A new fascination with orchids has brought me to the Cattleya. These orchids are utilized in many hybrid form because of their showy blossoms. The plant itself caught my attention, specifically as it would exist in it's natural habitat, high in a South American rain forest canopy where lots of sun and less water and nutrients are to be exploited. That explains the thickened stalk or pseudo-bulb, a storage system. This sculpture is incomplete, but the general theme carries. My intent is to include many stages along one rhizome, so there is one with just a hint of life peeking out of the bract, then one with several buds, one with a bud and two blooms, one with a stem but the blooms are past, and finally (hidden in this view) a leafless back bulb.
The blossoms are created using a recycled 1 1/2" heavy walled copper fire line from a steam plant. There was lots of annealing needed to shape the 1/16 " thick copper, something new for me. The remainder of the plant is basically mild steel sheet, and rod. The pseudo-bulbs are made in half and welded together, the buds are made in thirds, like an orange peel. There will be considerably more air roots, and the missing column in the blooms will hide the nut.
I'm happy with the color of the copper flower parts, but the steel needs color, maybe a light rust and then BLO to seal it.
