Iron Black Iris

This sculpture is made using the steel from a mower deck on a lawn tractor. I cut the deck up with a Sawzall and then cut the shapes using a throat less Beverly shear. I flattened the metal and then cold shaped the components using a stump and a hammer(around three pound). I heated the petal edges with an OA torch and shaped the ruffles while hot. This is new for me as I almost exclusively shape iron cold.I loved the colors and texture the heat produced, so I used this method to give the rest of the sculpture this look.The heat got rid of paint and safety stickers too.Its an interior sculpture still as the leaves will pool water at the stem.Each petal on the iris flower has a unique and pleasant sound when struck. I think this characteristic illustrates why they cut the slits in spherical bells, it produces a tuning fork effect. Over all I am pleased and will try to use thicker steel for a few more sculptures.

Wedding Roses

My son and his fiancee asked me to make two roses for their wedding ceremony. The rose flowers are made from an old 1 1/2" copper fire protection line.The stems are from discarded metal rods used to stretch painting canvas in a turn of the century home near Detroit.The leaves are a heavy gauge steel from a wood stove. The stand is from an old parlor chair. The branch stems are from a political poster and a spring from an old ottoman. The flower petals are held using a NEW stainless screw and nut. The roses are joined near the root. There are pickers and bumps and missing leaves, scars, rust and dis-colorization from deposits on the copper. The beauty is suppose to come from the union of all the components,like a good marriage.
Pappa Frank