Kindred Spirits, Fairy Sculpture is completed

This one took a while to complete, but I've got to say it's my favorite so far. The fairy sits upon a pokadot mushroom and beckons to an elusive butterfly whose wing pattern matches her own.

 All the finished copper pieces

The wood pieces

The finished work assembled (more views below)

 

She'll be going to her new home very shortly. I hope you've enjoyed viewing the process.

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I am the victim of a crime!

I think theft is one of the worst crimes of which to fall victim. Recently I've noticed small items disappearing from my shop. I've just identified the thief.
I don't like to single out any specific group, but these little guys have a well earned reputation for this very type of activity. That's right! I'm talkin' about pack rats.

 

I was out of the shop for a couple of days, and one of these little guys was VERY busy while I was gone. I guess I'm just going to have to lock everything up. I thought this stuff was over when my children grew up.

OK, back to my fairy project. It's getting closer to completion. I got the wings cut out. I start with the wing pattern glued to plates of copper.

 

Drill a hole for each opening

 

And saw out the opening along the pattern line (forgive the fuzzy pic)

 

For the butterfly body I start with a piece of round copper stock and carve until I get the final shape

 

Here's a view from the top

 

The mushroom top required a lot of hammer work

 

The body parts are about ready for assembly

 

And the hair is coming along nicely

 

So now it's just about time to select the pieces of cholla I'll use to complete the piece. Thanks for looking.

My ArtFire Store: http://www.artfire.com/users/lunarskies

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My Sculpture: http://www.lunarskies.com/pages1/fineart.html
My Cabochons: http://www.gemalchemy.com
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Lunar Skies "Paisley Butterfly" is featured on Artfire Daily Collecton!

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=98fbd55a1d5bdaf9e1d296c27&id=bb3af0ba2b&e=69f5cba8fb

I keep hoping I'll win the $100.00 prize, but this is pretty cool too! One of my sculptures is featured in the Copper Age Daily Collection.

 

My ArtFire Store: http://www.artfire.com/users/lunarskies

My Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LunarSkiesJewelry?ref=pr_shop
My Jewelry: http://www.lunarskies.com
My Sculpture: http://www.lunarskies.com/pages1/fineart.html
My Cabochons: http://www.gemalchemy.com
Creating The Hive Artisans Group: http://www.creatingthehive.com

Kindred Spirits, Fairy Sculpture Work in Progress

This is blog number two as this project continues. I've got the body parts of the fairy rough shaped, and now I'm beginning to work on some of the details.

 

Above & Below: One leg shaped except for the foot which looks like long swim fin at this point

I like the feeling that the piece is already inside the metal and I'm just freeing it

Both legs shaped except for feet, the body is in good shape to except for the head which still needs a considerable amount of work

 

One arm shaped except for the hand

 

Both arms shaped, the arms and legs need to be mirror images. My method allows me to compare the pieces as I work. It's all subtraction of material and hand work, so it's imperfect by nature, but I can manage to get pretty close. Since the final pieces will be bent into different positions, any imperfections seem to disappear.

 

Body, arms and legs rough shaped and ready for some details. Right now it looks like there's been a terrible accident

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My Cabochons: http://www.gemalchemy.com
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My Newest Fairy Sculpture is now a Work in Progress

Now and the I get a request from someone to create a work specifically for them. I enjoy this type of collaboration. This request was for a copper fairy on a poka-dot mushroom. Working with the client we came up with the following Photoshop version of the design. Now the challenge for me is to see how close I can come with the actual work.

 

The piece will be titled "Kindred Spirits"

I start these sculptures with some pieces of copper. I need a pretty big piece for the body so I have to cut it from a thick copper block (not really an ad for DeWalt tools)

 

These pieces will  be the fairy's body, arms and legs

 

Then I start the rough grinding

 

Each step gets a little closer to the finished component

The metal gets pretty hot during grinding. That discoloring is the result, but it's just on the surface

She's starting to take shape

 

I leave quite a bit of material for the head since I have to subtract the material (math was never my strong suit). She has a bit of an alien quality at this stage

She's in there; stay tuned.

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My Cabochons: http://www.gemalchemy.com
Creating The Hive Artisans Group: http://www.creatingthehive.com

Started it on My Vacation, Finished it at Home

One of my galleries back east requested some jewelry pieces with certain stones. I was headed to California right at that time so I took along my portable workshop and worked when I could. I finished the pieces in the week following my return. Hopefully the gallery will take some of these pieces and I'll have some left over to put in my etsy and Artfire stores.

Lapis Lazuli with Peridot acccents

 

Montana Agate pendants

 

Kingman Turquoise pendants and earrings

 

Petoskey Stone pendant and earrings

 

Ocean jasper pendants and earrings

 

Amethyst pendants and earrings

 

My ArtFire Store: http://www.artfire.com/users/lunarskies
My Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LunarSkiesJewelry?ref=pr_shop
My Jewelry: http://www.lunarskies.com
My Sculpture: http://www.lunarskies.com/pages1/fineart.html
My Cabochons: http://www.gemalchemy.com
Creating The Hive Artisans Group: http://www.creatingthehive.com