Dung Beetle Types

The insect and humanoid collection of sculptures continues to evolve with new pieces in development. The additions are part of a narrative that will explain the relationship between the members of this fantasy realm and their lifestyles. The dung beetles’ ball building talent and the different uses the balls can be put to is the current focus. Not all dung beetles make dung balls or roll them and their different methods of building nests for eggs are a characteristic that separates and defines the different dung beetle species. Telecoprids shape dung into a ball and then roll it away from the dung source. Female telecoprids typically shape the dung into a big ball that is rolled to a brooding spot where she lays a single egg inside the ball. The brooding ball acts as a home and food source for the egg as it changes to a larvae and pupates to emerge as a young adult. Male telecoprids make smaller dung balls that they use as food for themselves and for their female mates but they also make larger balls to display their competence when seeking a female mate.

 Most of the dung beetles in our fantasy world are based on telecoprids but the paracoprid or dwelling dung beetles and the endocoprid or tunnelers and their social burrowing  ways have clearly impacted our telecoprids as they re-purpose their dung balls.

The concept drawing here is showing a humanoid on a swing with a young adult beetle inside a repurposed dung ball that has become the creche for young creatures. This will become a bronze sculpture soon and Martin has begun sculpting the ball pattern. The new piece will be smaller than the bronze ball that is available with a female telecoprid.

The telecoprid female rolls her brood dung ball, a feat that shows her engineering skills , navigational aptitude and formidable strength.

Patinas For Hardware and Sculpture

In previous pieces we have covered  our standard light and dark antique patinas. For custom orders we also offer a hot patina, which is applied to pre-heated bronze. We limit these finishes to just a  few pieces, that include the  small butterfly pull, which can be special ordered in amber- yellow; the frog knob, which can be ordered in a blue green, and the lizard lever or knob which we can patina pea green.

Sandblasted brushed - patina ready Cold antique bronze patina Pea-green hot patina

With our new bronze sculptures, we are developing patinas made with ferric nitrate as well as liver- of sulphur. Ferric Nitrate is a chemical compound of iron powder, nitric acid and it produces a  rust red patina. Liver-of-sulphur  is a chemical compound of powdered sulphur, sodium, and water. They are applied to the sculpture with a spray bottle or brush and the sculpture is preheated to a temperature of approximately 100°to 200°depending on the chemical and dilution. As the sculpture is hot, the wet patina attaches to the surface and the moisture evaporates quickly leaving behind a layer of color.

The colors these patinas produce on bronze can vary from gold to brown to red to dark red to black, depending on how hot the piece is, and how many coats are applied. The chemicals below can be mixed and diluted to produce a wide range of hues. They can also be applied over each other provided the previous patina has sufficiently dried. By layering the patinas and by using brushes and different spraying methods it is possible to develop deep mottled colors and effects. It has taken a lot of practice and years of trial and error to create the look we are seeking for each sculpture.

1. Scotch bright surface 2. Sulphur dioxide spray mist onto surface 3. Diluted bismuth white splatter spot spray

4. Ferric nitrate fine spray cover surface fine coating. 5. When dry wax

Words of caution to anyone thinking of learning how to patina bronze, exercise caution and a generous helping of common sense. The patinas we use are applied in a very well ventilated area and masks and gloves and protective aprons are a must. We also exercise considerable caution when heating up bronze as temperatures above 100° can burn exposed skin.

Liver of sulfur – yellow brown to black tones

Ferric nitrate – red tones

Ferric chloride – darker red tones 

Bismuth nitrate and titanium dioxide – white

Cupric chloride  – pea green or apple green

Cupric nitrate – blue green

A very good site for reading more about patinas and for practical advise on formulas can be found at David B. Bowman an artist in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A complimentary accessory to the dung beetle

After casting and patinating the first bronze dung beetle, we felt it was missing its ball or dung larder for the food needed by the eggs that are laid inside which will grow into hungry grubs.

Dung beetle from the collection of fantasy sculptures

The adult beetle locates dung by smell and he collects and works the dung to create a ball which is rolled to collect layer upon layer of dung. However, the location of the completed dung ball is not always ideal and the ball may need to be moved to a better pre-established nesting area.

In order to move the dung ball, the beetle rolls it backwards by holding it with its rear legs and pushing  with its front legs. Doing it this way has its setbacks, as it cannot see obstacles in its path or see if he is pushing in the right direction.

Dung beetle rear view

As the pathway cannot easily be seen he climbs on top of the dung ball and turns in a circle to get his bearings. To navigate the correct direction, he uses the  position of the sun during the day and position of the stars at night as a compass. These are remarkable insects and are not complete without their ball.

The dung ball we have created is a perforated organic bronze shell, we used our artistic license to create something a little more attractive than the typical dung ball.

The ball is approximately 7 inches in diameter and cast in 3 sections that welded together in the bronze.

The overall sculpture with dung beetle  is 12 inches high.

The beetle navigator’s head and thorax were patinaed a blue green and the wing casing was patinaed dark grey black.

 For more functional creatures please look at our animal cabinet pulls and our netsuke collection of dragon, bee and frog door knobs.

A simple and complicated mold for lost wax casting

  A simple and complicated mold for lost wax casting

 Martin’s art journey continues and the story line of the insect world of giant insects is evolving as he begins to depict the dung beetle’s family life.

In nature many dung beetles have been photographed  moving their prized dung balls with alacritous backward leg movement. The dung ball is prized as it can be used as a food source or as a site for the female dung beetle to lay her eggs in which is called a brood ball.

In Martin’s fictional world he has opted to create a more faceted airy dung ball and one with organic hollows that will eventually be populated with offspring or dung beetle artifacts.

The patterns has been created, 3 molds have been made and the first red wax replicas have been poured.

The dung ball pattern began with a turned round wooden ball. A hollow fiberglass shell was molded over the ball by applying successive layers of fiberglass cloth sandwiched together with resin. Once set, the fiberglass ball was cut and removed from the wooden ball leaving a hollow shell. An organic design was drawn onto the face of the shell, and using a Dremel, sections were cut out and removed. The fiberglass shell was coated with three layers of gesso which was sanded to soften the edges. The shell was sprayed with primer and work on the mold began.

While the mold was made using simple compounds the process was complicated and time consuming. Layers of liquid rubber were built up inside the perforated shell. To prevent the rubber from pouring through, the holes of the shell were filled in with pieces of modelling clay molded by hand to fit each irregular hole. The outside of the shell was then coated with coats of liquid rubber and once set the rubberized outer shell was hardened with successive applications of fiberglass cloth and resin. Prior to the mold being made the pattern was treated with a release agent to prevent the mold material from forming a permanent bond. The end result is a 2-part hollow mold that is now used to make red wax replicas of the original pattern.

Happy Labor Day

While we humans may get a break from work those in the larger animal kingdom will still be buzzing and digging as they toil to create  honey and dung balls!

Our new sculptures include a dung beetle and Martin is currently creating an artistic portrayal of dung  beetle ball which will be the latest addition to his bug themed sculpture  series.

Our bees are still thriving in bronze and those who follow this blog know that we have recently added a bee cabinet knob to our flying creature collection of cabinet pulls.

Our fascination with bees was piqued by a book we are reading “An Immense World” by Ed Yong in which he devotes a chapter to the electrical world we live in. The planet’s daily thunderstorms are prolific running into the thousands and they create a massive electric circuit where the earth is a negative  and the air a positive charge. Bees buzz in this electric field passing by flowers who because they contain water are rendered negative or grounded. As bees fly through the air, they assume the positive charge of the air around them and when they land on a flower to suck nectar the negative pollen is attracted to the bees negative force and literally rises up towards the bee. For those able to remember their early science classes, this electric attraction is similar to what we observed as children when a magnet was used to pick-up iron filings.

Returning to the theme of this blog, labor day is not a holiday celebrated by bees or dung beetles both of which will be working overtime during this 3-day holiday.

On line art gallery

We are expanding our on-line presence for our insect sculpture collection some of which can now be viewed on www.onlinegallery.art

This new venture will hopefully encourage readers to peruse the art work of other artists on a site that offers a wide range of mediums, subjects and styles.

Too date the Hornet on the Apple shown below and the Stag beetle have been added to online gallery with more pieces coming soon. In our fictional world humanoids may playfully spar with hornets for grazing rights to an apple but thankfully the hornets dominance is secured by it’s greater armory and strength.

In this same fictional reality stag beetles often provide transportation and other services for their humanoid friends but their relationship is symbiotic not exploitative and both species enjoy the fruits of each other’s labor.

4th JULY

4th July - Enjoy the long weekend

We are celebrating the 4th quietly in the company of good friends and hope all of our customers are able to do the same.

The hornet on the apple is a limited edition sculpture that we have playfully draped with the US flag.

The sculpture is one of several art pieces that can be found on our new site pages so please check them out.

If you are remodeling your home or fortunate enough to be designing a new home then please check out our wide variety of custom cabinet pulls and unique door handles Like all of our castings we are proud to make everything here in Los Angeles.

A new sculpture compliments Martin Pierce's original door hardware

To date Martin Pierce’s collection of fictional insects and entomophile humanoids sculptures has introduced us to stag beetles, wasp, hornets, and Jay birds, today we introduce the dung beetle.

Edition Size 30 Dimensions 10 1/2”W x 6”D x 9”H Price $ 2,600

The piece has moved from pattern and mold making to bronze and to a discussion of appropriate patinas and new pieces that will be associated with the dung beetle. The story line is developing to include family members and to a fictional portrayal  of this scarabs dung dwelling. Artistic license is playing a  role, so Martin is giving all adults horns even though in reality this attribute varies between species. The dung beetle is a semi-fossorial animal meaning it is a creature that has developed the skills and anatomy to dig and live some of its time underground. Consequently, the beetle has a strong compact body, bulldozer shaped head and 2 stout tooth like front digging legs for burrowing into dung. The remaining 4 legs are longer, more segmented and end in a serrated saw-like claw. This complicated organism is extremely dexterous and able to coordinate all 6 legs to walk, to  create a dung ball then manipulate and roll  the ball backwards and even bury the ball for offspring in the case of a brood ball. If that is not it enough, consider that it can also fly and that below the polished smooth wing casings are 2 powerful wings that can lift this small but heavy creature taking it to new feeding grounds.

Edition Size 30 Dimensions 10 1/2”W x 6”D x 9”H Price $ 2,600

In Martin’s fictional world the dung beetle co-exists with humanoids and when not caring for his family members helps till the soil and aerate the fields for seasonal crops for humans. The 2 species also collaborate in the annual insect race where humanoids act as riders and navigators to steer the backward moving beetle to the finish line. These scenes as well as other family members are hopefully going to take shape in sculpture and paintings over the next few years.

Developing an Art Collection

Developing an Art Collection  - The Land of Giant Insects

In 1999 Martin Pierce began a journey into bronze casting with 8 collections of door hardware and cabinet pulls. Forward to 2022 where the road has forked, and a wide tributary is winding its way to a collection of art sculptures.

Martin Pierce and his first collection have just been featured on Artsy Shark, a site that  helps  promote artists and their work. While the fictional story behind  this collection is ongoing, we thought it timely to begin telling the tale and  by explaining the fictional landscape and it’s characters.

A Tale of Giants and Insectophile Humans  -

In today’s world, insects and birds lack the social and environmental importance they deserve. Humans in this world dominate the planet and their demands are contrary to the well-being of other species. In the new and  fictional world, Martin Pierce, through sculpture and painting reverses the relative size of humans to insects with the former becoming diminutive and the latter becoming giants. The fictional scale also gives rise to a new relationship and the adversarial human is reinvented as an insect loving humanoid. While the relationship between these 2 species continues to evolve it is built on an agrarian lifestyle where humanoids and insects farm together and jointly partake in the fruits of their labors.

Landscape

The landscape is one of mangroves, yuccas, and bougainvillea with swaths of land cleared for farming. The topography is varied with craggy cliffs and rolling hills and lower lying valleys and swamps.

Characters

Grasshopper – resting on a mushroom and casting his stupendous shadow over the humanoid hiding in the mushrooms spongy fold. Both characters make their appearance in annual sporting events.

10”W x 9”D x 14”H

Stag Beetle – at least 2 varieties exist, the shiny suave steely and darker mottled bronze.  They too compete in annual events but also play a key role as farmers  tilling the soil ready for planting. The stag beetle makes his sculptural appearance as a runner sometimes accompanied by a humanoid rider and as one of 2 adversarial beetles sparring on a piece of oak bark.

20”W x 15”D x 6”H

Hornet – shown feeding on a large apple with an irritating humanoid for company

13”W x 10”D x 13”H

Wasp – portrayed as a solo runner or accompanied by a humanoid rider

11”W x 8”D x 6”H

Jay – flying toward the east or toward the west

17”W x 12”D x 4”H

Dung beetle and Raven – following soon

Beetles in the fictional world of Martin Pierce

A lesser-known area of Martin Pierce’s work is the fictional world occupied by insect and humanoid bronze creatures. To better show these sculptures we are adding new pages to our site and will be creating a new collection page and eventually a payment portal.

Since childhood Martin has been  fascinated by  insects and birds and not just by their obvious beauty but by their ingenuity and dexterity. Wasps, butterflies, moths, and swallows are represented in our company’s door hardware and cabinet hardware collections. However, the scale of  door hardware as well as the functional limitations relegate these forms to incidental turn pieces, thumb latches or cabinet pieces. 

As Martin’s art work is not subject to the same restraints he is using this new freedom to re-imagine both the scale of humans to insects as well as their functional and social relationships.

In December 2021 Martin sourced a deceased aqua blue horned rhinoceros dung beetle from a New Mexico  entomologist. Known affectionately to friends  as Phanaeus Pilatei this particular insect is beautifully colored and powerfully built. The powerful front plate and horn is used as a soil digger that is as proportionately powerful as a bob-cat shovel or bulldozer blade.  Alas, the beauty and mechanical dexterity of Phanaeus is rarely appreciated due to his diminutive size. In Martin’s sculptures and paintings he hopes to shine a light on these undervalued scarabs by portraying then as larger than life and by developing a story that he hopes will be captivating.

True size of Dung beetle 3/4”L x 1/2”H New Model for Dung Sculpture 10”L x 6”H Other Beetle Sculptures

Palm Desert Loving All Animals Annual Event

We are pleased to share details of the annual  Spay-ghetti & No Balls event taking place this Saturday November 13th in Palm Desert and sponsored by Loving All Animals. The non-profit’s mission is to maximize the success of programs within the Coachella Valley dedicated to finding homes for homeless pets. Pet Companion Magazine have kindly donated one of our Siamese cat door coat hooks to the silent auction at this event. For more details about this event or for donations to this wonderful group please visit lovingallanimals.org or call 760-834-7000.

Brief Profile of the Siamese Cat:

The Siamese cat is thought to originate from Thailand formerly known as Siam*. The modern Siamese has, through selective breeding, become less rounded than it’s predecessor and is noted for it’s pointed large ears, long narrow neck and almost triangular shaped head with almond shaped eyes. The breed is short haired, and lacking an undercoat, its silky hair clings tightly to it’s body thereby accentuating it’s svelte musculature. The face has distinctive markings or points around the nose and eyes that develop as the kittens mature with colors ranging from grey to grey-brown to light grey and blue grey in tone.

The Siamese cat in our cat accessory collection is cast in silicon bronze, an alloy that is light brown in tone and which we accentuate with a dark brown patina to simulate the distinctive face point area. Siamese cats are by temperament social, playful and very vocal companions and they enjoy prominence amongst cat owners being one of the top 5 cats amongst US cat owners.

*Interesting information about this cat breed can be found at wikipedia

A Trip to Borrego Springs - Art & Wildlife

ART

We recently returned to Borrego Springs, a destination known for the blooming cacti and wildflowers of spring and the always present big sky where stars are on display against a pitch-black sky. I feel that vacations are enhanced when they have a focal point so was delighted to attend an art show featuring Lisa Meldrum’s wonderful collection of mid-century miniature houses. The exhibition is on display till November 28th at the “House of Borrego Springs” a gallery run by Elizabeth Rodriguez at El Patio on Palm Canyon Drive. The gallery is fittingly located in a mid-century modern building designed by Richard M. Zerbe. If you are a fan of this period, then Borrego Springs is well worth a visit offering a more tranquil and less manicured desert retreat to the better-known neighboring Palm Springs.

Photo Courtesy of Lisa Meldrum - Exhibition of Mid-Century Miniature Houses at House of Borrego Springs

Photo Courtesy of Lisa Meldrum - Exhibition of Mid-Century Miniature Houses at House of Borrego Springs

WILDLIFE

Borrego Springs is also rich in wild-life and fall is the mating season for the Peninsular Bighorn Sheep. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a great place to hike, and you may see the bighorns at one of the watering holes.

Peninsular Bighorn Ram Photo by Martin Pierce

Using a zoom lens from a discreet distance we were able to capture their regal elegance and observed a family of bighorns grazing. The ram’s horns are remarkably sculptural with clearly defined ridges. While the ewes also have horns as you can see below, they are smaller and less defined. The Peninsular Bighorn is a sub-species of the Rocky Mountain big horn and the state park plays a critical role in the survival of this endangered animal. Disease, loss of habitat and habitat degradation all play a role in this animals decline. To find out more about the history and characteristics of this splendid mammal visit the Bighorn Institute a non-profit organization devoted to conserving the Bighorns dwindling population.

Top: Ewe Left: Ram Right: Ewe photos by Martin Pierce

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Bighorn Institute

Anza Borrego Desert State Park

House of Borrego Springs - Elizabeth Rodriquez:

Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce - useful guide to events, the park and dining and lodging spots

SCULPTURE

When observing the powerful beauty of Bighorn ram’s horns, we were reminded of a smaller set of horns used by the male stag beetle in a similar manner to attract mates and deter younger males. In one of Martin Pierce’s insect sculptures the stag beetle appears as an oversized steel warrior engaged in battle on a background of bronze bark. The sculpture measures 35”W x 15”D x 13”H is part of a limited edition of 30.

Slim but Strong – using Cabinet Pulls for Closet Doors

The Ergo 12” cabinet pull is a slim curvaceous and very strong piece that belies its delicate features. It is cast either in 316 stainless steel or silicon bronze and both alloys perform well in terms of tensile strength. In other posts I have described how the chemistry of each, and the method of manufacturing impacts the strength, corrosion resistance and malleability of each alloy.
Tensile strength is measured in terms of yield strength and ultimate strength. The former indicates the metals’ ability to be stressed to the point where it is distorted or does not return to its original cast shape. Ultimate strength refers to the breaking point of a metal (see footnotes at the end of this post).
Recently the Ergo cabinet pull has been specified for use on closet doors and the customer needed reassurance that the pull was strong enough to act as a door pull. To demonstrate this, I used a heavy display board laden with several pieces and weighing a total of 40lbs and easily lifted it using the Ergo pull.

While an alloys strength is important if a pull is to be used for a heavy door it is worth noting that the hinges of the door take the brunt of the heavy lifting and their number and strength will have a greater bearing on the pull’s performance.

The scale of a cabinet pull is equally important when assessing its suitability as a door pull. The closet doors in this instance were double doors each measuring 18” W by 90”H so worked well with a 12” pull.

Step by Step process till a sophisticated 2 tone gem is created;

1. Red Wax Replicas made in a rubber mold for every pull one wax will be made; each will be shelled then invested with 316 stainless steel

2. Once cast the pieces are ground to remove the gates, the pieces are cleaned and then each is polished on all sides

3. Top photo if you zoom in you will see how the pull is masked with blue tape - once in place the piece is sand polished with a fine grit of sand to create a satin finish. The end result is a 2 tone polished-satin finish.

To learn more about how metals vary in tensile strength.

How to Cast Bronze Butteflies - Good and Bad Runners and Gates

How to Cast Bronze Butterflies – Good and Bad Sprues and Gates
When designing a piece for investment or lost wax casting a lot of time is spent creating the original pattern and subsequent mold. When the pattern is created its shape and undercuts will determine whether one or more molds needs to be developed so that the detail of the original is captured and so that subsequent waxes can easily be released from the mold.

When the mold is being made it is important to anticipate how the molten metal will subsequently flow into the void of the ceramic shell. The shelling process and the function of the autoclave are discussed in earlier posts. The mold we made for the large butterfly was a two-part rubber mold and the pattern was carved in wood. We added wax runners and one large wax sprue to the butterfly pattern and made a hollow box to hold the butterfly. The area where the wax runner attaches to the pattern is often referred to as a gate. The number of runners and their size and location play a key role in determining whether the bronze will pour easily, and the casting will be successful.

The rubber mold is created by pouring a cold rubber solution into the box containing the butterfly with its runners attached. The rubber encases the butterfly and its attachments, and when set, the 2- part mold will be opened, the pattern will be removed, and a hollow mold will be left. Hot wax will then be poured in through the center hole or sprue and helped along by gravity and some gentle rotation will travel down the central sprue and into the runners to fill the void created around the butterfly pattern.
In this post I am including 2 examples of a well gated wax and a poorly gated wax together with shots showing the resulting bronze castings.
While it may be tempting to assume that more gates will ensure a successful casting, having more gates will impact the speed, pressure and temperature of the flowing bronze and the success of the casting. Having more gates will also increase the labor intensity of cleaning the casting as all the gates need to be ground off.

Unlike the butterfly on the left the bronze did not flow to fill the wing tip of the right butterfly so the casting was rejected and the bronze was melted down and re-cycled

A beautiful butterfly pull can only emerge from a perfect casting.

Nesting Birds and Their Noisy Ways

While our lives may have been disrupted by the corona virus, this has not impacted our local bird life and our neighborhood is very much alive with the sounds of squabbling and aggressive birds. Mockingbirds have made a nest in the bougainvillea bush in our neighbors garden and the parents are feeding their young with petals from our guava tree and battling and haranguing any potential predators that come too close to their young chicks. The predators who pose a threat include squirrels and cats who despite their claws and size are no match for the mockingbird bombers who dive and peck them ceaselessly.

Alert Parent of young Mocking Bird chicks on guard for predators

These admirable parenting qualities are not limited to the mocking birds and a pair of scrub jays, thankfully nesting in a different tree, spend large amounts of time battling and diving at crows, ravens and the occasional Cooper’s hawk who are local habitants of the Hollywood Hills.
We have lived in the hills for many years but never grow tired of the local bird population which continues to inspire our work. What is still remarkable is the incredible variety of bird life that we see and hear, and which vary with the season’s migratory paths. The beautiful oriels with their orange chests have arrived as have the rufous hummingbirds and both compete for the sugary solution of our bird feeder. To accommodate the oriels larger and wider beak we have removed some of the artificial flowers on the feeder which occasionally results in the odd bee finding its way inside.

Juvenile Mocking Bird Learning the Value of Guava Flowers

If you are searching for an unusual bird cabinet pull or possible a jay door handle then you may want to visit these pages on our site.

Creative Use of Door Handles - In the Company of Art and Design

Carol Salb and Stacy Welch of Reddington Designs recently shared photos of a cabinet they designed using our Ergo door handles but with very original positioning.
The Ergo series, as it’s name suggests, focuses on functional shapes that are easy to grip and we hope pleasing to touch. To achieve an ergonomic shape we appreciate that left handed and right handed people will grip a pull differently. As a committed lefty who has spent many years coping with the challenges of a right hand world I was the ideal subject for Martin’s Ergo designs.

Andy Warhol’s Goethe Screen-prints - cabinet design and photo courtesy of Reddington Designs all rights reserved

We knew from Stacy and Carol that the Ergo handles needed to be customized in depth so that they projected less from the surface of the cabinet doors. What we didn’t realize is how they would re-position the handles to create a wonderfully fluid and visually interesting cabinet.
While the “handing” of each pull did not change the pulls were inverted but still retained their ergonomic design.

Ergo Entry Door Handle

The cabinet was designed by Carol and Stacy and made by Ayr Cabinets using a custom stain over rift oak. The piece has a lovely unorthodoxy and it’s upwards movement seems to defy gravity making it a perfect design for the pop-up TV it houses. The Ergo handles were originally designed as entry door handles but in the hands of a talented designer they can work equally well as cabinet door pulls.
The cabinet sits below 3 of Andy Warhol’s Goethe prints, a series based on the iconic painting of Goethe by Johann Tischbein.

Custom steel handles,modern entry pulls,contemporary door pulls,custom door pulls,unusual door pulls,Andy Warhol’s Goethe

Making A Custom Cabinet Pull from Wax to Bronze

Following on from last week’s post I will be showing how we tackle the task of changing the direction of an orchid cabinet pull from left to right. Down-stream we will be making a new mold that will allow us to create a right facing orchid stem directly from the mold with each wax section emerging from the mold as a component for a right facing pull. Until demand warrants the time and cost of making a permanent mold we will need to re-work the stem and flower sections at the wax stage to create a new right pull. This process will be repeated for each pull ordered and as we have 8 pulls to make with each pull requiring 3 wax sections, we will be investing a considerable amount of time modelling by hand all 24 wax sections. The waxes will then be shelled with silica and eventually will be melted out in an autoclave and fired to create a hollow shell which will be invested with molten bronze. The wax that is burnt out is the reason this casting method is often referred to as “lost wax” casting. Rather than making wax replicas one could map the original left pattern to create a file for a right pull and then print each section or possibly the complete piece as a 3D print. To create the print, successive layers of photo-reactive resin are built up and allowed to solidify, a process that would also take hours. Given the extremely detailed nature of the pull the 3D print would still require some cleaning up before it could be shelled, making it a less viable method of production.

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See Orchid and other Plant Pulls

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Left to Right: Flower 2 parts, Assembled in wax, Front View, Profile View

In Photoshop it is easy using the edit function to flip an image horizontally so that it is shown as the mirror opposite and so change a left directional piece to a right in directional one. However, in the real 3D world this would not work and in the case of the orchid stem rotating the pull right would result in the 2 flower heads facing down making for an upside- down pull. To achieve a right facing pull the curve of the sprig as well as the flower heads and buds need to be cut and re-positioned.

Orchid Components - left facing buds and flowers re-positioned and shaped to become right facing

Candlesticks our new designs take shape

These taxing times, as many have commented, provide a respite from intense commerce and we are using this time to develop new pieces. The focus on shopping on line has become central to many businesses and we are adapting to this new reality by gradually and tentatively planning which pieces are suitable for e-commerce. Door handles are not the easiest product to sell on line as a dialogue first needs to occur so that the customer understands door terminology e.g. handing, back-set, so that the handle set can be configured to the customer’s door specifications.
So, we have begun our e-commerce field work with candlesticks which in the coming months you will be able to order on line. Our first candlestick is based on the Echeveria Lola succulent that we planted in our drought tolerant garden in August of 2015. While practical needs have influenced our artistic interpretation, the sculptures still capture the geometric and pointed shape of the leaves that define this garden plant.

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When this succulent reaches maturity she launches a flower on the end of a long shoot that attracts many bees, hover flies and small insects. We plan to incorporate these small insects into our new candlesticks as decorative features on the stems and leaves and have been sketching ideas for possible bugs whose scale and shape are fitting. One central addition is a frog which is slightly smaller in size than our existing frog cabinet pull and which we are planning to patina with the red and black markings that distinguish the South American poisonous tree frog.

The new pieces will be available in varying sizes with different stem lengths making it possible to cluster several together to form a center piece or position as individual candlesticks.

Black Crested Red Whiskered Bulbul

With more time to walk we are able to see more Bulbuls in the Hollywood hills and have managed to photograph several.
We first encountered this petite bird with colorful markings in the 1990’s at the Huntington gardens and felt quite privileged to site this bird that we have always associated with Asia and tropical environments. What we hadn’t realized was that the Bulbul was a common resident of the park in the 1970’s and 80’s and was on the A list as a non-indigenous species and destined for eradication. Thankfully sufficient public and birder opposition resulted in the suspension of this policy and now we enjoy this cheery musical creature in our own neighborhood.

I had a great deal of fun reading about the bird’s diet and habitat on Wikipedia and as a result know this passerine bird to be a fugivore. For those unfamiliar with these terms they simply mean that this is a bird that likes to perch and lives on a fruit diet. As a frugivore it makes sense that the Bulbul now thrives in Florida and southern California where fruit is abundant.
While the Bulbul is named for its small red-whiskers the males back crest and red abdominal feathers are much easier to spot as can be seen here. Like all passerines the Bulbul has three toes that point forward and one pointing back which makes perching an easy task.
If you are looking for a less flighty bird and one that you would like to use as a cabinet pull then consider the swallow pull or if you are searching for a wall statement check out our bronze jay bird.

To read more about the Bulbul’s near eradication please the article by Mary Barker


For those seeking to improve their ornithological knowledge or looking for words for Scrabble Wikipedia is great resource.

Insect Art - Next Stage For Beetle Panels

Martin Pierce begins his scarab panels by using the sketch shown in the last blog which he traces onto the surface of a paint primed plywood panel.
Using the same sketch Martin traces the body of the beetle onto a 1/8” thick of basswood which is then cut out using a scroll saw. Martin then rounds the edges of the beetle outline using a chisel which he also uses to add lines and indentations to the wing casings which gives the beetle a more 3-dimensional appearance. The beetle is then finely sanded and glued onto the primed panel and clamped in place to form a secure bond. After the beetle is firmly attached any excess glue is scraped away with small chisels.
Using his finger Martin smooths gesso onto the surface and into the pores of the basswood and working with a damp cloth removes any unwanted gesso as he goes.

For the legs and antenna Martin has made a small tool using a short piece of 1/8” round dowel with a chamfered end. The tool is similar in function to a pen quill and fine enough to be used to spread very small beads of thin gesso onto the primed panel to simulate the sections of the beetle’s legs and antennae. Once set any excess gesso is removed with a chisel and then the completed beetle and panel are sanded with very fine 400 grit sandpaper. The panel is then sealed with sanding sealer and is ready to be gilt and glazed.
Insect themes are also used by Martin as cabinet pulls and thumb latches and are central to many of his hardware designs.