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Normal Standing View |
Close up Detail |
Close up of Copper
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'Dragon
Fish' / Summer 2007
This is the first of the Windbiles in the 'Shades'
series. The point of inspiration here was the pinched shoulder used
along a thick flat bar, an method that always suggested a bony spine
to me. Overall it is over a metre in length. The fish pivots easily
on a ball bearing inside the tube support. This piece was intended specifically
as an entry in the artists gallery display held at Summerfolk each August.
I was extremely pleased that within two hours of being on public view,
someone sought me out and asked to purchase the piece!
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'Dol-fin'
/ Summer 2008
Greatly enthused by the reception of the first of the 'Shades' pieces,
I worked up a number of related designs for the 2008 presentation
season. This piece was similar in scale to 'Dragon Fish' - well over
three feet long. Aggressively forged square tube made up the jointed
spine. The skull plates are two pieces of copper, joined down the
centre seam. Paired tail fins are set at right angles to the line
of the body - suggested by the profile of a dolphin.
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'Fins'
/ Summer 2008
(this object available - $500)
I had forged this punched and pinched bar originally as a test piece
for a possible stair railing element. The top knot was a complex set
of reversal curves. I decided not to cover this element with a skull
as seen in others of this series. I merely added the many bladed tail
to balance the form's weight, so it would pivot on the ball bearing
inside the tube. Again the surface has been purposefully left with
no coatings in its natural forged state. It will take on a rust patina
with exposure to the elements.
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'Catch
Me if you Can' / Summer 2008
This piece started with the two piece skull, suggested by the head
of a chambered nautilus. As I forged up the heavy T bar to form the
spine, I pulled one part of the material into a flat tail. As I worked
the other section into the curved point, I was reminded of fly fishing
lures. ( And visions of Rodger Zelazny's 'the Lamps of his Eyes, the
Doors of his Mouth'.) Now stands in the yard of an old friend (and
patron) in East Beaches in Toronto.
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'Coelacanth'
/ Summer 2008
(this object available - $225)
The inspiration for this piece started with a cut off from a fabrication
job. The length cut from an industrial grate reminded me of a fish
skeleton spine. The heavy 'skull' is a fitting from an antique farm
wagon (circa 1900). Fitted together they made up the form of an ancient
bony fish. The sculpture is finished with flat bars forged to resemble
the massive fins suggestive of these 'living fossil' fish. Again the
surface has been left untreated to develop a rust patina with age.
Originally the piece was intended (and displayed) as a wall mount.
In fall of 2010, I changed this, drilling a hole in a large piece
of natural limestone and here setting the piece into the edge
of the pond here at Wareham.
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'Shark'
/ Summer 2009
For 'Shark' I made a bit of a departure from the mounting methods
used on the earlier pieces. Instead of a ground tube and ball bearing,
this Windbile is designed to hang from a central point. This greatly
increases the potential movement of the piece. The fins are cut and
formed from polished stainless steel, creating bright surfaces that
will reflect sunlight. The image was provided by the new owners, a
couple from the Bruce Peninsula who have been collecting this series!
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