Category: All Artists

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Decorative Dragonfly

Part 1 – Looking backwards on a wonderfully successful project!

Trying something a bit different for this one. As opposed to starting at the beginning and taking you through the process, I wanted to start with the finished product then add more details you can read through if you are interested. Let me know your thoughts on this in the comments!

Recently I have been taking online classes through the Deaf Children’s Society of BC to start learning American Sign Language (ASL). It has been an amazing experience and while I am far, far from being fluent, learning has been a lot of fun! Dellalee Piper is an outstandingly patient, kind and talented teacher and made every engaging and most importantly fun!

What does all of this have to do with Dragonflies made out of metal? Well, during the classes, there were the standard ‘I’m learning a new language’ trope of ‘What did you do this weekend?’. Let me tell you, there isn’t really an ASL sign for ‘blacksmith’! That lead to me sending a link to Dellalee for Hammer and Pen Co. and she immediately emailed with ‘Can you make me a dragonfly?!?!”. Naturally, I said yes! The results were better than I had expected (one of these days I’ll have a little faith in my abilities, I swear!)

A huge thank you to the always talented Aaron as well! This was the first completed collaboration between the two of us and I can see many more in the future. His knowledge of insect biology and proportions as well as the ability top sketch the wing details really made this possible.

So…if you want to take a look at the details on how this project progressed, I’d love to hear from you!

Lets be honest, I’m going to post it regardless…but I would love to see if there are folks looking!

As always, take care and keep making!

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Spreading A little Hope

My little guy has many medical appointments, often they require going back to Children’s Hospital for them. Lotta tests, lotta weird hours, lotta thinking about the ‘what ifs’.

This past week we were pulling an all-day visit starting with sedated MRIs and blood work. Trying to keep a 3 year old steady enough to do an MRI is very difficult. He has had about 25 of these so far in his life. It used to be so much easier mentally when he was a baby and didn’t know what was going on. Now he’s reasonably afraid when he sees we’re going to the hospital. My little guy is a Champ. He’s afraid, but he keeps going because he’s a brave little guy.

After our first set of tests, we grabbed lunch and spent a little bit of time outdoors so he could run about for a bit. Currently, our air quality is ranked somewhere between Horrible and Mordor. Our playtime outdoors was short, and we went up to Oncology to wait. I took this opportunity to create a piece for the parent’s common room. While this part of the hospital is newer than where we lived, I wanted to brighten up the space that I know every parent wishes they didn’t need.

We got some great news from our Doctor. Kyler’s scans, tests, and blood all are looking stable, and we can now go from every 3 months, to every 6 months! This is wonderful news! I want to be excited for it, but at the same time, I know how fragile remission is. My son and I live for each moment, every silly giggle and song. You hold tight to Hope, because some days it’s all you have to hold on to. #SeptemberIsGoldForChildhoodCancerAwarness

This was the first time I’ve left a random piece of art for people to enjoy. If 2020 has shown us anything, it’s we need to spread joy and hope whenever and where ever we can. Expect more random art gifts!

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Feeling Knotty!

Shelves! Everyone needs shelves, right?

If I was taught anything by my parents there are three secrets to a happy life: good food, good booze and good friends to share them with! While recently there has been little opportunity for the sharing part of things, I found myself running out of space in the liquor cabinet. We had recently renovated our kitchen and I had a brand new blank wall to play with; why not build some shelves! I wanted something interesting other than traditional scrollwork and started playing around with some bar stock in the basement.

All in all, the knot part worked out well! The ‘getting the knot sorted out in the angle iron’ was a different story! Again, I apologize for not having pictures of the trial and error…one doesn’t think to take pictures when in the midst of things! Now, if I had an intern…but I digress!

The wood here is actually quite interesting in and of its self! We live in a house built in about 1903 and during the initial renovations my father in law was smart enough to salvage as much of the original timber as possible. This straight grained, clear pine is amazing stuff! Rough-sawed to 4″x 2″ it has been weathered in place for over 100 years and looks amazing. I asked him to prepare three boards for me and he provided these outstanding planks by ripping them in half (ish) to about 3/4″ and laminating them together. Couldn’t be happier!

Now, the angle-iron could have been worked better by me! Getting things square by eye is…interesting. I did not succeed exactly, but they were good enough for what I was doing. After all, in a house over 100 years old, nothing – and I mean nothing! – is square or plumb!

As you can see, I tried a few things out on the bars. Didn’t love the hammered texture, but in looking at it again if I had textured the entire bar I think it would have come out much better. All in all, I was pretty happy with how they turned out! I need to work on my forge welding (don’t tell anyone; I cheated again with the MIG gun…), but that is something that will come with time.

As always, keep making stuff folks!

-Russ

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Hallow Birthday Card

It’s been a challenging week. Mental and medical health ups and downs. Even though I’ve been spending more time at home, I just couldn’t get into the right headspace to paint.

My sister helps me through a lot. She lives close by and I wanted to do something nice for her. She’s a big Disney Fan. Seasons pass, goes several times a year, (pre-covid) it’s her go to.

This year she wants to create a pumpkin version of Mickey to decorate her house.

She’s been pretty sad not being able to go to the, ‘Happiest Place On Earth’. I hope this makes her smile.

Happy Birthday Deanna!

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The Cleaver Is Done!

Part 3 of the Cleaver Project

Well folks, it is done! The cleaver’s final heat treat and handling went perfectly!

Really nothing much to say about this process; it was a lot of sanding, checking of fit, sanding more then polishing. So. Much. Polishing.

To be honest, I really don’t love the look of the ‘forge finished’ blade. I love the look of shiny, mirror-polished metal!

That said, I think it all worked out really well! Shane (the customer) was so excited that when I called to tell him I was about an hour from delivering it, he went and bought a chicken just to try it out! Worked absolutely flawlessly. No nicks, no rolling, no splintering of bone when going right through any part of the carcass. Total success!

I think the highest compliment he gave me was the following day when he decided to try it out on cutting some prime rib steaks; told me that it performed as well as the Shun chef’s knife he has and that he know wants a complete set to match the look of the cleaver. Couldn’t be happier!

Thanks for reading all, and if you are looking for something like this, reach out and let me know!

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September Is Gold

For Childhood Cancer Awareness

Something dear to my heart is raising public awareness on the need for more funding towards Childhood Cancers. It’s an awkward subject, and if you’ve stayed to read this long, I hope you’ll enjoy my work.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month https://www.kidscancercare.ab.ca/childhood-cancer/stats

Each year, an estimated 300,000 children and adolescents worldwide are diagnosed with cancer

One in every 5 children diagnosed do not survive cancer.

Sometimes Hope is all we have to hold on to, finding a cure gives everybody hope that one day they will get to go home

This piece I make for my son Kyler, and our oncology family. May they live a long healthy and beautiful life

May those we’ve lost be in our hearts forever. What is remembered lives.

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3 Body Parts

Did you know that doesn’t include a head?

My joy, my mental break comes from the arts.

I’m going to be honest. I love butterflies. Love watching them, chasing them, and now painting them. Know what I don’t like? Feet.
True, mostly adult human feet, but bug feet are not much better. It’s possible that I never looked too closely at our fluttery friends.

I’ve been enjoying drawing outside while my little guy plays in the park. Many parents just stare at their phones, but that feels like a waste of time for me. My joy, my mental break comes from the arts. I highly recommend doing any of your hobbies outside if you can. Much like how food tastes so good when you’re camping, art just feels better outside.

Five minutes after I inked the body… My father pipes up, “You know… Butterflies’ legs don’t look like that.”
*Blink*
“You couldn’t have told me that 5 minutes sooner!?”
I still love this orange butterfly. I told this story to a friend an hour later getting ready for a hike. He takes a look at it, and says, “You know, butterflies are insects.”
“….yes… And?”
“Insects have 3 body parts.”
“Yah! The butterfly has 3 body parts and a head.”
“No… that’s not how it works.”
Thanks Barney.

The next day I was at it again. Refusing to give up! I started drawing at the next park. This time I checked, and double checked the body parts and leg placement. I created, Joy, the green butterfly. She loves to ride on bubbles kids blow in the park.

My flock is growing

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Weathervane: Complete!

Part 2 of the Weathervane – boy am I every happy with how it all turned out!

It is not often that I can say that I like I piece when I’m finished. Oh, its alright I’m sure and I can imagine that there are few that would be able to see the flaws…but I can see them. They stand out like neon stripes on a black background and it is all I can see!

This one though, for what ever reason, I could see past them and for the first time I can honestly say that I am proud of what I made. Is it perfect? Nope! For one, I am a terrible welder and there really wasn’t a practical way to attach these small elements without the use of my trusty metal glue-gun (solid core MIG welder). But, as the saying goes “A grinder and paint makes me the welder I aint!”.

Each of the arms was done free-hand. I had thought about making up a jig of some sort for the scrolls, but it would have taken longer to make it than to do up the four of them. I did however make the first and use it as a template for the others! I think that all in all they each came out similar enough to be coherent, but unique enough to know that it wasn’t machine made. Again, are they perfect? Nope! Somehow that is OK though!

The spinning bit took some time to figure out. I wanted to ensure that the arrow and unicorn would be able to be as free as possible for as long as possible, so I moved away from the traditional design of a hardened pivot point in a receiver of some sort and went for two of the tiniest sealed ball bearings I could find. Again…I need to take more pictures! Regardless, I machined in two races top and bottom on the vertical post and pressure fit them in place. Given there isn’t going to be any force on the part, I didn’t feel the need to mechanical fix them in place. On the base, I machined out a plug for the bottom and a bushing for the top of the vertical pipe. The bottom plug was drilled out to receive a mild steel rod the correct diameter to fit into the bearings (3/16″) and the bushing was there to add some rigidity to the system. Again, given that this wasn’t going to be seeing any meaningful load, I simply press fit the rod in place as this is the first thing that is going to get damaged by an errant soccer ball!

Finally, after assembling I decided to go with an outdoor matte rust paint rather than a traditional oil/beeswax finish. I wanted this to be as low-maintenance as possible while being able to withstand the elements. Ultimately, I think I may have made the wrong call. I couldn’t find a rattle-can in matte, so opted for brush application. It was such a thick paint that the brush strokes were fairly evident on the flat surfaces…not as awesome as I would have liked! Perhaps once the paint has worn off and the rust started in, I will take it back to the shop and give it the more traditional finish. Who knows?!

And here it is in all it’s glory!

I love it!! It works perfectly with the playhouse and I think the proportions are right on. Will I make another one? Totally! Just let me know what you want it all to look like. Will I hand-cut an intricate little unicorn out of mild steel sheet? Hell. No.

Remember; just because you don’t know how to do something at the outset, it doesn’t mean you can’t sort it out!

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Equisetum telmateia

A Horsetail for the ages.

This is Equisetum telmateia. Or more accurately, this is a late spring, newly emerge fertile stem of the Equisetum telmateia. Its a herbaceous perennial, native to British Columbia, and I found this one growing on the side of Burnaby Mountain.

I remember my dad telling me all about this species as a kid. We use to see a lot of it growing around the edge of Magic Lake on Pender Island where my grandparents lived. It was a neat little plant you could pull apart and put back together like a puzzle.

It’s pale yellowish, non-photosynthetic, spore-bearing, fertile stem only lasts a short while before dying right back and being taken over by the more familiar green, herbaceous, photosynthetic, sterile stems.

At the top of the stem is the cone-like, reproductive portion of the plant, called the strobilus. It is comprised of row upon row of hexagonal spore-bearing structures. Each little hexagon produces thousands of tiny spores.

When released, a spore will start to grow into a new plant, which is either bisexual or male. Sperm are produced by the new plants, complete with tiny flagella, and swim through the water in search of female plants. Once fertilized, the plant will grow to maturity, starting the cycle over again.

Having existed since the Devonian era in the great Carboniferous period, horsetails are true living fossils. There are only about twenty species of horsetail in the world, all in one group, or genus, known as Equisetum. Ten species are found in British Columbia, and six of these exist on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland.

Horsetails are a part of a unique group of plants, halfway between primitive plants like mosses, and more highly evolved flowering seed plants (angiosperms and gymnosperms). Horsetails produce spores, like ferns and mosses, not seeds. Yet Horsetails have specialized vascular tissues for conducting water, food and minerals through the stem, unlike the more primitive bryophytes or so-called ‘lower vascular’ plants.

400 million years ago saw the planet dominated by these lower vascular plants, which at the time included species that grew as tall as buildings. In fact forests existed for so long, and grew so large, their remains provide the bulk of the world’s coal beds.

As for any beneficial uses, sorry folks, despite centuries of use in traditional medicine, there is no evidence that Equisetum has any medicinal properties.

However the stems are coated with abrasive silicates, making them useful for scouring (cleaning) metal items such as cooking pots or drinking mugs, particularly those made of tin. Equisetum hyemale, rough horsetail, is still boiled and then dried in Japan to be used for the final polishing process on woodcraft to produce a smoother finish than any sandpaper.

– Aaron

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I made a weathervane!

One never knows if one can make a thing until one tries!
(Unicorn Weathervane Part -1)

I think I may have mentioned it before, but I LOVE making things! Especially things that I have never tried before. So when a very close friend of mine asked out of the blue whether I could make a weathervane similar to one she saw online, I jumped at the chance. Heck, any excuse to try something new right!

First things first when taking on any new commission; make sure you and the client have a clear understanding of both what the expectations are (timeline, costs, etc.) as well as what the thing is going to look like! For this project, there were some basic size requirements as it was going to be installed on the top of a child’s playhouse, so things like proportions and weight were a consideration. I had thought 1/4″ or 3/8″ stock was going to work, so I did up a couple of test twists both to get the right look and to see what the visual weight is going to be. After sharing these tests with the customer (boy, this really feels ‘sanitary’). After sharing these tests with the amazing and outstandingly awesome Jamie Hudson, she and I agreed that both of these sizes made for a really bulky looking piece. More tests, more conversation and we decided the 3/16″ bar was going to be the right call.

After getting the final go-ahead, it was on to the actual making of the bits and pieces!

Unfortunately, this is where the pace of the shop outweighs the picture-taking. I really need to sort out a better way to do work in progress shots…but that is for another time. Needless to say, there were a couple complexities with the final bar sizing; the most significant of which was the fact that flat 3/16 bar stock smaller than 1/2″ wide doesn’t exist! All the scroll’s stock needed to be flattened out from 3/16″ round stock. Not the biggest issue as mild steel moves like playdough when hot, but it was interesting to see how things would likely have had to be done ‘back in the day’ when things like the Metal Supermarkets didn’t exist!

Hand sawing metal sucks. A lot. Like, a whole lot!! In hindsight I really should have outsourced this to a fabricator with a plasma or waterjet CNC setup…but you live and learn!

Next up, assembly and finishing!