The Great Fish swims to Grand Rapids for ArtPrize - 2010

On Thursday night we brought it back to the house to clean up and prep the fish for the big move to G.R. Tomorrow night we move the Great Fish to Grand Rapids. Thanks for all the help from my friends and family for the lifting and heavy moving we've had to do. It's going to be a great couple of weeks checking out all great art downtown. Come check it out.

Don't forget to register to vote. You can do it online at ArtPrize.org, or in person. You must activate your registration in person to be able to vote. Our vote code is 49501. Thanks!

Bottle Tree

I'm rolling out a bottle tree design this fall based off of tubing and 3/8" HR rod. In my experimentation process I made this bottle tree out of some scrap tubing and re-rod I had laying around. This tree measures nearly 7' tall and 3' wide. Though not fully filled, this bottle tree can hold around 15 bottles. I think my final design will hold close to 20 bottles Amy and I aren't big wine connoisseur's, but there may be a few Founders, and New Holland Brewery bottles that crept onto the tree for the picture. I can't not confirm or deny. :) There are some very cool cobalt bottles that can be purchased over the net, or any other color for that matter to fill your bottle tree with. I like the the red and blue bordeaux, as well as the dead leaf burgundy bottles (yellow) at this site.

Along with the bottle tree idea, I will be creating a smaller, bottle tree bush -Nearly 1/3 the size. I will provide stakes with each design that allow you to stake it down when you place it in your yard or garden.

Copper Wall Sculpt

Where has the summer gone?! ArtPrize is quickly approaching in Grand Rapids in a few weeks, and fall is nearly on us. The year has flown by once again. I've been experimenting with some copper sculptures recently. This is one was made from scrap copper left over from some of the Phoenix copper birds I made this year. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the copper tubes are layered together with copper plate dropped in here and there. I have really enjoyed working with copper. I use a torch with brazing tip and 3/32 rod to stick the copper together. Once the two pieces of copper are nearly red hot the brazing rod just puddles into the joint. With a little more heat, you can direct the braze to go nearly anywhere you want. With a cold quench from water, the copper turns color depending on how hot it got. There is a mix of dark vibrant reds, to purple, to blackish copper hues. I've made this piece to go indoors and have to coat it with some lacquer yet to make it complete.

This piece measures about 30" in height x 20" in width x 3" in depth.

The Great Rainbow Trout

We went down today and installed the great big fish onto the reed structure. Thanks for all the Help from Durenda, Steve, Sam, Jeff, and Amy. It took all of us to move the great fish to its temporary home in front of the Rubinkam Gallery and Studio. With the pods installed, I estimate its weight around 250 lbs. Mid september will move the sculpt to Bridge Water Place in Grand Rapids, for Artprize 2010.

Rubinkam Gallery Commission - Trout Sculpture

It is done! It took a bit longer than originally thought, but I finished late last night. We delivered the sculpture this afternoon for the event tomorrow at the gallery. Holland Sentinel. I'll post up some pics tomorrow once the kids have installed the paint pods. Here are some pics of the fish getting prepped for the pods. Once all the pods have been installed we'll mount it to the reeds.

Rubinkam Trout Sculpture - Art Prize

Had a great weekend working on the fish. It's progressing nicely. The kids came into the garage and said, "Dad, that is one big fish. We can pretend we caught it!"

Rubinkam Gallery Commission - Trout Sculpture

Rubinkam Studio Commission - Trout Sculpture

Tonight I began the layout of a trout sculpture for Rubinkam Gallery in Douglas, MI. The colored pods (molds) are actually left over acrylic paint mixtures from gallery owner, Steve Rubinkam. These pods represent over 20 years of paintings. The pods will be bolted on with stainless steel bolts. The sculpture will be 3D, made from stainless steel, and will rest on a metal structure made up to look like underwater reeds, or seaweed. This will be a very fun build! I'll post more pictures of this build as I get further into it. The pictures above are preliminary layouts. The sculpture will measure 12' in length x 8' in height.

The sculpture will be able to be viewed on Saturday, June 19th, at Rubinkam Gallery in Douglas. I'm planning on using this sculpture for Artprize this year in Grand Rapids! I'm in the process of securing a venue right now. More later....