All that comes out of the shop is not enormous work. In truth most of what I do in the shop is smaller work, architectural ironwork, odd fabrication jobs, and smaller sculptures.
Sometimes I get to work on a project for a long time, though that is rare, it's really nice.
That way a piece can grow slowly, and it enables me to experiment with various processes that I would not get to do when I'm under a tight deadline.
I love working in my shop, and the trick for me around all the tools in the space is to keep it organized. It's like any job I guess, where you need to know where everything is, almost without thinking, so you can perform the magic that it takes to create something.
The shop is the container, the tools are extensions of my hands, and the coordinated dance that happens is the "process" that I just get lost in. I love that state.
After the Flybrary build, the shop was a complete disaster. To be expected, as I had completed a years worth of work in four months. I walked in and right out of the shop door several times over the span of five days until I had enough emotional and physical verve to deal with it. It did take close to a week to arrange, but the result was great, I can see my table again!
This table needed to be able to heat its top, a beautiful piece of stone from lands far away. It was a challenge and after much ado and experimentation, I decided to approach it with controllable radiant heating coils embedded into the table base. After setting the coils I poured the mortar. Here it is with the mortar in the shop. It took several days to cure with a constant source of heat to help the mortar set. You can see the wire coming out of one of the legs. This will run under the clients floor and up into a controller to heat the slab.
Sometimes I get to work on a project for a long time, though that is rare, it's really nice.
That way a piece can grow slowly, and it enables me to experiment with various processes that I would not get to do when I'm under a tight deadline.
I love working in my shop, and the trick for me around all the tools in the space is to keep it organized. It's like any job I guess, where you need to know where everything is, almost without thinking, so you can perform the magic that it takes to create something.
The shop is the container, the tools are extensions of my hands, and the coordinated dance that happens is the "process" that I just get lost in. I love that state.
After the Flybrary build, the shop was a complete disaster. To be expected, as I had completed a years worth of work in four months. I walked in and right out of the shop door several times over the span of five days until I had enough emotional and physical verve to deal with it. It did take close to a week to arrange, but the result was great, I can see my table again!
I had a roster of jobs piling up that needed attention so there I was back in the shop, building new things. Between forged hinges and fire screens there was a very special table in the mix. It started with a rough design I drew, which the client loved, so now I just needed to understand how to build it...
This table needed to be able to heat its top, a beautiful piece of stone from lands far away. It was a challenge and after much ado and experimentation, I decided to approach it with controllable radiant heating coils embedded into the table base. After setting the coils I poured the mortar. Here it is with the mortar in the shop. It took several days to cure with a constant source of heat to help the mortar set. You can see the wire coming out of one of the legs. This will run under the clients floor and up into a controller to heat the slab.
And below, the finished and installed piece, with the marble slab on top. Magic!
