Daily Archives: April 27, 2012

Heat Exchange 1

In the Mail

I finished the work just a few days ago and sent it off after a bit of a struggle to complete it. I often drag my feet at the end and this time around was no different. It’s those small details that cause me to procrastinate. Anyway, I am pleased with the final pieces…I also wrote a short statement which I am really happy I did. It helped me to make sense of it all. I have posted it below.

“These works are about singular moments collected while observing the winter landscape around my current home in North Carolina and my childhood home in New York State. The moments were solitary and quiet; some deliberate, others accidental. Through a process of experimentation with liquid enamel on steel, I reinterpreted and captured these moments, presenting them in ghostlike translucency, as echoes of the memories. Each enamel piece is also accompanied by found objects that are aged and worn. When arranged together, the enameled and found objects establish a narrative for the recollection of my observations.”

I posted more images on Flickr, including some details.

Thanks so much for reading.

Amy Tavern

featured in our first Heat Exchange exhibition in 2012.

Heat Exchange 1

at last

2 Comments

the work is in Phoenix. I’m grateful for the blog since I won’t get to see the exhibit. My work has focused on bodies of water in recent years. I’ve also been teaching a photographic transfer method via gum bichromate. I love the process and results produced but rarely use it in my work. I’ve posted an image of an earlier piece using this process, followed by a series of platters that will be in the exhibit, in progress and complete. The second body of work sent to Phoenix is based on vernal pools.

Gretchen Goss

Gretchen Goss is an enamelist and educator who lives and works in the USA. "An ongoing attraction to the natural world is the inspiration for my work. Prevailing themes derived from the landscape include; farms, gardens, plant forms and water; an examination and view of the most valued aspects of my life." Gretchen featured in our first Heat Exchange exhibition in 2012.

Australia, Heat Exchange 1

Enamel animals

Hello from Melbourne! Here is a short story while a tightly wrapped parcel travels over the oceans, of how my work for Heat Exchange evolved.

As a metalsmith, I’m currently interested in different types of steel which can be welded into structures that safely withstand the heat of the kiln, and the application of liquid enamels which allow me to paint metal surface like canvas. The solid structure of steel and the fluid patterns of liquid enamels create a challenging, fascinating combination for ongoing investigation.

My starting point was this steel model from last November, based on studying forms at airports. I wanted to see how I could use similar angular shapes in slightly larger object-based work. Initially, my plan was to continue developing pieces on the airport theme, but as I begun sketching, the idea of movement and a more playful concept about “flight” emerged. I decided to make two winged containers, “enamel animals”, balanced with weights in hidden compartments. I thought they could softly move, if touched, upon their curved bases.

Above are some initial sketches and cardboard models of different wings, and the following images show the evolution of the two objects after welding, going through a couple of different variations of wings and noses. Here you can also see some of my first enamelling samples with liquid enamels on steel and copper, created in 2010 during the life-changing workshop by Elizabeth Turrell in Perth. These early experiments still strongly inspire my use of layers, line and colour in enamelling.

The wings slot into the objects so that they could be inserted separately, without oxidising in the high temperatures of the kiln.

The main materials used for the work were mild and galvanised steel, welded and cold-joined, then enamelled with clear liquid #969 and P3 pigment for surface texturing,

And finally, the finished pieces:

“Enamel Animals, two figures having a conversation, are carefully balanced containers with secret compartments for weights (or any other small, heavy things you might need to hide). If touched, the animals will gently rock, perhaps nodding in agreement, with quiet knowing… “

Cheers and warm regards to everyone – can’t wait to see all the final works!

Inari

Inari Kiuru

featured in our first Heat Exchange exhibition in 2012.

Heat Exchange 1

enamel fields…

I have finally finished my work and have sent it to Elizabeth T who will kindly carry it to Phoenix. I haven’t had too much time in this project to really think and so the work is an amalgamation of ideas in progress. The blue pieces of oak are small gifts from my partner David…he works next to me and is a furniture designer and maker. Almost daily he leaves me small gifts of things/stuff that he makes or finds and these often go on to feature in my work. The blue pieces are the ends/offcuts of long planks of wood that he has been using in various commissions and projects. I have a rather nice collection of blue end-pieces in the shape of the letter H. I also had some work on my wall, some scraps of paper put together, which I had made in response to a visit to Amy Tavern’s studio at Penland a few years ago, where she introduced me to her collection of envelope papers…you can see in the image the same blue shape appearing…I hadn’t realised this until I looked back through my images. It reminded me of this blue wooden house that I have had since I was a child and a memory of these objects that kept flashing through my mind as I made this work. Finally the drawings on the enamel have been made as I walk and then repeated/scratched in the enamel. I guess this work is somehow about being home after travelling a great deal over the last few years…it’s a good feeling.

 

Helen Carnac