Fireplace Screen
Recent work, Hubby made the frame I did all the fancy bits in the middle. Nothing from a parts catalog, all designed, cut, forged and shaped by me. This is now living in front of cute little hand plastered fireplace. It's beehive shaped, simple but fancy. I wish I was one of those mega-smiths who do huge public art, out of control rails etc..requiring a team of men and a crane to install. sadly Iam not. That's just not where we have gone with our business, unfortunately.
Flower Detail
Dogwood style flowers, to match those in the tiles that ran along the front of the mantel. The holes are slit open hot, then opened with a punch. You have to do this hot, or you could tear the sheet metal. No one wants that, as it is a pain in the butt.
Finished Screen
I use a torch and a linseed oil, turpentine, bees wax finish to get the dark color. That's the traditional way to obtain the black iron look. You can use paint, but that looks cheesey , and cheap and insults the metal. How's that for sounding artsy and pretentious!
Next up= Arts and Crafts tulips..
This is a sweet little handrail, for a Craftsman style bungalow.
The flower is the one above, it has a keyhole in the center, with the leaves of the one next to it on the right.
Better get to work!
4 comments:
The flowers on the screen are fabulous! How long did it take to make the entire screen?
Wonderful! I love the flow of it. Great work!
What a beautiful screen. I an in awe of your creative ability - those flowers are lovely. It's amazing to think of all the hard work and sweat that goes into creating something so delicate looking. And it's wonderful to see that you are keeping these techniques alive.
Thank you all for the wonderful compliments.:) Rae, it took about a week, as I also work other projects at the same time. Some smiths keep a log of all the time on each project, but I don't. I do on big railing projects, that helps me keep track of my labour costs.
Marie= It is a ton of hard work, but I get to be creative for a living, such as it is, and that's the rewarding part. :)
Jeff=Thank you fellow smith! Your work is pretty groovy too.:)
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