Small fine art sculptures

In the world of Katydom, Martin Pierce has been focusing on the dung beetle, a central character in his fictional world of  large insects and small human-like creatures. In the most recent piece, the dung beetle’s ball is repurposed as a climbing frame by a humanoid seeking to mount the thorax of the beetle so they can compete as a team in the Annual Insect Race. It clearly takes practice to achieve a successful mount which explains why the piece is partly named “Fallen Rider”.

 In Katydom neither species nor scale are the source of power or wealth   and coexistence is the social norm. Thus, while the new dung beetle and his ball are smaller than other beetles  in Katydom they are no less valued. By contrast in the present world of commerce scale generally determines weight and when this comes to bronze explains why the smaller sculpture at 5 lbs is less expensive than it’s much larger 12 lb relative.

The dung ball’s organic appearance is reminiscent of the Morphic collection of door handles, but the uneven surface and imperfect edges give it a clay like appearance.  The dung ball will be the focus of other pieces to follow with plans to repurpose it as a fitness center or learning room or summer lodge. 

The current piece is finished in a combination of hot and cold patinas with a  green thorax and head and  dark bronze beetle body and satin brushed light antique ball and polished humanoid.

Katydid Sculpture Takes Shape

The Katydid, sometimes called a green bush cricket or long horned grasshopper is a family of insects with 8,000 species. In California we see both the greater and lesser angle-winged species which were  reference points for Martin Pierce’s latest addition to his insect collection of  sculptures. The actual shape of his new piece though owes more of it’s design to the Mediterranean species but even this variety was adapted for stylistic and practical reasons  and made with wider wings.

 For those interested in the name Katydid it comes from the Greek word “tettix” meaning small cicada. Wikipedia enlightened this writer to the onomatopoeic  use of “ tettix” which when repeated makes a sound similar to one made by the Katydid when rubbing it’s wings together. Interestingly, the word Katydid  is also onomatopoeic as when repeated  “kat-y-did “imitates the stridulation of this insect.

When complete the Katydid will be considerably larger than other members of this species at a substantial 11” high by 16”long.

The progress photos shown here are provided courtesy of Maria Ramirez-Adams a fine art photographer and film maker.

 Having decided on the shape of the katydid, Martin enlarged his sketch and drew it as a scaled profile on vellum. The profile was then redrawn on thicker paper but as 6 separate body parts.

The profiles were used as patterns and each body section was crudely cut from solid basswood. Once cut the sections were carved with a variety of wood cutting chisels.

Photography courtesy of Maria Ramirez-Adams

The 2 wings were cut from 1/8” plywood and were soaked in water to make them supple so they be could be twisted and bent around the thorax. Once the correct shape was formed, the wings were clamped and glued at the narrow thorax end and will be used to create a complex 3 part mold. The 2 wings were carved as a unit with a protective brace to prevent their fragile form from breaking. The outer main leaf veins were first carved and then the smaller veins were drawn and carved.

Photography Courtesy of Maria Ramirez-Adams

Patinas For Hardware and Sculpture

In previous pieces we have covered  our standard light and dark antique patinas. For custom orders we also offer a hot patina, which is applied to pre-heated bronze. We limit these finishes to just a  few pieces, that include the  small butterfly pull, which can be special ordered in amber- yellow; the frog knob, which can be ordered in a blue green, and the lizard lever or knob which we can patina pea green.

Sandblasted brushed - patina ready Cold antique bronze patina Pea-green hot patina

With our new bronze sculptures, we are developing patinas made with ferric nitrate as well as liver- of sulphur. Ferric Nitrate is a chemical compound of iron powder, nitric acid and it produces a  rust red patina. Liver-of-sulphur  is a chemical compound of powdered sulphur, sodium, and water. They are applied to the sculpture with a spray bottle or brush and the sculpture is preheated to a temperature of approximately 100°to 200°depending on the chemical and dilution. As the sculpture is hot, the wet patina attaches to the surface and the moisture evaporates quickly leaving behind a layer of color.

The colors these patinas produce on bronze can vary from gold to brown to red to dark red to black, depending on how hot the piece is, and how many coats are applied. The chemicals below can be mixed and diluted to produce a wide range of hues. They can also be applied over each other provided the previous patina has sufficiently dried. By layering the patinas and by using brushes and different spraying methods it is possible to develop deep mottled colors and effects. It has taken a lot of practice and years of trial and error to create the look we are seeking for each sculpture.

1. Scotch bright surface 2. Sulphur dioxide spray mist onto surface 3. Diluted bismuth white splatter spot spray

4. Ferric nitrate fine spray cover surface fine coating. 5. When dry wax

Words of caution to anyone thinking of learning how to patina bronze, exercise caution and a generous helping of common sense. The patinas we use are applied in a very well ventilated area and masks and gloves and protective aprons are a must. We also exercise considerable caution when heating up bronze as temperatures above 100° can burn exposed skin.

Liver of sulfur – yellow brown to black tones

Ferric nitrate – red tones

Ferric chloride – darker red tones 

Bismuth nitrate and titanium dioxide – white

Cupric chloride  – pea green or apple green

Cupric nitrate – blue green

A very good site for reading more about patinas and for practical advise on formulas can be found at David B. Bowman an artist in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A Guide to Welding Sculpture

The skill set developed in  creating bronze and steel door handles has proven an invaluable foundation for Martin Pierce’s art work. However, until we recently met Maria Ramirez-Adams we were unable to document the welding and patina techniques used in both hardware and art. Maria’s skill in capturing these moments will be the focus of this and other posts.
For those unfamiliar with the different types of welding www.thecrucible.org provides some very accessible well written pieces as well as instructional courses.
To assemble the components parts of a door handle we use the TIG welding method which does have a slow learning curve but is well suited to welding different thicknesses of metal and to welding very small pieces that need just enough weld to form a tight small bond. TIG welding can be used to weld either our 316 marine grade stainless steel or our silicon bronze castings. The abbreviation TIG stands for Tungsten inert gas also known as tungsten gas arc welding. TIG welding works by heating up the areas of metal to be connected and by inserting a welding rod of the same metal in this area to create a pool of melted metal that will form a connection or weld. The welding torch has a tungsten electrode that, on contact with metal, sparks to form an arc. While the electrode receives a constant current of power the voltage is controlled by a foot pedal which when depressed shortens and intensifies the heat of the electric arc.

Photography Courtesy Maria Ramirez-Adams

Argon gas plays an interesting role, it’s purpose being to protect the welding process from contamination. The gas passes through the welding torch and shrouds the arc of the torch thereby preventing the weld area from being degraded by oxygen and other elements that could impact the integrity and strength of the weld. Argon gas is inert or inactive so it does not combine with elements in the air or work area so works perfectly as a shield.

To see Martin in action welding visit this informative video by Maria Ramirez-Adams.

The Hornet on Apple is a limited edition of 30 and is part of a collection of larger-than-life insects and diminished scale humans. The piece weighs 32lbs, measures 13"W x 10"D x 13"H and is a welding challenge. To attach the human to the apple the surface of the apple is heated first and then the welding torch is brought closer and closer to the human and apple and a small area of the foot and apple are melded or tacked together to form a temporary connection. The welding rod is then melted to fill in the remaining gap between the foot and apple.

In door hardware the non-operative door trim typically the requires fine TIG welding. For example, the operative Hedgerow passageway set has moving non-fixed parts and is assembled with through bolts and a spindle that activates the door latch. By comparison,  non-operative version is fixed in place and the lever is welded to the backplate using the fine TIG technique.

Left: Showing weld before clean-up Center: Buffed Right: Operative Form