I like incorporating actual movement in pieces.
I like to put familiar things in unfamiliar settings.
I like to have familiar things behave in an unfamiliar way.
I like interactive pieces you can play with rather than just look at.
I like this piece because it meets the above criteria - was fun to figure out how to make and fun to play with.
The somewhat familiar finialed and icicled ornament is suspended by monofilament line strung between the two upright "candles" in candle stick holders. The ornament can be swung and swayed by twisting the "collar" on the left "candle" and can be slid left or right by raising or lowering that "collar".
Redardless of how the "ornament" is tilted or rocked - the finial remains vertical - because it's a pendulum - a ball and socket where it joins the ornament and a counter weight hidden inside the ornament. If the ornament is rocked far enough, the counter weight inside taps the inside of the ornament, creating a rhythmic sound.
The bottom of the "icicle" is a turned lead fishing weight, with a small hematite sphere glued to cover the hole in the bottom of the weight.
The "table top" the candle stick holders sit on is french polished with a garnet shellac and reflects what's above it - providing a bottom view of the ornament - a perspective seldom seen.
This is one of the trickiest pieces I've done, a lot of fun to do and more fun to play with. It's in a private collection in San Diego - and hopefully it's played with often.
The genesis of this idea and how the piece evolved is here, with more details than you can shake a stick at.
http://web.hypersurf.com/~charlie2/Turning/TightRopeWalker/TightRopeWalker.html
A YouTube vid of the piece in action is here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n73rtHFBZM
And if you're curious about how to do a ball and socket swivel joint and where the idea for it came from
http://web.hypersurf.com/~charlie2/Turning/Articulation/Articulation0.html
This piece was my entry in the WoodCentral Elegant Forms Contest. Didn't win a thing but how often do you get the chance to have Cindy Drozda, David Ellsworth and Trent Bosch critique one of your pieces?
Comments, questions, suggestions and constructive criticism welcomed.
