Shapeshifter

Heather:
Spectacular piece, visually stunning and very imaginative. Could you please provide more detail on how you designed and built the piece?
Thank you.
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

Barry Larson said:

Heather:
Spectacular piece, visually stunning and very imaginative. Could you please provide more detail on how you designed and built the piece?
Thank you.
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

Click to expand...

No problem! Inspired by the work of Kristin LeVier (known for vessels balanced on writhing legs) and Katie Mae Adams (she made a spectacular octopus bracelet and had it on display at the Louisville Symposium). The body of the piece was hollowed out of a side grain oriented piece of kiln-dried cherry. Before I put it on the lathe, I cut it into an octagon and pre-drilled eight holes near the foot of each face that would eventually hold connecting dowel pins for the legs. I then made eight near-identical S-curve legs by cutting out the shapes on the bandsaw and then used a micromotor to round the edges. I carved the scallops on the main body, then dry-fitted the legs and sculpted them to blend in with the main body. I did a bit of pyrography to add texture before the final glue up, then did a bit more pyro-texturing after the final glue up. If you look closely, you can see the pyro stipples eventually fade and blend into hatch (line) work, then fade to untextured surface. The final color was applied over black gesso with an iridescent silver underpainting. Color was a combination of dry brush and airbrush techniques. Matte varnish to knock back the sheen of the iridescent copper and gold acrylic. I think that’s it, haha!

Thanks Heather. I thought maybe you turned the legs as elongated cones and then cut, re-joined and shaped, but I gather they are one piece and shaped. Really nice work on the detailing and coloring. This is something I need to get better at - oh and work on that imagination thing a bit. Again great piece. Thanks for the inspiration.
Barry

Barry Larson said:

Thanks Heather. I thought maybe you turned the legs as elongated cones and then cut, re-joined and shaped, but I gather they are one piece and shaped. Really nice work on the detailing and coloring. This is something I need to get better at - oh and work on that imagination thing a bit. Again great piece. Thanks for the inspiration.
Barry

Click to expand...

Yes, if the legs had any more curve to them, I would have turned, cut, then reassembled them. I was able to orient them in the block so that I felt comfortable with how the grain supported the gentle curve. The great sense of movement comes from how the legs were rotated in their pins and attached to main body. If you look closely, you can see the legs are mostly straight with a slight curve at the tip.

Ah yes, I see. Again, a visually stunning piece. Thank you for sharing both the picture and some of the construction details. I look forward to seeing more!
Cheers.
Barry

A remarkable piece of work. Thanks for getting back to Barry on how you created it. That is quite an involved process. Congrats on the outcome.

Wow, Heather ... I love all your work but this one is a big step up IMO. But, I guess that is the way it should work with artists like you. A very dynamic piece, and I believe a little larger than usual for you. The copper and gold tones add a lot to the overall impact this piece.

Tom Gall said:

Wow, Heather ... I love all your work but this one is a big step up IMO. But, I guess that is the way it should work with artists like you. A very dynamic piece, and I believe a little larger than usual for you. The copper and gold tones add a lot to the overall impact this piece.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much, Tom. It felt like a step up for me, too (haha!). I took notes from critiques of my other pieces and tried to incorporate as much of the feedback into this piece as I could muster. Ad Astra per Aspera! (To the stars through difficulty… the dramatic state motto of Kansas )

Tom said it best, Wow!! Thanks for the explanation; your detailing and coloring really are next level stuff!! Well done Heather!

Spectacular conception and execution.