And the Swan

After the Peacock Clock video- thought I should paste this video of the Swan Automaton, by John-Joseph Merlin, who collaborated with John Cox.
I have not seen it 'in the flesh'- but as I understand it, the moving 'water' is spinning glass rods.
It gets wound up and operated once per day at the Bowe Museum.
(And as someone eruditely observed in the YouTube comments; "what? swans don t eat fish lol")

James Cox Peacock Automaton Clock

Conversation in St Petersburg:

"What's the time, dear?"

"Err.......................................... hang on........................................ it's.............................."

As far as I can make out, the clock part is those, what shall I say, vestigial? numerals that appear on the toadstool down the bottom.
The crowing cockerel is very special, and the shimmery shim tail of the peacock; magnificent
-as it should be.

Press Ladies.

Maybe I could use a team like this?
Check out all the fly presses and dies (shelves and shelves of little shapes for pressing little-shaped things)...
From the JW Evans Silver Factory,via English Heritage. The factory no longer operates, but is like a museum, they have tours and demos. Would love to visit... fascinating... for metal geeks.

Johnny

So... I got a press!

5 tons of pressure.

200 kgs of cast iron.

And 200kgs of thanks goes to my Dad, who helped me transport it, man I wished I had photographed that, it was crazy and Dad was wearing this red zizzou beanie- you know, for capers such as this one. 

(+ thanks also to kindly neighbour Adrian for extra muscle.)

Quite a biffer, I think I will paint it almost-black.

Potential names:

"Johnny" ( because its a John Heine, and I think this is my favourite so far)

"Stampy"

"Squishy"

"Biff"

"Trogdor"

"Menhir"

OR

"Brain Surgeon"

"The Butterfly"

"Spiderweb"

"Snowflake"

okay, yeah its turning into a dad-joke...

Im starting to get used to its hulking presence already, like the proverbial elephant in the room.

Now I've got to knuckle down and get some dies made. 

Horizon

Bangle, before the bend

Rocks / Screen Gems

Makes me think if I got some coat tails I would look a lot busier. Love the rocks!

Further Adventures With Wholemeal Gold

More wedding rings being made from native gold nuggets, in the Goodness style. Here, the ring is unjoined. It starts off pretty rugged.

When you have a specified width, height, profile and circumference to meet, and you are achieving this just by hammering, you have to pay attention. Gold is very malleable, but its not like clay- once you've stretched it, you can't really shrink it back. It may come across as if Im just feeling my way through the whole task, but in fact, Im constantly checking and measuring with a vernier calliper. 

You will notice the spots... these are naturally occurring inclusions of other minerals, present in the unrefined nuggets. I recently described this to a groom-to-be as "like real vanilla seeds in an awesome ice-cream". Basically, you won't find this in a shop. Folks are really responding to this material and process- thanks for giving me the privilege of making them for you. I genuinely feel moved when I make these, its not an ordinary task for me. 

Pericoloso!

So it has been a year since that scary business with my lung. What a year- it took quite a while to recover, and so it was a bit of a write-off really, but now I'm doing great. I feel much more aware of my mortality now, as you might expect, and more appreciative of my blessings- not the least of which is my body.
Don't forget to look after your body! Especially when it comes to work hazards.
I am much more conscious of this now- particularly when it comes to respiratory hazards.
I have been trying to minimise or avoid fumes and particles that are typically created during metal work.
For example, take the earring above. I redesigned it slightly so that there is no need for soldering.
( thus eliminating flux fumes and pickle fumes) I used to solder on the hallmark disc and the hinge part that holds the ear wire. Now I cut all of these parts out of the flat sheet and bend it up from the one shape. Its not filed or sanded either, the texturing is done with the rolling mills at the beginning.
Its a bit trickier, but its better.
Other precautions:
Wear a respirator or, just don't do that fumey, dusty task. I've been doing a lot of hammer-finishing, so there's no sanding.
(~ Special Thanks to all those beautiful people who have been ordering Goodness Rings, this allows me to be safer and make truly special objects for you~)
Do abrasive work under water ( just in a basin- you don't have to dive into the pool)
Use a good exhaust system for soldering. I am going to upgrade mine.
( + use borax cone flux in preference to flouro-borate flux~ better still, join by fusion/ diffusion etc)
Use a vacuum cleaner to suck up dust as you make it. (Now I have one attached to the  back of my bench peg- I may show you a pic of this, it works great. But not for gold work!)
Just don't do blackening/ other crazy patination/ acid etching/ cutting or sanding of plastics.

The limitations might just set me free.

 Be safe, young smiths

Dutch Naïve

1. Joop Smits

2. Bernard van den Heuvel

3. Cornelis van Breugel

4. Neeltje Prins-van den Broek

From Naïve Schilders Zien Ons Land

I liked the ones with reflections, for some reason.

Mysterious symmetry...

Pottok

Hey, a package from Pottock...its....a GM wall paper sample. 

Ulno in The Storm

A pair of Ulno bangles for Ebony.

Gold and Iron.

There was a terrific/terrible storm here, so I went outside under the eave and photographed these in the strange light. Then the hail drummed out a fearful tattoo on the tin.

Get an Onchi?

This weeks' auction of Japanese woodblock prints on Artelino features sosaku hanga, a 20th c. movement. These were my picks;
1. Kihachiro Shimozawa (new to me)
2. Yasoji Wakayama- beautiful image of an oil lamp- great shallow cuts for that almost sfumato fuzziness.
3.Don't see Onchi very often- (more here) -discerning collectors will descend like seagulls on a crust.
( while I wade in the shallows)

Clicky

Alice: David, do you like pens?
David: ...meh... I don't really care for pens
Alice: Well I've bought you a pen as a present.
David: I do actually love this pen

Serviette Ring (And Other Artefacts)

Here is a serviette ring that was recently bequeathed to my daughter.

I like it. I don't often think of serviette rings, do you?

My grandparents use them every day for lunch and dinner, which is very dignified.

(Somehow, luncheon-dignity was not impressed upon my Dad, who eats sardines from a tin with a knife (or sometimes a chisel, if he's fogotten a knife- I kid you not)).

Anyway, its funny how the ring is just plonked on the back of the cat- that kind of clunky arrangement is funny; there's no attempt to justify it ( like; the cat is not hugging the ring, or wrapped around it or...) its just soldered on to him, as if he were a magnetic cat ("help! things are clinging to me!")

So I think thats great. Bit like Manna From Brooklyn's Backpack Kitty (though not as happy-looking; his vessel is way more "intergrated"):

It was this exact feeling that I was thinking of when I made this series of work, way back in 2002:

 

 I was thinking of that kind of clumsy figure-with-vessel arrangement- some sort of reference to the history of artefacts. (Why are young people so interested in irony? I do try to be more sincere with what I make these days- but there's always a tendency toward sabotaging that with humor. Is this self-defence??) (could be a subject for another post: humor and creativity). Maybe here the vessel gets interpreted as a 'nest', which is pretty predictable, so I sort of failed(?) But I was aiming for that tacked-on vibe. Its made of silver by the way, painted with a very matte enamel.

B-/

Yes, I sat on my RayBans. Not Cool.
Really cracked 'em. See?

Anyway, so I ordered some replacement lenses, and they came today.
I had the package in my back pocket- and Alice yells out "Dont sit on your package!!"

( I didn't- that would Not Have Been Cool)

The lenses were hard to get out!- I resorted to crushing them with a hammer in the end. Not Cool.
Then I start to think hey- what would I look like with spectacles?- you know the feeling (unless you always wear glasses- then you really do know the feeling...)

Yeah... smarter. More... organised. Not Cool.





Then I put the new lenses in- I decide to wear gloves. Not Cool.

Ok... now Im Cool.

Mondayne

Fairly mundane, but there it is; I have a new-old sweeps pan for the workshop

Love's Songs

I am a fan of the whole Teenage Fanclub, but the Gerard Love songs always seem to be my favorites. I had read, ages ago, on Wiki that he was working on a side project - and its real! Lightships.

Alice says I can buy it... next year.
man.
But if anyone wants to swap something with me for a copy of this on vinyl- leave a comment!

Gerard's blog here- quite generous, with some demos and other music that he likes.

Westwoods

At last- westwood rims for my 1930's bike- these are an old style rim that are hard to get around here. They still make them in India and China, where the popular bikes are based on pre-war english roadsters. But if I go to a local bike shop and say- "got any westwood rims?" they say "west-what?!"
...or my favorite customer service phrase ever; "it costs money just talkin' about it".
Anyway- finally got some + dusty tires.
I think these rims should be black though, yeah... all the steel should be blackened... hmm...
And check out the fillet-brazed head stem.

Arabia/ Ulla Procope cup for Alice to match her jug... really love the blue painting.

( I did see whole set of this stuff.... -maybe when my ship comes in babe)

Azechi

Lydia, The UnTattoed Skatepark

Nowadays, you might go to the Circus to see the incredible UnTattoed Lady.

Likewise, this skate park- sans-graffiti- really blew my hair back.

Astonishing- must be freshly trowelled. Gotta get me some ply...

Black Japanning

Someone was asking me what Black Japanning was, and here is a nice example of a printing press that has been japanned and nicely restored, with all the details picked out in colour ( ie not a "biffer").
This one is at the Warnambool maritime museum.

DN at New Mociun Store

MOCIUN store is open!
Really like those vitrines and tables.
Caitlin has a great eye and makes tasty wearables, so I was really happy when she asked me to send jewelry for her new store...
Note: If you loved my Sunrise Ring, definitely head over to Mociun and grab one before they all get snaffled... there aren't many and I cant keep up!

MOCIUN

224 Wythe Ave

Brooklyn NY

Open Wed-Sun 12-8pm

Closed Mon Tues

More Something

More little guessing games drawn on the iPhone with a finger.

"PINGPONG"

"SHAVE"

"CIGAR"

"DUEL"

"YEARBOOK"

"LAKE"

(a bit obscure, but you should have got that one KP)

"BOOT"

"TOMB"

Love Laughs At Locks

A Pressing Matter

Why is it so hard to find a Fly press these days?( aka "screw press") It is as if someone is secretly stockpiling them. Here are some that got away: (they are ugly biffers, true, but I would black japan them and they would look "boss")

Oh well... but hey—listen, I really really want one of these for my next body of work, so if you see one for sale please tell me!
So what does this thing do anyway, you ask?
Basically it applies a lot of force (several tonnes) to whatever you place in the "throat".
In my case, I want to shape metal; punch out shapes, impress designs and so on. A bit like minting coins.
Certainly you can use hammers for this-I tried doing these tasks with a sledge hammer, to get the amount of force required, but this tends to be a bit wild and inaccurate.(well, the way I do it anyway). Ancient people had ways of controlling the blow, and I may revisit these.

These are illustrations of coin production by hand-striking. I think that the historical illustration is a bit inaccurate here, and 'updated' versions just copy the older ones. (I would bet that the child on the right would be the one holding the die, while the striker delivered a dead-on perpendicular blow.)

Still, the fly press delivers a very measured blow.
Here are some amazing old examples (far more massive than I need);

Looks like you needed a lot of men to operate the things.

Look at this beautiful one:

Finally, a coin with an impression of a coining press.