I usually start a new project by thinking about it for awhile and then just jumping into the work. This piece took a different path. I started with a sketch of the overall piece and then worked on each element of the design, in sketches and then figuring out the logistics.
2021. Wood, turned and carved; acrylic paint; fused and sandblasted glass; blown and sculpted sandblasted glass; LEDs.
31.5 X 15.25 X 13 inches.
Side view
Back view
This is the most challenging piece I’ve ever done. The woodturning and carving were familiar and, aside from the design elements, straightforward. The leaf shape (patterned on a spathe in the Arum family) was my first challenge. I had to first make a clay texture mold in the shape of a leaf and bisque fire it. I’ve never done ceramics so this was a fun thing to learn. Then I had to cut two large leaf shapes out of sheet glass, fuse them in the kiln, and slump this onto the texture mold.
The gallery photos below have captions that you can see by hovering your mouse over the image.
The other glass element took myself and a team of seven assistants about 2.5 hours to make in the hot shop. That was then sandblasted after it came out of the annealer. Jonathan Capps was gaffer for the cylinder and then I took over the bench for the sculpting. My glass classmates were fantastic in helping me pull this off.
The only log section in my shop large enough for the base was a 20-year-old honey locust piece. Hard as concrete and cracking like crazy. Enough said… I don’t recommend this approach. I also turned a bowl for the top insert and a disk for the inset base (held by magnets).
The final step was to place LED strip lights in the light chamber and wire it. Right now the LEDs are powered by two 12V batteries daisy-chained together. A big thanks goes to Steven Sabin for helping with this step.
The lighting is soft and subtle. This sculpture is not meant to be a lamp, but it does have a lovely ambiance for relaxing in a comfortable room.