One of my coworkers wanted a birdbath for his wife. She wanted an organic type sculpture where the birdbath function was secondary. So here it is. A couple tendrils stick out a little to the side and up high to hang bird feeders. The basin is a terra cotta flower pot dish. I tried to talk them into a copper basin, but she liked this better. I suppose if the birdbath function is secondary, then the dish hides better.

--Marc

Very nice! Is the dragonfly a trademark?

I agree, a copper bowl would look good in that.

Very Nice, I like the Dragon Fly. :)

To misquote Freud (who probably didn't say the original) sometimes a dragonfly is just a dragonfly . The customer asked for some kind of critter and I forged and tacked that on. I forged a dragonfly and a hummingbird and have them hanging in my office, and that's where the idea came from.

Edited June 4, 200917 yr by Marc

Very nice. Even with the tendrils, it's simple. Especially with only one dragonfly for embellishment. No extra tendrils hanging off or anything like that. I've always found simplicity is the hardest thing to perfect.

Really nice Marc.

It's well balanced between complexity and simplicity, enough going on a person is profited by spending a little time looking at each element while not being busy.

Too bad you couldn't talk her into a bowl that was more suitable to the quality of your piece.

I see two legs are propped up, is it contoured for an existing ground profile? A good way to help keep these things stable is to provide a drive point down from the center so it's got a solid connection to the ground.

I especially like the dragon fly. Do you have any process pics?

Thanks for posting.

Frosty

Thanks for the comments. It's propped up because the yard slopes in that area. That's my back yard, where I took the picture, not the final resting place. I just liked using my shed for a background. The color was contrasting without being glaring, and no features to get in the way.

I meant to take process pictures, and even brought the camera out a couple times. But once I got to working, I was just too focused to remember to take pics. Maybe I should hook up a security camera to take pictures as I work

I did have to rig up some stuff to help make this happen, because of the size and weight. I made some jaws to go in my vise to provide a wider surface to clamp the four 5/8 round rods for twisting. I drilled holes through the bottom of the jaws and inserted a rod to go from one to the other. That gave a resting place so I could just drop the thing into the jaws and tighten. The other end was held up by a stand so it wouldn't droop.

The dragonfly was just a basic technique I got from Anvilfire. Same as hummingbirds and I've also done a bee.

It was fun building, even though I got two nasty burns and broke a twisting wrench. All the tendrils, except for the main vines, were done at the same time, without any real notion of where I was going to put them. I just tried to think like a vine and make them different. Then, when I had a bunch, I looked for good places to TIG them in. I tweaked with a torch after each was put on.

The burns happened during the TIGing and tweaking. I would TIG or tweak a tendril, then move on to another. But the previous was still hot. I've got Kevlar sleeves for the next time.

Best of all, I'm getting better at estimating the work. I earned a lot more than minimum wage this time :)

Ah hah! The slope in your yard doesn't show in the picture.

Good choice using the shed for a background, excellent color and a good amount of texture.

Frosty

Nice job...really like the dragonfly!

Your work has an element of elegance that belies the fact you were "winging it." I saved a picture for inspiration, the piece is a simple statement of what I want to do. Thanks for showing it!

That is excellent work! I would have to agree with Frosty, there's just the right balance of material without being to busy. Keep up the great work!

I really like it! In my opinion, that is truly art.