Small fine art sculptures

In the world of Katydom, Martin Pierce has been focusing on the dung beetle, a central character in his fictional world of  large insects and small human-like creatures. In the most recent piece, the dung beetle’s ball is repurposed as a climbing frame by a humanoid seeking to mount the thorax of the beetle so they can compete as a team in the Annual Insect Race. It clearly takes practice to achieve a successful mount which explains why the piece is partly named “Fallen Rider”.

 In Katydom neither species nor scale are the source of power or wealth   and coexistence is the social norm. Thus, while the new dung beetle and his ball are smaller than other beetles  in Katydom they are no less valued. By contrast in the present world of commerce scale generally determines weight and when this comes to bronze explains why the smaller sculpture at 5 lbs is less expensive than it’s much larger 12 lb relative.

The dung ball’s organic appearance is reminiscent of the Morphic collection of door handles, but the uneven surface and imperfect edges give it a clay like appearance.  The dung ball will be the focus of other pieces to follow with plans to repurpose it as a fitness center or learning room or summer lodge. 

The current piece is finished in a combination of hot and cold patinas with a  green thorax and head and  dark bronze beetle body and satin brushed light antique ball and polished humanoid.

Discussion about learning art techniques

We are pleased to share a recent interview between Martin Pierce and Aaron Miller at Canvas Rebel.

Aaron structured the interview around 3 areas: learning and developing skills, pivotal moments in Martin’s career and unlearning habits or traits.

These questions allowed Martin to take a step back and look at his life in a more analytical way and helped prevent the interview from becoming cliched.  My role as ghost writer was to articulate this journey in a clear but expressive way. Our creative friend, Maria Ramirez Adams photographed Martin and several of his works at his studio and the framing of these shots gave the piece color and context.

The article can be read in full at Canvas Rebel’s site and the quotes below are intended as a primer.

Photograph Courtesy of Maria Ramirez Adams

Learning to unlearn

“As an apprentice wood carver, I learned to carve quickly and precisely, skills that made me a useful employee but also a prolific artist. I have had to learn to create with purpose and to understand that if my art is channeled into a business, I am not an untethered free spirit but must consider why one design versus another is worth making”

Learning skills

“The learning curve has been long … I was always interested in nature and enjoyed physical work but being dyslexic, I found studying a real pain. My school had 3 good courses, art, woodworking and metal work. I was drawn to woodworking and began carving at 12. I don’t think it makes sense to look back and over analyze wrong turns or wish you had done things differently.”

Current Focus

“Is the insect story I am creating in bronze and steel, and this is where I have a lot of fun. The plot line involves small insect loving humanoids who co-exist with large insects and together build houses and even compete in the annual insect race.”

Photograph Courtesy of Maria Ramirez Adams

A Guide to Welding Sculpture

The skill set developed in  creating bronze and steel door handles has proven an invaluable foundation for Martin Pierce’s art work. However, until we recently met Maria Ramirez-Adams we were unable to document the welding and patina techniques used in both hardware and art. Maria’s skill in capturing these moments will be the focus of this and other posts.
For those unfamiliar with the different types of welding www.thecrucible.org provides some very accessible well written pieces as well as instructional courses.
To assemble the components parts of a door handle we use the TIG welding method which does have a slow learning curve but is well suited to welding different thicknesses of metal and to welding very small pieces that need just enough weld to form a tight small bond. TIG welding can be used to weld either our 316 marine grade stainless steel or our silicon bronze castings. The abbreviation TIG stands for Tungsten inert gas also known as tungsten gas arc welding. TIG welding works by heating up the areas of metal to be connected and by inserting a welding rod of the same metal in this area to create a pool of melted metal that will form a connection or weld. The welding torch has a tungsten electrode that, on contact with metal, sparks to form an arc. While the electrode receives a constant current of power the voltage is controlled by a foot pedal which when depressed shortens and intensifies the heat of the electric arc.

Photography Courtesy Maria Ramirez-Adams

Argon gas plays an interesting role, it’s purpose being to protect the welding process from contamination. The gas passes through the welding torch and shrouds the arc of the torch thereby preventing the weld area from being degraded by oxygen and other elements that could impact the integrity and strength of the weld. Argon gas is inert or inactive so it does not combine with elements in the air or work area so works perfectly as a shield.

To see Martin in action welding visit this informative video by Maria Ramirez-Adams.

The Hornet on Apple is a limited edition of 30 and is part of a collection of larger-than-life insects and diminished scale humans. The piece weighs 32lbs, measures 13"W x 10"D x 13"H and is a welding challenge. To attach the human to the apple the surface of the apple is heated first and then the welding torch is brought closer and closer to the human and apple and a small area of the foot and apple are melded or tacked together to form a temporary connection. The welding rod is then melted to fill in the remaining gap between the foot and apple.

In door hardware the non-operative door trim typically the requires fine TIG welding. For example, the operative Hedgerow passageway set has moving non-fixed parts and is assembled with through bolts and a spindle that activates the door latch. By comparison,  non-operative version is fixed in place and the lever is welded to the backplate using the fine TIG technique.

Left: Showing weld before clean-up Center: Buffed Right: Operative Form