Commissioned table

I was contacted a few weeks ago by a client in Chicago who wanted one of my pedestal tables designed for her home. She has been a delight to work with on the project, and the result of extended discussion and thought on the design is shown below.

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This table incorporates two innovations for my tables – the use of a patchwork of copper rather than a solid piece for the inset sides, and the first use of foldforming (or the subset of foldforming we call ‘creaseforming’) for the top. These arose from the client’s interest in the brown-on-brown color – a thin layer of brown patina over brown (flame-treated) copper, and her wish for a dramatic and different design for her table.

The design process, wherein we discussed many different color options, gave me ideas for a second table, based on the same design, which I call this one’s ‘dark twin’. I will post pictures of it here shortly. For more information on my tables, click here.

Spherical shapes

Reed suggested we experiment with some spherical shapes using a new tool (more about the new tool later) – so we spent awhile at the end of the day yesterday starting to figure out what can be done:brass sphere experiment sphere20130905175713-IMG_0106 sphere20130905180339-IMG_0108 sphere20130905181317-IMG_0109

We don’t know yet what we’re going to do with these things, though one intriguing idea is to use them in lighting fixtures. We have a bunch of exploration ahead of us.

First wallpiece of the year! First wallpiece from the temporary studio space at American Steel Studios!

We have a number of reasons to be pleased to announce our first wallpiece of the year!

First and foremost, we’re happy with the way the piece turned out. It’s an unusual piece for us, symbolic of our transition from our old studio of 25 years into a temporary space at American Steel Studios in West Oakland. The central piece is something that I made years ago before I hit upon the idea of assembling the wallpieces by bolting together individual pieces that were patinaed separately.wp1301wordpress Also, it’s the first wallpiece we’ve finished in our new temporary studio space at American Steel Studios. That means that our temporary space is nearly fully functional after three hectic months of moving and building and setting up operations. (As you can well imagine, moving out of a space you have occupied for 25 years is not the easiest task.)

Finally, we’ve put it up on display at Riva Cucina while moving some other wallpieces around there. If you haven’t eaten at Riva Cucina yet, you should!

New flower sconce

I’ve just created a new style of flower sconce – or wall-hanging flower vase. New flower sconce with hibiscus

Unlike my original – and still popular – folded flower sconces, this one is all curved lines, and was inspired by the drawings I did leading up to my wallpieces RCB 11.01, RCB 11.02, and especially RCB 11.04

New Double Quarto pins on Artfire

This is my newest design, the Double Quarto pin. It gives some of the feel of a book, or of origami, but it is less representational than our Book Pins. I’ve just listed a set of these for sale on Artfire.com.

 

Been making bracelets

We have been making more bracelets to have a good selection for a shop’s order. I haven’t done many Tribal bracelets before, so I have been enjoying trying them out.

Ten tribal bracelets

The Tribal Bracelet is the freest of our foldformed bracelet styles. Tribal bracelets have a bolder style and larger visual presence than most of our other designs, and tend to be heavier, as well. They are rougher and less precise than some of our other styles, and tend to use more surface texture. But most important, they are a chance for us to play, unconstrained by any precise model. They are therefore much more distinct, one from the next, than our other styles. Above is a mixture of David’s and my pieces. Below are three of the ones I made last week.

 

 

 

First wallpiece of 2012

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fabricated and assembled - waiting to patina

We’ve started on our first wallpiece this year at the request of Stowe Craft Design Gallery. If they like the finished piece we’ll be sending it off to Vermont next week.

New double-quarto pin

I’ve been working with my Quarto earring design, and realized I could make a pin out of a matched pair of earrings. I think they work quite well.

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A new bracelet style

A sheet of chaotically creaseformed copper David made some weeks ago gave me the idea for these bracelets. One is backed with silver, the other with brass. Future versions may use vermeil (silver with a layer of gold) for the backing. See more of our bracelets on our website.