Painting at Colorado Powder Coating
Having fun in the heat custom painting the sculpture. It's been through the first two fires with the yellow and the blue. The second process is the painting where I used Julius' wine label as the inspiration to the coloring. The sculpture goes back in for the final clear coat with a gold fleck. The result will be somewhat unpredictable because the paint reacts chemically to the heat, placement in the kiln and other pigments. It will spread a little as well because of the lead content in the paint.
Ready for powder coating
Take a look at the shadows. I'm happy with the shape and energy of this work. The powder coating will involve a four-step process. The sculpture plays with light and shadow.
Studio progress photos
The work continues
The curl has been set. After working late in the evening, and using a 'trucker's' chain and the little Ford truck, the curl was pulled into place. Now the sculpture is standing. It has a footprint of about 4-feet wide. The next step will be to cut the windows and clean all the edges and welds with the Bosch grinder.
The creation of a new sculpture has been launched!Beginning with a 4-foot by 10-foot 1/4"-plate steel, the project has started. Using an age-old sewing technique of making a waistband strap, the plate is rolled at Western Steel and Boiler.
The completed roll is welded at the ends, then cut into a long spiral strip using a plasma cutter. Once in a long curly-Q, the flatted joints where the roller wasn't able to keep the steel round, I'll cut those sections out and re-attach the rounds to create a very smooth continuous curve.
Easier said than done, the process will take many hours to complete.
Once the smooth curly-Q is prepared, then comes the fun of stretching and pulling the coil to it's shape. I plan to use my two trucks with chains. Of course, there will be photos of this action!
