I have an obvious soft-spot for the owls, it was this pair of Georgian decanters from the 1780s which actually sparked my imagination. 

It was the colour which hit me first - they couldn't help but stand out from the crowd.  Let's face it, most modern cut crystal is clear/colourless - but in the 1780s these must've been really unusual!

And it wasn't just the colour, but the form too. I like to image that Norman Foster had popped into the Museum just before he designed 30 St Mary Axe (aka the Gherkin). Modern architecture has nothing on these beauties!

Tune in later this week, to find out how the decanters made me abandon my glass (albeit temporarily) in favour of some large sheets of paper, a pencil and a ruler.

Harding House Exhibition

I've been perfecting my wax casting skills over the past few weeks, as part of the process of making my piece for the Back to the Future exhibition at Broadfield House Glass Museum. There's lots to share, so I will definitely have to put together a couple of posts in the next couple of weeks. 

For the moment, some news on other pieces.  While waiting for wax to melt, set etc I've been having fun cutting glass for some fused glass platters (which actually tie in with the cast pieces):


Groovy Pyramid platters

I'll be sending these (along with some cast pieces) to Harding House Gallery in Lincoln (UK) in a couple of weeks, for an exhibition called Glass from the Centre.  This will showcase the wide variety of studio glass produced by makers at the Ruskin Glass Centre in Stourbridge. 

As you can see from the picture, the gallery is set in a wonderful half-timbered building in the heart of Lincoln.  The street - Steep Hill - has been voted the best street in the UK for its mix of independent shops and historic buildings.  It links the city's historic centre to the High Street.

The exhibition will run from Saturday 9 June to Saturday 14 July.  In addition to the exhibition, Harding House always has work from local makers on show in their ground floor display.

Other artists on show will include: Sue Parry, George F Jackson, Vic Bamforth, Paul Floyd, Jo Newman, Pete Fricker, Ian Bamforth and Stephen Foster.

Glass from the Centre

Hurrah! It's all installed and looking good - and will officially be open from tomorrow (Saturday 9 June).  Glass from the Centre showcases the work of studio glass artists from the Ruskin Glass Centre in Stourbridge - and runs at Harding House Gallery until Saturday 14 July.

Glass from the Centre: exhibition view I

Glass from the Centre: exhibition view II

Blown glass, fused glass, cast glass, stained glass - and even some ceramics.  There is something for everyone - from jewellery through to sculptural pieces.

A big 'thank you' to Lynn Baker and Soo Durham - who look after the exhibition space at Harding House Gallery.  Set-up would have been much more difficult without their expertise (and patience!) with everything on Tuesday.  It meant I could spend Wednesday making sure everyone's work was shown to best effect!  Along with putting on those all-important name and price labels...

If anyone else has set up an exhibition recently, I'd be grateful for feedback - and for any tips and tricks to help in the future!

Moved to tears

There I was, sat on the sofa, innocently catching up with my educational viewing.  Suddenly my eyes were leaking uncontrollably.  No build-up, no forewarning, no prior tugging on my emotional heartstrings - just spontaneous, unexpected tears.  It was a freaky but nonetheless wonderful experience.

So what was it all about?  Well, I was about three quarters of the way through the BBC 2 Culture Show special on David Hockney's show, "A Bigger Picture", at the Royal Academy.  I was enjoying the programme: Andrew Marr was asking engaging questions, Hockney was talking eminent sense (as usual).  His huge canvasses were impressive, skilful and full of life (see above), but I was focused on hearing what Hockney had to say. Then they hit me with the multiple screen images...

Press Image: Winter Timber, 2009 | © David Hockney | Photo: Jonathan Wilkinson

These are films which are taken using nine cameras mounted to a framework.  This means that the full picture is made up of nine screens each showing their portion of the image, but at slightly different angles (this article from the Royal Academy magazine explains the process a little more). The technique has similarities to Hockney's montaged photography - but instead of stills, uses moving images.  I don't think I've ever seem something two dimensional so closely capture light or life.  Incredibly beautiful said my brain, and my emotions clearly agreed...I'd been moved to tears.

While I can't show you here, if you're quick you can catch the programme on the BBC iPlayer for another three days.  Or, you could even go see the exhibition..!

Birmingham joins Pugin Celebrations

A chance reading of a retweet last night from Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery has alerted me to the fact that we are celebrating Pugin’s bicentenary this year.  Two hundred years since the gothic revivalist and ever-so-slightly-decorative master was born.  

Definitely the kick up the behind I need to go and explore the interior of St Chad’s Cathedral – as it’s rumoured to rival the Houses of Parliament.  And the kind folks at Birmingham Museums / the Pugin Society have put together a trail of other Pugin highlights found in the city.  (Apparently available at city tourist offices now, though I won't be in Birmingham to grab mine until Saturday.)



Hardman Design - for auction(!) at Biddle & Webb, 2 March

As part of a host of bicentennial celebrations in Birmingham (see information here), there will be an exhibition at the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter – opening on 22 March.  This will feature the work of John Hardman Jr, who produced a lot of the metalwork and stained glass for Pugin right in the heart of Birmingham. 

I think, between the trail and the exhibition, it looks like I may just get my glass fix!