Every quarter, there is a newsletter sent out. It is kept at just four a year as who wants to read more? Also having three months to fill for each makes me look busier than maybe I truly am. :)
To those interested, there is a link to the latest, Autumn / Winter 2018.
Mid December and it is days like these which have been saved for filing, soldering and polishing up. It is good to have an excuse to be working around somewhere hot, in the kitchen by the stove.
Making the wire into more of a set bed to sit better onto the concrete base made earlier, it was quite a change soldering rather than casting. The latter works with much higher temperatures whereas the soldering iron is so delicate by comparison that it took me a while to accustom to it.
After filing down the lead casts on the sides (leaving backs uneven for better keying in) the leaves were far easier to do than the more delicate twigs. It came as some surprise that looking at the two variations, it is the twigs I prefer. I love their knobbly angles and tiny buds.
By the way, no trees were harmed in the making of these. All was picked up from the ground. It seems the sweet chestnut tree in the far east field has many extra parts to lose, but then again it does stand high, towering up into the sky at the edge of the copse. If it were nicer weather, it could be tempting to go outside and do some trigonometry on it to see how tall it actually is. My guess would be getting on for 25 metres, but it could be more.
Finishing off with patination oil, hopefully the lead won't discolour too much with time as the silvered effect seems to set off well against the more matt wire.
One of the final jobs for these is to stick the leaves and twigs to their base. The first assumption was it would be better to melt them on, but actually good old glue does a superior job and is more accurate and safe. Of course, sticking anything onto slate makes for a bad job as it is so finely layered, each on peels away like puff pastry. However, a little bit of carving into layers seems to work well.
One of the pieces drew an admirer and so has sold already, which was an unexpected pleasure as this has been more about learning than anything else.
All lead casting has been done outside in case of toxic fumes so it will be a while before any more can be done. The lead casting has been replaced with leaden skies.
Thanks to all who take the time to read my posts, it is much appreciated.
I hope you all stay warm and dry for the season and look forward to posting in the new year.