March 12, 2013
-
Art: Metal Gerbera Daisy
When we receive a custom request for a flower we’ve never made before, we head straight to Google Images and start saving our favorites. Then we compare notes and see what matches up. You’d be surprised how many variations of one flower there can be, and we do our very best to create the most accurate representation of it that we can. Once we’ve narrowed it down to 2 or 3 pictures, we sit down with each other and point out what particular features or details we like about each image we’ve chosen. For example, with this gerbera daisy, one of the images I selected was chosen only because I loved the detail of having a line or two down the center of each petal. To me, that was a detail that would help the overall image of our art piece. Once we’ve made notes of all the details we want to be sure to include, Joe heads out to the shop and starts piecing it together.
Along the way, he shows his progress to me and I compare it to our reference images and point out what might need to be tweaked. This is generally my job, because Joe needs a fresh set of eyes after staring at the same pieces of metal for a couple of hours. Once we finally have the pieces the way we want them, I apply multiple coats of paint and then let it cure for a day or so. Once it is assembled (this time by Joe) we do any last minute touches. This time, we realized we needed more depth and detail in the center of the flower. It took several paint techniques before we landed on this one, but we think the turquoise fading into the black center looked more natural than the solid black dot we had painted at the very beginning. (I am wishing now that we’d photographed the process of adding these details, to show you how much of a difference paint placement can make!)
Once an item is offered in our shop, it is often something we’ve made for a friend, family member, or co-worker. We make sure we have all the kinks worked out so when it comes to things like metal roses or lilies we could almost do them in our sleep. We have a system in a place and we each have our jobs in the assembly line. Working with metal is more of Joe’s natural gift, and it has been a learned process for me. I’ve learned to use so many tools and gained a greater knowledge of the way metal works and what you can and can’t get it to do. I might complain about the little cuts and bruises on my hands (which causes Joe to complain about the fact that I never wear the work gloves he bought for me) but all in all I am proud of the flowers we make and it is really a lot of fun.
