Current Stuff (blogs)

Heavy Woven Torque

stephenfitz-gerald — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:39:58 GMT

This is an 8 strand weave. The piece is strong but flexible,easily shaped by hand to fit the wearer. I am using hot punching for the triskele symbol on both finials. I recognize it's a bit rough ,but that's the style I was going for... It was a most interesting process to plug weld in succession the 3 formed parts to each finial. This to reduce the amount of cleanup of welds and present just a little bit of a cleaner piece. Welded stainless steel.

Japanesque flat disc vase

stephenfitz-gerald — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:22:03 GMT

Sometimes ,for no apparent reason you just have to make a vase...LOL Welded stainless steel-16" diameter. Features a removable interior "frog" of stainless tubes to hold large boughs or cuttings. This piece is for sale. note me for pricing.

Whelk,detail

stephenfitz-gerald — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:22:42 GMT

At long last, Been visualizing this piece for a number of years. Finally owned the skill to manifest...it's gnarly,Oceanic,Sacred Geometry,Self.... Welded,forged, stainless steel (with heat patina). Overall height-5 1/2 inches

High Art

stephenfitz-gerald — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:00:39 GMT

Not all of a metal sculptors work is high brow art. Sometimes you have to do something wacky just because you have the skills and requisite sensibilities where few others do.(and to pay the bills). I was called upon to repair a woodstove made by another metal sculptor in the 70,s who died. The owner found me on the net and drove two hours to try and persuade me to take it on. After relating the story of the deceased artist,the repairs needed,and the need for a sculptors eye,I reluctantly realized I was the perfect one for the silly job. It's not exactly my cup of tea,but I feel at least a kinship with the guy who's passed,and if I can keep his work alive for another life time,then so be it... The sphere is !/4 inch steel that's been sandblasted. It looks allot like a rubber ducky to me,but what the hell do I know?

Bronze Pine Cone

stephenfitz-gerald — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:09:41 GMT

Here's the first iteration and result of a design problem I've been mulling over for a couple of months,namely how to FABRICATE,(as opposed to casting), a pine cone with reasonable accuracy. I felt a good stock reproducible shape to start with would be PUNCH PARTS. So I considered my industrial connections and got access to a wonderful old 65 ton J.C.Whitney punch. On a Saturday I took over two plates,one of 3/16ths silicon bronze (which this piece is made from), and a stainless plate which was 1/8th inch thick.I've used an oval punch to make the individual petals of this remarkable Sacred Geometry structure. The array of petals are configured in opposing concentric spirals.This arrangement allows the MAXIMUM amount of surface area (for transpiration),with the MINIMUM amount of material... I'm reasonably pleased with this piece,but obviously some of the details can get refined if I go further.

A new Familiar

stephenfitz-gerald — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:11:12 GMT

Immature Sharp Shinned Hawk I was surprised to discover this morning ,a new visitor in the greenhouse attached to my studio. I have no idea how he got in there but was just finishing off a fat quail as I entered. I opened all the doors and windows to let him out but he remained unperturbed. I worked until 2 PM with music ,grinders,and welding going on. He just watched me the whole time... Not a bad Companion really.

Sand Dollar Drawer Pulls

stephenfitz-gerald — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:53:40 GMT

These are drawer pulls for a kitchen retrofit . I have made a die for my press that forms the pentagonal surface contour like the real sand dollar (only a bit more pronounced). The bolt welded on the back is 1/4 inch thick. I always make my hardware etc. to last a lifetime of abuse. The surface etching pattern of the sand dollars is done with a simple electric engraver ,after studying the real thing. Each was then lightly sanded and polished. The sand dollars are all 1 3/4 inch in diameter,respectively). Cold formed,welded,and engraved stainless steel.

Lucian's Pendant on Ophelia

stephenfitz-gerald — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:46:47 GMT

I had no one to model this piece this morning so have draped it upon my bronze sculpture of Opehlia.She seemed to smile at the unexpected attention... I finally figured out how to hang this piece,and as is my custom,I wore it ,to see if it worked OK. So I went yesterday, to the wedding of one of my favorite models,decked out in my,sort of 16th century regalia... This was the Winery owner crowd of Sonoma County so the significance of the pendant and indeed the whole Underworld movie series was entirely lost upon them...No matter,I had a good time,saw my lovely young friend safely married off to a good man,and had a fine meal rubbing elbows with the landed gentry... As I left, the catering crew accosted me with compliments on my "authentic look" and bravery in such a stylish outfit...LOL

Limpet Pendant

stephenfitz-gerald — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:49:18 GMT

Tide pool creatures have always been some of my favorites... Here's a KEYHOLE LIMPET in forged,punched,sawn,and patinated stainless steel,with a leather thong attached to be worn as a pendant. 1.25 inch diameter

Celtic Hairpin

stephenfitz-gerald — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:11:24 GMT

This is a ornament for a woman with big hair. It measures 4.75 inches across and is secured by a pin of twisted wire. All stainless steel,pierced sheet,twisted wire. It's fairly light but very strong and flexible. Definitely an heirloom that will last a lifetime. The pattern is inspired by an ornamented bronze disc in the British Museum dated third century B.C. Stylistically it represents the EARLY LA TENE STYLE Limited edition. I'm selling these for $150.oo U.S. (plus shipping)

Lara's Torc

stephenfitz-gerald — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:38:05 GMT

New commissioned Celtic torc featuring punched triskele symbols on the finials. Forged, welded, and cold formed stainless steel.

Lucian's Pendant -2

stephenfitz-gerald — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:40:31 GMT

Here's the second iteration of Lucian's Pendant inspired by the Underworld movies. As before,this is not meant to be a replica but rather an interpretation. The central stone on this one is a jade sphere. I made a pretty good set of hot punches this week so both sides are ornamented differently but this is the side I prefer (just now). I may post the other side at a later date. Notice there are 4 welds on either side which hold the stone setting in. Last thing I did was give it the heat patina with the torch, circumnavigating the piece, focusing the heat on the extreme edge all the way around so it wouldn't ruin the stone. I still need to figure out how to hang it since there is no front nor back like the other one... Hot punched and welded stainless steel-1, 7/8ths diameter note: Jade is very forgiving as regards heat. I would not have attempted that final reheating to color it had it been some other stone or glass...

Acorn Pendant

stephenfitz-gerald — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:33:55 GMT

This was a commission for a "sacrament container"for an individual who is going to Burning Man and wants to wear this thing around his neck so he doesn't lose the contents. He has a connection with the OAK,thus the symbolism of the acorn. The cap has a snug fit and comes on and off when aligned with two embossed dots on the other side. It is all stainless steel,embossed,hot punched,suaged,and colored with a heat patina from the torch.

Lucian's Pendant

stephenfitz-gerald — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:14:53 GMT

This is my fist of two iterations based on Lucian's pendant,an iconic jewelry piece that forms a focal point for certain characters in the UNDERWORLD movie series. I have not intended here to create a reproduction of the piece from the movies but rather to interpret it,and make it my own... Stainless steel,chased,punched and welded,with a heat patina.In the center is a red glass bead. the bezel on the other side is cut away to allow light to penetrate and occasionally light up the bead... 1 3/4" diameter

StainlessStairway Handrail

stephenfitz-gerald — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:44:32 GMT

This is a simple but sort of elegant SITE SPECIFIC DESIGN. I get many REPEAT CLIENTS because I DESIGN as well as FABRICATE and this becomes in essence one-stop-shopping for many clients who would otherwise have to pay two different people to accomplish the same goal. I made a similar railing in stainless for this same client 10 years ago for his mansion"the big house",but he lost his wonderful wife a year ago,and that house was just too big to live alone in and held too many memories. so he sort of downsized and bought a quaint charming Victorian in town (Healdsburg). He is very tall and still fairly active at 84,so my design reflects his personality,physical attributes and aesthetic. The rail is forged stainless steel-1 3/4 wide by 1/2inch thick...

Merkaba or Star Tetrahedron,update...

stephenfitz-gerald — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:01:37 GMT

I sold this piece a month ago to a dot-commer who plans to use it as an entrance ornament to his large (300 people) camp at BURNING MAN called Root Society. I've just spent the last few days making it presentable. I formed little hemispherical caps with a die on my press and have welded them on each of the vertices to accent the structure,and polished the column top to bottom. I don't know how he's going to get this thing back to his house on Cape Cod but when he does, it will be (hopefully)something like this with the ocean in the background. Welded stainless steel-height 10 ft.

Crenellated silicon bronze sink,mirror polished

stephenfitz-gerald — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:29:00 GMT

This is one of my SILICON BRONZE SINKS polished out to a mirror finish. It will be flush mounted in a slab of black onyx that will be water jet cut to accommodate EXACTLY the amorphous perimeter shape. You can see the sanding table in the background that allowed me to sand the edge perfectly flat after trimming with a cut off-saw. It seemed the simplest most expeditious way to accomplish the task... The pattern seen inside the bowl is the reflection of the ceiling joists in my shop. The polished surface of the bowl is preserved by carnauba wax. Nearly any car wax will work for both polished bronze and copper.

Silicon Bronze Crenelated Sink

stephenfitz-gerald — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:07:36 GMT

Finally sold something...

Sphere and Tetrahedron Intersected

stephenfitz-gerald — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:58:20 GMT

Lately I've been exploring a relationship between these two Platonic solids,(the sphere and tetrahedron with equal volumes),as I did with the sphere and cube,to see if there is a perceptible dynamic energy between them (as there was with sphere and cube). As usual I am following my curiosity and intuition.My initial researches on the net uncovered only ONE image of these two shapes intersected with congruent volumes. The author said the sphere symbolized the feminine principle and the tetrahedron the male principle. When these figures are superimposed with congruent volumes it symbolizes BALANCE. This seems to fit somewhat my own feelings. I am proceeding somewhat blind in this area. I mean,as with the cube and sphere,I trust my own perceptions,i.e. the energy potential and dynamic relationship,but I have no INTELLECTUAL understanding of WHY this dynamic exists. Can anyone shed light on this phenomena or have any info on any known relationship between the regular tetrahedron and the sphere(of equal volumes)? I know there is a significance to this relationship ,I just don't know what it is...Yet Sphere is stainless steel-4" diameter Tetrahedron is in silicon bronze

The Plane at Infinity(an alternate view)

stephenfitz-gerald — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:20:52 GMT

Just wanted to show a different angle on this new symmetrical piece. I can't express the level of completion/satisfaction I feel after having this image in my mind's eye for a year or so,then putting it together and having it appear EXACTLY as my inner three D rotational program projected it. The process is quite addicting really. I know,I know,I'm in my own little world as my older sister always says... Now I'm seeing this organic form as 4 feet in diameter instead of 20 inches,and done in polished stainless steel instead of rusty pipe... It's in front of some corporate headquarters somewhere,in front of a building made of glass and steel which forms a perfect amorphic counterpoint to some very linear architecture...

Merkaba or Star Tetrahedron

stephenfitz-gerald — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:41:45 GMT

I've had this piece in the back forty for several years. But I sold it today. The client found me/it by a Google search for" tetrahedron". Turns out he started and runs Monster.com He also has the biggest camp at BURNING MAN (Root Society) and plans to use this piece as an entrance sculpture to his camp there...Those of you going,please be nice to him... Welded stainless steel-height 10'

The Plane at Infinity

stephenfitz-gerald — Fri, 15 May 2009 05:22:07 GMT

Welded steel- 20”x 20”x 20” This shape exhibits certain Sacred Geometry characteristics as well as a tripartite radial symmetry. It has been described by a concise mathematical formula . From Wikipedia: "In geometry, Boy's surface is an immersion of the real projective plane in 3-dimensional space found by Werner Boy in 1901 (he discovered it on assignment from David Hilbert to prove that the projective plane could not be immersed in 3-space). Unlike the Roman surface and the cross-cap, it has no singularities (i.e. pinch-points), but it does self-intersect." There is a lovely little pointillist sketch of this form in Theodor Schwenk's masterful treatise on the creation of flowing forms in water and air,titled "Sensitive Chaos". It is from that book that I have titled the work. This shape also exists within our own bodies as the liquid filled semicircular canals within our inner ear. These function as an internal biological gyro keeping us in touch with the plane of the horizon in regards to Terrestrial gravity. This sculpture is made from 6 heavy industrial 4" diameter pipe elbows,sculpted seamlessly at the intersections or vertices to blend the three spirals into a smooth enticing radial ORGANIC FORM.

Cubic Sphere Gazebo

stephenfitz-gerald — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:34:25 GMT

Since I've had no commissions lately,I kicked this out in the last three days tapping my stockpiled materials. All recycled steel. Height to top is 12.5 feet. Diameter of rings 9 ft. 3 inches. The rings are 3x3 angle and were rolled "mistakes " from the rolling mill. I bought a truckload a couple of years ago and am slowly making my way through the stack. Only 12 bolts hold the whole structure together. It is quite stout. One can easily climb all over it with no loss of structural integrity. Notice the pre-drilled holes in the top ring. That is for mounting add-on trellises for planting vines at each of the "corners".Not sure yet what the trellises will look like ... This is a rather large PENDENTIVE GAZEBO. The pendentive, you may remember, was a device used by Roman builders to support domes in masonry construction, but the Byzantine architects were the ones who truly perfected it. One of the finest examples being the classic Ottoman Mosque of Hagia Sofia in Istanbul.

Clamshell Platter

stephenfitz-gerald — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:31:33 GMT

Serving platter inspired by the shape and shell of a clam. 12ga.cold formed stainless steel. Diameter 12.5 inches

Vesica Pisces Bedframe with forged fiddlehead ferns

stephenfitz-gerald — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:41:59 GMT

Finally finished this piece. The headboard's been sitting outside for a couple of years,so I just finished the whole thing in a rust patina. It's for sale . Under $1000.oo Just saying...