Copper Monster -- the Tale of Two

Oh... how I wanted to write "tail of two" as the title here, but the story doesn't relate to their tails, so I passed on it...but evident here, not really.   I had this stone that was an "odd" shape with a delightful vein of shiny sparky element in the form as what I saw as a mouth...of a monster.  My prong skills are non-existent, so I jumped in and tried something....well, it didn't look that great, and I didn't want to mess up my stone with poor prong display.

So I thought of plan B....wanted my monster to also be 3D...he had looked so skinny in prong form. I cut his shape (sans his back spikes...didn't think that would make it through the procedure to follow) out of plexi.

Then I layered the plexi, 24 guage copper sheet, and some rubber in the hydraulic press, and pressed him into pseudo 3D...he is a fat monster in one way, but slim side to side...only a little fatter than my plexi thickness (I  hammered his tummy  "fatter" (he ate some rocks b/c it is a little dent-y)).  Flipped my plexi direction, and got mirror image. Then cut the shape out, and soldered the two halves together.  My two halves aren't quite the same, so he can't drink without leaking.  I liked how he took to the torch while soldering, so I am leaving him "messed up" and not shiny.  Much better for camo in the wild. 

But, yes, the black stone still has no home.....only as a disguise for 3D monster....but not attached to anything yet....maybe like Bond....well, I guess he is attached to valor?!

Wire Giraffe...smashed

Wire giraffe....then I pounded him with hammer on anvil.  That was perhaps a bit much (I lost a wire in his belly...broke with the triple-metal pressure).  Anyhow, pounding him did seem to help stabilize his legs for standing...in soft dirt at least.

Copper Wire -- Boy with Kite

A friend and I were discussing peace that resides in one individually...inner peace in a way, but perhaps a little less deep than that...slightly more surface-y, but still a strong force within.  Well, we emailing about it...not back and forth like texting, as that wouldn't be too peaceful.   Anyhow, it wasn't a big ole discussion, but a sentence or two within the email.  In response to Judy, I related one of those life "oh" messages that came to me while in India. I forget what trip it was....but there was a lot of construction going on in Delhi (that doesn't boil it down, but wish I could remember....).

The driver had me by some big open plain....gravel/dirt....beige to grey.  Traffic was slow (surprise, surprise), so I had lots of time to look at the scene. A few dwellings.. lean-tos of cloth and cardboard.  A few people milling about, but really very few considering the vast flat space.  There was a kid fairly close by....he was running around in "classic" poor clothing....not the modern poor with "Nike" on it and nylon shorts...but beige/grey tones of tee and baggy shorts. I believe barefoot, but I could be drawing that in with my mind.

My "oh":  He was running, smiling, and laughing.....one arm up in the air holding something like a kite, but did not appear too loft worthy.  In the other hand he had a water jug.

While I don't want to conject that anyone likes living in a gravel surrounded lean-to collecting water from a communal tap in a plastic bottle....the fact that he was enjoying what he had....that kite-thing and the space before him....that was my "oh."

So last night I played with copper wire to shape him.  I think he needs some hair or head shape modification.
I made a small giraffe to test pressing the wire flat...will see how that works, and then wonder if my boy here will be pressed flat too (once he gets some hair).  Let's hope life doesn't press him flat. Hmmm..maybe I will keep him this way to help in a small way.

Peace getting a little caught up

Came across this while going up and down some valleys and hills ....very little building around, and nothing nearby this....the long road entrance to a peace institute. Lots of strings of peace flags along the miles of road....riot of color in the green.  Had been raining, and blustering about....I thought of the different forms of peace, and how it certainly doesn't always come/look/seem straightforward. That yellow one reaching in the other direction....that one in particular made me think.

Copper Ball

My first metal ball.*  This one made by hand...cut two discs (using hydraulic press), then hammered them into two half spheres (using hammer, rounded peg like things, and a metal block with half sphere indents). Then sanded the edges, fit it together, soldered.  Not  perfect, but happy to learn one more metal trick by hand.  I had added a texture to the surface, but all my half sphere pounding kind of "erased" the texture.


*Other than the one I swallowed as a kid. 

Copper Bracelet

Too thick and two heavy, but part of the experimenting that is part of learning. There are cut outs on the underneath too, but since I am not really fond of this, not bothering with more photos.  Just using this picture to remind myself.  Texture on the surface from pressing burlap onto the smooth surface. Wanted to break it up with organic shapes, but, like said, not so delightful.  Next!

Ladybugs galore

Borrowed idea from some kind person somewhere...tomatoes, tuna, chives antennae, crackers and parsley. Stuck on the cracker with cream cheese.

Was walking with Alexis prior, and we came upon a green lady-bug type bug....she wanted to show it to me,    but couldn't find it when we took a few steps back.  She explained it to me, and said  "It wasn't a pterodactyl."  She is three years old...so particularly cute to me.

Felted Knit in a Pistachio Tree

Gosh, what is it? Hmmm.  I started knitting this wool orange thing years ago....put it aside during a move, reconnected with it, knit some more on it, noticed it too had the strange shape  that my knitted items tend to get....I add stitches, and my knitted rectangles turn trapezoidal, and then trees, as I start to drop stitches in attempt to get back to the width with which I began.

I decided this was too far gone, so I washed it....knowing  that it was wool and that it would felt. I still liked the orange, but can't really figure out what to do with it. Wrapped it around another favorite color....this pink/orchid/magenta tube....and set it in the pistachio tree because it harmonized with the leaf change that is going on there....beyond fall, winterish.