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I Forge Iron

Tiger the cattle dog


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Introducing TIGER!

Here is my second sculpture, finally finished after several months work.

Recently our dog died (Tiger) and I had been working on doing a sculpture of him. When he got sick I decided to get it done before he died.. Alas I did not make it.

But here he is, now complete.

I am only a newcomer to making metal sculptures and am pretty happy with how he has worked out.. I still have a LOT to learn, and Tiger certainly put me in the deep end when it came to his structure and construction. 

A tribute to my husband's loyal farm dog..

Also pictured is my first sculpture... This is Zeppi the schnauzer.. I did this one when my parents died, he was their loyal companion.

Hope you like them. i am thoroughly enjoying this hobby which gives me something interesting to do when I am not doing farm work, or welding up gates and fixing things around the farm!

Now, to find more metal scrap!! Easier said than done in the bush except for clearing sales (farm auctions)

A big thank you to Scrapartoz who gave me some constructive ideas when I was most needed it. 

Cathy

Tiger-finished3.jpg

Tiger-finished2.jpg

Tiger-finished1.jpg

Tiger-finished.jpg

Dog - first sculpture 008.JPG

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Mr. Cathsonn,

Great work, both of them. Sorry about your dog & folks. It's hard to lose loved ones.

Welcome to I.F.I.

Please edit your file to denote where your are situated. There probably are fellow members near you.

Regards,

SLAG. 

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Thanks for the welcome SLAG, will update my details now in my profile. I am in country Victoria, Australia for your reference.. 

Yes, it was difficult losing parents and then the long lived dog... at least we have a good memory of Tiger now..

 

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Wow Cathy, awesome work, especially for your first two sculptures. welcome aboard and to the fun. Keep at it! I'd love to see what else you make. 

Scrapartoz as well as Ausfire on here have both been very helpful and inspirational to me. 

Did you use a wire form on Tiger for the general shape?

The hunt for good old scrap parts is always a struggle. :) good luck. Search on here for TPAAAT, it can be used to find more then just anvils. Keep spreading the word and eventually you'll have scrap just showing up at your door step haha. 

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9 hours ago, Tubalcain2 said:

nice work. the top one looks like my blue heeler. what breed was tiger?

Tubalcain2, he was a Blue Healer... Good guess.... So glad you can see what he was!! Makes me feel very satisfied. Thanks

5 hours ago, Daswulf said:

Wow Cathy, awesome work, especially for your first two sculptures. welcome aboard and to the fun. Keep at it! I'd love to see what else you make. 

Scrapartoz as well as Ausfire on here have both been very helpful and inspirational to me. 

Did you use a wire form on Tiger for the general shape?

The hunt for good old scrap parts is always a struggle. :) good luck. Search on here for TPAAAT, it can be used to find more then just anvils. Keep spreading the word and eventually you'll have scrap just showing up at your door step haha. 

Thanks Daswulf, Good idea on keeping an eye out for scrap. And thanks for liking my sculptures.. Can't wait to do more.. just have to do some planning and see what I have to use to make it!!

Scrapartoz as well as Ausfire are extremely talented.. I will be happy to get 1/10 that good.

Here is picture of the frame in construction.. Cut a lot of it away while he progressed.. Some stayed.

dog update september 2017 001.JPG

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Hi Cathy and thank you for showing us these wonderful tributes to your dogs. I can see some Scrapartoz influences there. The man is a genius.

As for finding more scrap, I think we bush dwellers have a better chance than the city folk. As soon as people get to know what you do, you'll find pieces of usable junk turning up at your gate. We are very big on scarifier points aren't we? Always useful for beaks and ears.

Welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of inspiration here and folks willing to share their ideas. We look forward to seeing more of your work.

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16 minutes ago, ausfire said:

Hi Cathy and thank you for showing us these wonderful tributes to your dogs. I can see some Scrapartoz influences there. The man is a genius.

As for finding more scrap, I think we bush dwellers have a better chance than the city folk. As soon as people get to know what you do, you'll find pieces of usable junk turning up at your gate. We are very big on scarifier points aren't we? Always useful for beaks and ears.

Welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of inspiration here and folks willing to share their ideas. We look forward to seeing more of your work.

Thanks Ausfire for the welcome. Yes Scrapartoz is a genius as are you!.. I go to the Spirit of the Land each year and always come home with ideas.. Andrew has also given me concepts to think about.. like the subframe and construction..  And you may be right about bush dwellers we may have a better chance.. we drove 4 hours to get to clearing sale the other day, had to wait 8 hours for the item to come up and managed to get it... Long slow drive home.. Well worth it.. And yes,, scarifier points are excellent and definitely beaks and ears.. Take care

7 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Zeppi the Schnautzer  has a great minimalist feel---transferring the dog's attitude with  very little steel.  now are you going to put a track by the entry gate so it can chase cars...

Thanks ThomasPowers, yes he is very minimal, and definitely has that look of schauzer when you look him in the eyes.. No chasing cars, more likely get hit by trucks here!!!! I would love to put him near the gate but a person near by put up some wooden dogs at his gate (family group) and by the end of the week all the pups were gone!!! now the only one remaining is chained to the fence... A great pity!

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I do see some of Andrews influence in the subframe and it works. The subframe shape flows and so does the sculpture once your done. Thanks for the picture. I need to work on that for some larger pieces I'd like to make.  

I barely ever find those points. Must be used a lot there. I'm always wishing they made opposite sides bottom plows. Man those would make for some cool sculpture parts. 

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20 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Hmm a proximity sensor hooked up to the sound of a bull mastiff getting *very* upset with your uninvited guests; perhaps with a sign "Please do not feed yourself to the dog." Having  Zeppi's eyes start glowing red would be a grace note...

I thought I might hook him up to the mains... Then my husband said,, ""a bit much, you would kill them" so I might settle on the electric fencing unit.. Would see sparks at night when they touched him, and they would be thrown a good distance.. It is a very good electric fence unit haha!

10 minutes ago, Daswulf said:

I do see some of Andrews influence in the subframe and it works. The subframe shape flows and so does the sculpture once your done. Thanks for the picture. I need to work on that for some larger pieces I'd like to make.  

I barely ever find those points. Must be used a lot there. I'm always wishing they made opposite sides bottom plows. Man those would make for some cool sculpture parts. 

Daswulf, yes Andrew is a huge influence.. First time I saw his work, even his early work I thought now there is a man of vision and extreme talent. He can see things in metal that I could never imagine, and the parts just meld together..I am hoping Andrew is going to hold another course so I can attend and learn more.  This year at the Spirit of the Land festival he displayed the Ram and working dogs.. Was spectacular.. He always gets my vote.. 

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12 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

I once was wearing a chainmail shift while hiking cross country and found out the hard way that someone had hooked up their barbwire fence to an rural electric fence charger. I had to disentangle myself *SLOWLY* while the zapping kept on coming...

I shouldn't laugh but I am ThomasPowers... Chainmail and electric fencing.. that is a collision with disaster.. Now you check the fence before going over it!! That is one big hike with Chainmail on.. 

 

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Welcome aboard Cathy, glad to have you. I can't wait to see your work as time passes, for first pieces they have more skill and vision than most pros. The armature (sub frame) is important, with a little practice you'll start using them to give life and motion to the critters.

Oh go ahead and laugh, Thomas wouldn't have told the story if he didn't expect us to laugh. 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Cathy,

I really like your sculpture. Tiger reminds me of one of my dogs, Ada. She is half kelpie and half blue heeler, her ears are the shape of a kelpie but she is stocky and strong like a heeler. You can really see that Tiger is a heeler in this sculpture. And I think what you've really managed to capture is the expression of a sheep dog, the way they wait in anticipation, you can see the intelligence in their eyes.

Well done. 

Tom. 

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Used to be a Mudlogger in the deep Anadarko in Oklahoma; worked schedules like 12 on 12 off 7 days a week until the oilwell was drilled. As the house was usually 3 hours drive away, (Oklahoma City where the "office" was),  I camped out a lot.  Usually lovely campsites away from the drilling pad, ran a trotline, and worked on my maille shirt.  Well to get used to the weight I'd wear it off duty for hikes---and you generally don't electrify barbwire  as electric fence wire is MUCH cheaper and MUCH easier to run!  But dancing the Tarantella while trying to extract the barbs from a shirt that won't give or tear was certainly a learning experience---one all y'all are NOT required to repeat! 

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Video Thomas, we're going to think it's just a charming bit of tall tale telling if you don't post a video. We'll let it go if you do a remake and heck it'd probably be worth money with a little marketing. I can imagine the scene from both sides, I've been caught by an electric fence and it can indeed produce some exciting muscle contractions. On the other hand I have a very good imagination so it's even easier to imagine it's just a story. Please restore our faith in your veracity.

(fingers crossed :)) Frosty The Lucky.

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Cathy, I see you mentioned the Spirit of the Land Festival at Lockhart, NSW. I have never been there so I googled it to know more about it. No wonder you took some inspiration from the scrap art there. That is really the high end of the scrap art market! I'll add the link here in case others may like to see what we aspire to.

I'll just have to get there one day! Love that rhino with the wrens on his back. Brilliant.

http://www.spiritofthelandlockhart.com.au/

 

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