Small Sculptures

I do like playing with human sculptures and this one was very interesting with the feature panels in her dress. They took a while! Still they add to her charm and she is a little bit awkward and shy and a little bit happy her skirt is behaving so well. I think the flying man is showing off for her!.

I did something like this a long while ago but for some reason the idea reoccurred. I do like the possibility but I guess we do tend to make everything else in the world conform to our wishes. Like birdcages have gone out of fashion , perhaps this transport mode has no place. Still it is sort of fun to imagine!.

I did a between books with a tightrope a while ago, This one is much more simple . I must admit I usually have a few books on the go but often in a range of areas. Some really grab you and you cant put them down and others I am content to just potter on through. Most of my books now are on the ipad for convenience although I still have a legacy of a house full of paper books

 I have been semi isolated with this covid stuff as has everyone else. It seemed appropriate to make some work reflecting it. This is the third piece. I must admit I live a semi isolated life most of the time , working in my shed with others occasionally dropping in. It really is no big fuss to me but for the rest of the world it is huge. I just thought I could make a version of it and put it in the same isolation that it is forcing on us all

I did a version of this a long time ago. Now I have improved the butterfly and possibly my character. Whimsical and a bit silly but it was interesting to me to do something away from the serious covid situation.

Tidying up my bench( still not tidy) I found the negative form of a bird shape I cut out. It sort of suggested an egg so I cut it to shape, did the other bird forms and it seemed to suggest the variety of changes a bird goes through… I don’t really think they fly off to the stars but it seemed sort of poetic.

I have a number of ex students who do exercise pole dancing and gymnastics using the ring. It always amazes me the amount of strength and balance they achieve and this little piece is sort of a honouring of them. I also liked that I was able to bend the leg to be on one side of the ring.. still exploring the plasmacutting process.

 I bought a small furnace to be able to cast( melt) a lot of the odd bits of metal I have trouble using at present. This means I can transform aluminium, brass, bronze etc and this is one of my first pieces combining the casting technique with woodturning and welding. The face is bronze and the base is all welded but the body is a recycled merbeau post. Its a simple piece but more of an experiment in seeing what I can do. .

Having cut out the characters for Rosy ring I was left with some quite nice negative shapes. I was going to have them as a group but then thought that they would be a nice contrast to a positive scene in the foreground. Some of the poses suggested bowling and catching so I made the cricket players and the length of the pitch suited the line of negative backdrop… either fielders or audience.I don’t have any time for cricket myself but I did like the composition.

I have never surfed. I suspect it is because I have poor balance . Hence I have never skied, surfed or skateboarded. I have a girl who comes and does her own welding and she had cut the hole out of a spiked offcut of steel and it suggested a fish to me so I went further, added scales eyes and fins and then wondered what to do with it. I had previously made several characters in a variety of poses and one looked like a surfer so the two pieces came together to create extreme surfing..

There is a lovely site on instagram called silence is Platinum and they have pictures of silent screen stars of the past. Some of the photos are delightful and there was one of a girl dressed as a fairy. I sketched it and made it into a plasmacut but thought it needed a touch of colour to help it become more magical. The coloured feathers give it just the right otherworldly ness I was after.

I bought a bag of feathers from Zart art a while ago and I have used them in some of my small sculptures.I love the elements of colour and delicacy that they provide.I made some small simple boxes from a piece of murray pine and thought they would be an interesting combination with feathers and maybe metal. An experiment… as much of my work is.!

I do Pilates and this has increased my flexibility, not quite this much! I saw a lovely illustration on instagram and thought to do something similar in metal. I couldn’t get a small enough curve to be the characters bend but as I was looking through my pie I saw the old trampoline springs.. Problem solved! I do see ballet girls showing this much flexibility and I must admit to not feeling that this level is not quite right. To each their own I guess

I do Pilates and this has increased my flexibility, not quite this much! I saw a lovely illustration on instagram and thought to do something similar in metal. I couldn’t get a small enough curve to be the characters bend but as I was looking through my pile I saw the old trampoline springs.. Problem solved! I do see ballet girls showing this much flexibility and I must admit to not feeling that this level is not quite right. To each their own I guess

 I saw an illustration of someone hanging off a flower and it reminded me of the musical theatre where people would leap onto something and break out into song. I can see this character singing about how his love is like a flower ( but I can’t hear him!) .

I Have had the face for over a year and she was quite nice but seemed unfinished. I had the idea that she might offer a bunch of flowers and as it is she is almost hiding behind them in a sort of shy manner. I think it works… but we will see.

Garden girl started as a portrait of a lass I met in Vietnam. I sent it to her but either the address was wrong or she had moved. Anyway I am good at recycling so I added flowers and here is Garden girl.

 I do love words that can be misinterpreted,. I saw something on Instagram which had a girl as a house and it sparked off a link in my head with some small building forms I had made for another piece. I did these two and the title just made itself..

I did a piece called homebodies and used a small house form. When the idea of house holders came I thought to use a similar form. As I made the bodies I had the chance to use a range of punchings and these worked out quite well. I do love playing with words and householder is a word that could be interpreted a number of ways. Maybe this is only the first!

 I made a face from odd metal parts many years ago and it sold at my first exhibition. I hadn’t thought of the idea for a long while until I saw another artist making similar rough pieces with clay.I decided to do a small series of faces using different forms of metal and this one using 3mm plasma offcuts is the first.I do like the ruggedness of the planes created by the pieces of metal and he is mounted on a base made from a gear from the old Kongwak butter factory.

 I made a face from odd metal parts many years ago and it sold at my first exhibition. I hadn’t thought of the idea for a long while until I saw another artist making similar rough pieces with clay.I decided to do a small series of faces using different forms of metal and this one using odd pieces of flat bar is the second. I do like the ruggedness of the planes created by the pieces of metal and he is designed to be a wall hanging.

This is the first casting I tried when I got my furnace. It is the impression of a spiky ball in green sand. It didn’t go in as deep as I expected but it produced this lovely texture which suggested an insects shell.I added the legs and character and the name suggested itself. It is not gold… just brass formed from melted keys.Sort of a lie I guess but gold bug sounds more appropriate than brass bug!  

I saw an illustration on Instagram of something similar and the idea of being able to make my 2 d image more 3 d appealed. It suggests that the girl got the ladder to get the cat down and now the cat is hitching a ride home… hence the title..

I have two cats. This is the one that is most affectionate and I have done several sketches of her. In this case I hadn’t sketched her for a bit and the opportunity came up and her pose was neat and self contained… as she often is.

I did a piece similar to this years ago but this developed because I had made the character for one purpose and then found a different character with a better pose. I was left with the problem of what to do with this fellow and as I was cutting hearts out for another purpose this came to mind. The old JPY song “love is in the air” sort of comes to mind but also he is choosing the highest one so there is some symbolism there also.

I do like to draw faces and for this one I used a sketch from Instagram. I did like the balance of Positive and negative forms .

I saw an image of Akira Kusaka’s on Instagram of a character punting the moon through the stars and thought of this version. I think I have done something similar in the past but this has a different take and it was interesting to make

I have been doing some casting of late to try to get rid of the collection of Brass bronze and copper pieces I have. I made a small bird with the plasma cutter and pressed it into the sand. It then filled with the molten metal and the result was this bird. I had the idea for a heart being like a bird although my character has ended up a bit like a birdman superhero… so it goes!

I bought a small furnace to be able to cast ( melt) a lot of the odd bits of metal I have trouble using at present. This means I can transform aluminium, brass, bronze etc and this is one of my first pieces combining the casting technique with plasmacutting and welding. The flowers are bronze and the rest is steel. I do like the play on words and although a simple idea I feel it works quite nicely

I had been given a bucket of keys from school and I was exploring melting some of them for casting. I then discovered some of them were steel so I could weld them as they were. I made these key flowers and it suggested to me a garden locked away.. hence a private garden

 I got these coloured wires from Zart art and I had the idea of using them as rainbows and soon the idea developed of adding them to a cutout tree form done with the scroll saw. The character is loving being near the tree and it was a nice combination of wood , wire and steel

I did this small plasmacut from a sketch I did of my son’s dog Ralph.He would like more activity but he just waits patiently for us to do something exciting… like offer him food!

I used to really enjoy Peanuts cartoons and snoopy was a favorite. I also love climbing to the top of the roof mainly for the view. I don’t think I could have the ability to lie on the ridge like snoopy but with this time of self isolation maybe its not a  bad idea. My character looks fairly relaxed( mind you he is welded there so has little chance of sliding down one of the sides).

I saw a lovely illustration of this scene by Leanne Hatch on Instagram. What appealed was making the 3d ring a rosy into a 2-d with characters in the air. It didn’t look so odd as an illustration but I quite like this element. I did cut out each character separately and join then at their hands and I quite like the movement of the poses.

 I bought a small furnace to be able to cast( melt) a lot of the odd bits of metal I have trouble using at present. This means I can transform aluminium, brass, bronze etc and this is one of my first pieces combining the casting technique with plasmacutting and welding. The clouds are aluminium and they are attached to the rain by drilling holes in them.Its a simple piece but more of an experiment in seeing what I can do. .

 I have been semi isolated with this covid stuff as has everyone else. It seemed appropriate to make some work reflecting it. This is the first piece. I must admit I live a semi isolated life most of the time , working in my shed with others occasionally dropping in. It really is no big fuss to me but for the rest of the world it is huge. The title comes from a Warren Zevon song and although it is splendid to me I can see it would be fairly traumatic for most people.

I follow a site on Instagram which has photos of silent movie stars, I drew a sketch from this and then a plasmacut.. not looking quite like the original. However she did have a feathered hat and this gave me the chance to use some of the feathers I had bought at Zart art.I do like the combination of materials although the girl looks a bit unimpressed.

I do like to draw faces and for this one I tried to minimize what was needed to still look lovely and make an interesting composition. The red flower just set it off perfectly .

I was sorting through my boxes of small metal scrap and this lovely gear appeared. Someone had tried to weld it in the past but being cast, it didn’t weld well. I thought it would be perfect for a tutu for a smallish ballerina and so it is.I love the grace and beauty of ballerinas and I tried to make her static pose have just a bit of movement.

I don’t ski.! But the idea occurred to me with all this talk of social distancing that skiers were already there. A bit silly but I have never made skiers before so that was interesting .

 I look at other peoples photos on Instagram. A printmaker and birdwatcher Kate Gorringe smith had a lovely photo of her two cats in the form that I have reproduced.I sent her a comment saying it would make a great print and then decided it would make a fine plasmacut. … and it is. .

I have done a few pieces using axe heads, motorbikes dresses, etc but I was thinking about what else the shape would suggest. The idea of cutting the top with the plasmacutter opened up some new ideas and this rather funky echidna was the end result. Nothing really deep and meaningful but part of the creative process of trying to see things in a new light.

 I do sketches of cats all the time. Usually they are asleep and sitting near me in the lounge room, This was one off Instagram and it just appealed as it was caught mid contortion .I do love the flexibility of the beasties and although the pose is a bit awkward I do like that it isn’t the expected form I often do. .

I made these characters in this pose and I was undecided about whether they were just releasing each other or hanging on tight. Either seems fairly positive.I have a wife who does this for me…  the keeping me grounded part..

I did a piece last year where I added one coloured flower to a plasmacut piece. I saw a lovely sketch by Ramon Casas and I adapted it to have a flower in the hat and a negative and positive form. Simple but an interesting form.

I saw this basic heart form with the circles on top in someones Instagram feed. It obviously lent itself to being made with bent bar but in thinking of my “junk” I decided to fill each part with matching  nuts and bolts so the message was emphasized. It is fairly large so I have painted so it can go outside if needed..

I used to do quite a bit of wood turning . I did a bit recently turning up some ball and egg shapes out of red gum and English ash. Initially I was going to make metal wings for all of them and make them into Harry Potter snitches( they have a golden snitch in the movies)However in my rummaging I refound a bag of craft feathers from Zart art  and a range of different snitches suggested themselves.

I did a lot of turned forms when I was mainly working in wood. I had this lovely Jarrah shape in the box and as I am combining plasma-cutting with wood I thought to make it a cat by adding an aluminium face. It also needed feet and a tail and it now works nicely

 I love to try to recycle things and obviously metal works well. In this case I have done plasma-cutting for the base, recycled timber for the body and brightly coloured plastic bottle tops for the dots.I am quite happy with the result and perhaps it bodes for even more combinations in the future

 I love to try to recycle things and obviously metal works well. In this case I have done plasma-cutting for the base, recycled timber for the body and brightly coloured plastic bottle tops for the dots.I am quite happy with the result and perhaps it bodes for even more combinations in the future

I used to do quite a bit of wood turning . I did a bit recently turning up some ball and egg shapes out of red gum and English ash. Initially I was going to make metal wings for all of them and make them into Harry Potter snitches( they have a golden snitch in the movies)However in my rummaging I refound a bag of craft feathers from Zart art  and a range of different snitches suggested themselves.

I was interested in cutting something from tube and using the diagonal to create the form. I had a sketch in the book and I thought it would be interesting. I did a similar design last year but these are extended further. It has a bit of a batman feel but overall I was pleased with the result.

I have used axe heads in some of my work before but when my pile was rearranged two more came to light. For some reason the idea of a “chopper” suggested itself. Peter Fonda in Easy rider was so cool and like any teenage boy at the time I wanted one The second head was a hatchet head so Chipper seemed a more appropriate name. This is the nearest I will get to owning a “chopper”.

I have used axe heads in some of my work before but when my pile was rearranged two more came to light. For some reason the idea of a “chopper” suggested itself. Peter Fonda in Easy rider was so cool and like any teenage boy at the time I wanted one. This is the nearest I will get.

I found some copy of Picasso’s dove of peace and again I modified it slightly to suit the limitations of the plasma cutter. When I assembled the leaves in the beak the photo made the bird look more like a cocky rather than a dove. Perhaps the cocky of peace doesn’t have quite the same connotations as Picassos but it is an Australian variant. Maybe next time I will try to do a cocky and see how it develops.

 I saw an image on Instagram of a girl collecting stars.  I was going to call it star collector like the old monkees hit but as there is a moon there I wanted to be accurate. Anyway I altered the pose and I like the overlapping plasmacuts..

Part of a series where I explore plasmacut faces but include other materials. In this case I added the wire to suggest the hair. I do enjoy trying to capture a face in just a few metal lines and the trying to get expression can be quite challenging. I think she looks happy with her situation hence the title

 I do like a good abba song but this girl initially was just using the dress form of a mechanical joint. Inside it were some lovely ball bearings and a holder which when released from the dress looked like a crown… don’t you think? Anyway I do like to keep similar parts together so she had a crown and the name was obvious.

I had made a plasma cut cello a few years ago and recently I had made a life size metal bar piece. This one was more to follow up on a sketch I had done in my sketch book and they are such interesting and sensuous forms.I have never played one but they were very common in my youth in folk groups.

 I don’t boat!. I have been on one once or twice but the idea seems always more romantic than the practice. Still I have been doing a series of boat forms and this one of the person drifting trailing their fingers , was an idea I had. I am a great follower of serendipity and there was a star on my bench left over from another piece so this was included to create a slightly different message. .. just drifting I guess!.

This started from an illustration by Meg Kolac  a Victorian illustrator which made me think of breaking up a face into sections for doing a plasmacut. I added more detail and it is really a simple experiment with the plasma cutter but the end result is effective

I follow an artist called Kensuke Koike on Instagram and he does the most amazing things with photographs of faces. This idea inspired me to use face elements in this manner. I have done versions where they have all been joined together but this time with wire for each part seemed very interesting. I think an even bigger version would be quite exciting and maybe that will develop in the future.

I follow an artist called Kensuke Koike on Instagram and he does the most amazing things with photographs of faces. This idea inspired me to use face elements in this manner. I have done versions where they have al been joined together but this time with wire for each part seemed very interesting. I think an even bigger version would be quite exciting and maybe that will develop in the future.

 I have made vases in the past and all seem to find a home. I saw an illustration of a vase with a face and thought that would be fun to build up layers with the plasma cutter. I also made a wooden mallet and dish to get the rounded form and it turned out quite well!

I had this dress in my pile pretending to be part of a universal joint. It was calling out for a new life and I had seen a piece recently of a girl with hair streaming out behind her and flowers at the ends. The two ideas came together and here is my girl with flowers in her hair…. Maybe going to Sanfrancisco… like the 60’s song… maybe not.

 I often look on Instagram to see ideas. I saw a childs drawing on one post and liked the triangular dress form and skinny legs.I made a version as a plasma cut and decided that her hair would be better as chainsaw chain and I altered the flower position too. Cute I think and fun.

I often pick up things that attract me with thoughts of what I could use them with. The green glass pebbles did just this and they sat in the shed for years. I was looking at how some jewelers set stones in small cylinders and this came to mind. Of course I had to add a star and the idea seems to work quite well.

I often pick up things that attract me with thoughts of what I could use them with. The green glass pebbles did just this and they sat in the shed for years. I was looking at how some jewelers set stones in small cylinders and I did green tree 1. This is a second composition. Of course I had to add a bird…. It is a tree.. but overall this idea seems to work .

 I seem to have a thing for boats at the moment and the idea of a house boat of this form came to mind. Sort of the right shape really  and I guess its another word play

 I started a small series using recycled old nails and some of the lovely bits of timber I have collected. I decided to add to the forms by turning small top sections and this has worked out well. The main branch and base is Rubinia, a lovely tree with hideous thorns but beautiful wood. There are roofing nails, fence wire and rusty nails in the piece and it does suggest to me the variety and ruggedness of the bush  

 I have made vases in the past and all seem to find a home. I was playing with some new flowers and a different vase shape and this is the result! They flower all year long but I wouldn’t want to be hit by a thrown vase!

 Part of a series using old nails and some of my timber collection. This piece has such texture and I love the contrast with the various turned timbers and the old nails. I added the plasma cuts to give a whimsical wave form as well

I saw a photo of a small jack russell. I am not a big fan of small dogs as I reckon if I had one I would stand on it and squash it. However, I do love the intelligence and keenness of the little fellas. All dogs seem to work so hard just thinking of ways to please us and it’s a real pleasure to be involved with any dog.

I found a lovely picture of Louise brooks a silent movie star, in a fluffy dress. It was a challenge for me to cut out the shape with the plasma cutter and I also had some feathers in my collection I decided to use as the dress . It seemed the sort of thing that would suit her fine

 I had the idea to make a heart form and then develop it into a cow.There is a song by the stray cats called Love Cat and I thought why not love cow. . It sort of worked and I do like the feet but it does look a bit sad.. I will try again for a cheerier piece

I had the idea to make a heart form and then develop it into a cow.There is a song by the stray cats called Love Cat and I thought why not love cow. . It sort of worked and I do like the feet but the original piece does look a bit sad. This one is simpler and more lively

 I was exploring the abstraction of landscape via textured cypress and turned forms and old nails. I was happy with the result but thought it was a bit non relatable to others so I have been adding a plasmacut form.I quite like the composition and all of us tend to choose where we live so it has a sort of universal reach…. Maybe.  

 I was exploring the abstraction of landscape via textured cypress and turned forms and old nails. I was happy with the result but thought it was a bit non relatable to others so I have been adding a plasmacut form.I quite like the composition and all of us tend to choose where we live so it has a sort of universal reach…. Maybe.  

I often pick up something from the pile and depending on the direction my mind is going something strikes me. This started off as a big off cut from a wheel and as I was down on flower vases amongst my stock it occurred to me that I might make an oval form vase from it.The off cuts from the circle became a frog and the base was some off cut of metal lathe work somewhere that also was in the right place at the right time.

I used to do quite a bit of wood turning . I did a bit recently turning up some ball and egg shapes out of red gum and English ash. Initially I was going to make metal wings for all of them and make them into Harry Potter snitches( they have a golden snitch in the movies)However in my rummaging I refound a bag of craft feathers from Zart art  and a range of different snitches suggested themselves.

I do love the grace of Ballerinas. I have very little of it myself but they create images I love to play with. I have been doing a series of pieces from looking in my pile and seeing what is suggested.The body piece again suggested a ballerinas torso ( it’s actually a car part) and that pretty much developed from there. I have tried to get movement into the form and she works quite well I feel.

I have been experimenting with combining metal often plasma cut and wood and this is another one. I do like the combination of redgum and steel although it is a bit clunky.

There was this lovely piece of tube in the pile and I was thinking about how to make different cats. I changed it from the Tiger piece by adding paws and changing the face to use up some cut outs I had made for a bird bowl. Recycling! With these plasmacuts and bits welded on ,it certainly changed the scruffy tube into a much more interesting piece.

 I have made vases in the past and all seem to find a home. I was playing with some new flowers and a different vase shape and this is the result! They flower all year long but I wouldn’t want to be hit by a thrown vase!

We had an exhibition by Nicole Smith a few years ago and I was taken by her girls with things in their hair. I saw another piece by Chaosego on Instagram and I wanted to try out a different way of doing hair and this evolved. They were definitely the inspiration but both had done illustrations and I do love welding things. I have never sailed so although I have thought about it I have no experience but it did seem an interesting idea.

I never had the seventh book. I did have quite a few of the other  readers going through primary school but Preston Tech must have thought we didn’t need a reader. I found this one in an opp shop and I do like the bored scribbles on the cover. I looked at some of the content and it had all sorts of introductions to great writers and poets. it is only lightly glued together so have a look. It was supposed to take you to different worlds( hence the balloon) and some of the characters might have become part of your reading journey.

In the weekend paper was this lovely pose of a running girl. I can’t run much but I appreciate the style and grace of those who can. I redrew it and cut out the body parts and added nails to fill in the parts almost looking like muscles and tendons. She looks sharp and hence the title.

I have been experimenting with combining wood turning with my metal creations. I used to turn lots of stuff but now I find more fun to be had with metal. This is a unique combination in that the top part is screwed to the dress and really that should pull out after a bit but because it has the skipping rope joining the two metal parts it should be fine for at least my lifetime!.. and she is cute on top of an old gear from the Kongwak butter factory!

 I had power problems with my plasma cutter and it was out of action for over a week while it was fixed.I must have had withdrawal from not using it as when it was back in action I looked through the sketches I had done over the week for a suitable candidate. The girl looked lovely but I ended up making her neck too long. I cut her head off and shortened her neck and then welded her back together with her head slightly turned so her hair flowed over her shoulder. Possibly better than the original. 

 I did a piece called home loan earlier this year and I had the idea of doing a piece of a man with a house on his back.. sort of like a snail. I do like the sense of struggle I have achieved and certainly for the younger generation this is possibly a thing of the past as house prices keep on rising

I saw this image as an illustration and I thought to make it into a flying rider. Is he just loving riding or is he thinking of something else? It does seem joyous to me whichever is the answer

 I do sing the “skye boat song” from time to time and speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing is one of the lines. It got me thinking about winged boats( not so much winged keels) and I did two versions. One with feathers and one with butterfly wings. Just whimsical but amusing and maybe there are possibilities in the idea!!

 I do sing the “skye boat song” from time to time and speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing is one of the lines. It got me thinking about winged boats( not so much winged keels) and I did two versions. One with feathers and one with butterfly wings. Just whimsical but amusing and maybe there are possibilities in the idea!!

I often see odd things on Instagram and this idea must have come from there. I hadn’t done any small pieces for a bit so I was trying to catch up on ideas I wanted to do. When I was at Mortlake one of the other teachers had a land yacht and it was odd not see a sail going past the windows as he sailed up the road. The title is from an old Lulu song written by Neil Diamond that I had almost forgotten about until I made this piece.

I was looking at different ideas and there was an illustration similar to this. I was doing small characters for an order at the time and I thought to do something fun.We often have visitors here of different parrots but I don’t usually lie around waiting for this to happen..

 Every now and then I see a piece of metal laying around and I decide to do something with it. This is such a case and the piece of tube sort of suggested the conning tower of a submarine . I also had a cat face lying around on the bench and by serendipity I tried the two together and it then suggested a conning tower in a cat !. Where would such a thing be used . The trojan horse came to mind .. and jeff koons big dog of flowers and I thought surely the trojans would find a cute kitten much more attractive than any old horse. Hence trojan Kitten.

I was looking at different ideas and shades of grey at Castlemaine was doing some lovely big flowers. I decided to go the other way and do a series of flowers for vases. I was rummaging in the pile and found some pieces that would be good vase forms and added the white marble as a filler.

There was this lovely piece of tube in the pile and I was thinking about how to make different cats. I did like cutting the stripes and the other parts plasmacut and welded on certainly changed the scruffy tube into a much more interesting piece.

I used to do quite a bit of wood turning . I did a bit recently turning up some ball and egg shapes out of red gum and English ash. Initially I was going to make metal wings for all of them and make them into Harry Potter snitches( they have a golden snitch in the movies)However in my rummaging I refound a bag of craft feathers from Zart art  and a range of different snitches suggested themselves.

was looking at Alberto Bustos’s creations on Instagram and he had done some abstract pieces with curls on the end. I wondered if I could do that with plasma-cut colour-bond on a plasma-cut girl’s face. I think it worked out well and it had quite a different feel from my usual wire hair.

I often start with something that attracts my attention in the pile. In this case it was an old seat spring which I discovered and thought it suggested a wonderful tornado like whirl of ideas that we sometimes all achieve at different times. Sometimes overwhelming sometimes so positive that you are swept along. I was swept along to create this little character !

 I have been working with a series of books given me from Warragul Regional College. I went to have a look at what the next book in the pile was and it was Anna Karenina. As I had been doing a series of girl faces with the plasma cutter, the idea occurred of making the book a hairstyle leaving the name clearly visible. It seems to work quite well and she looks a strong dynamic girl.

I found a similar image on Instagram without the puddle and a slightly different pose.We are all fascinated by the world shown in reflections in a puddle and there are numerous stories of the puddle being a portal to another world. It certainly is another world of imagination and theis piece does hint at that. I do love the light captured by mirrors and because my character is only 2 dimensional she sort of vanishes when you gaze in….. another world indeed.

 I am interested in overlapping images made with the plasma cutter. In this one I used both the positive and negative forms to interact. I tried to make the back form decorative as well , sort of art nouveau. Another experiment that seems effective.

I did a piece last year where I added one coloured flower to a plasmacut piece. Well I now have some new car panels and I cut out a series of small flowers to use on a couple of ideas. This in one and the finished result suggests to me something from Mucha. Just an experiment really but still learning what I can do.

I have done lots of plasma cuts of cats and they have been quite popular. I also have dogs and I do sketch them from time to time. This was the offcut from the sketch I did of Ralph and I am always looking to recycle things , especially those that have interesting shapes. I added a few pieces of wire and a couple of other aspects and I think it sort of works. It isn’t Ralph anymore though although the pose is familiar .I just thought the dogs should get equal billing

I had seen lots done with the plasmacutter in cutting patterns in old saw blades. It had not occurred to me to try other tools until I saw an illustration on Instagram of an axe head with a face.Talk about a light bulb moment so here is a male and female face  made into a pen holder. Silly but fun too.

I have been revisiting woodturning a bit. I used to do this as my main interest and source of money but as I moved more into metal things I sort of left it behind. I saw an image of a ball shape with a tail and it sort of conjured up an idea of a dog with a turned body and metal paws and head. I had some English ash lying around so I did this little fellow. It could be the start of a whole breed of creature or it might be a one off. There are so many ideas to play with that some don’t get developed as far as they could. I was happy to do him though.

My grandson is into dinosaurs and my granddaughter is into … well girly stuff including barbies. I made a casual remark about Barbie being a dinosaur and it amused me considerably. When I next went to the opp shop I bought three sad Barbies and proceeded to dismember them. This is the second idea I had and I was happy with the result although many found it quite disturbing when I posted her on Instagram. They seemed to think my painkillers for my leg were too strong ! Some one else suggested a hangover from toy story and now I do think back there was something similar there. I think there are echoes of terminator in there too. Still, this is my version!

I often draw from images I see on Instagram. Sometimes I develop them further and this one liked the perspective of the big foot and smaller body so I extended it a bit. I do like the old Fats Waller song “your feets too big” and as someone who has size 13 feet maybe I identify. Still I like the triangular form of the image

 I have done a tricycle girl before but I thought it would be fun to have long hair streaming out behind her. As I was looking through the pile this rusted bike chain appeared and it seemed that that would be even more appropriate than the wire I was looking for. Just fun really , but she does work!

I do like to play with old axe heads. This one has done tons of work before it arrived in my pile. It would be at least 50 years old maybe even 100. To then make it into something whimsical and relatively playful is a joy. I also tried overlapping plasma cut hair as a first trial on this piece. ( seems to be ok) and there was a heart on the floor which I added to the piece along with the bird. Needless to say she loves birds.!

 I look at images on Instagram and some just suggest ideas to me.  I was looking at an illustrator who made images where one character came outside of the frame of the picture and as I was looking for ideas for wall work for my foster show this suggested a different way to present work still using plasmacuts. I was very happy with the range of ideas I had and how they worked within this format.

In looking through Instagram the random grouping of ideas sometimes triggers new thoughts. I saw on ome site a bowl shape and on the other something intersecting. I had the idea of intersecting plasmacut forms in making a flower bowl. With the added ring and base I thought the result would work quite well and I think the idea is possibly able to be scaled up as well.

I am still exploring things to do with the plasma cutter. I have done quite a few picture type things but this is one of the first where I have intersected the forms and added to them. I think it has worked quite wonderfully. Simple yet interesting!

I periodically take things to opp shops and also peruse the objects there for things I can use. I spied this cake platter which folded out into three stands to present cupcakes . I brought it home and at one stage it was going to be a dancers skirt but the other day the idea of a cake fairy came to me and hence here she is.Such lovely wings!

I have done a number of cat plasmacuts exploring multiples and overlapping. This is another with an action pose. Simple enough but fun

I was interested in cutting something from tube and using the diagonal to create the form. I had a sketch in the book and I thought it would be interesting. Has a bit of a batman feel but overall I was pleased with the result.

 I look at images on Instagram and some just suggest ideas to me.  I was looking at an illustrator who made images where one character came outside of the frame of the picture and as I was looking for ideas for wall work for my foster show this suggested a different way to present work still using plasmacuts. I was very happy with the range of ideas I had and how they worked within this format.

 I have done quite a few cat images… they seem to appeal to me and to people who buy them!. However I hadn’t done a profile and I saw a lovely image on Instagram and used that as the basis for this piece. The negative shape cut out also was used to produce a piece called Lion cat..always recycling!

I had some cake pans in my pile of stuff and they called out to become bums and boobs for a girl form. It was like making a paper doll but with welding. The size was governed by the size of the cupcake moulds so hence she is quite big. Another silly idea but I quite like following silly roads as they often provide intriguing directions eventually.

I look through Instagram in the morning and some things spark ideas in me. I was attracted by this idea for a piece involving curly hair.I did one version in 2017 but this piece has a different starting point and she looks like she is a confident strong character.. 

I have been doing a series of cat designs as the mood takes me. This is the latest and he was sitting neatly on someones Instagram site (kymetalfab) and I thought I hadn’t done one like him. It was going to be called cat design but he seems to have something in mind so the words got switched.

Another lovely pose from Instagram (-mmp-88) that attracted me to  create this piece. I modified it so she looks as though she is dreaming or thinking rather than just staring at the camera. This gives me drawing practice and a lovely pose or expression always pleases me.

I often see things in the pile and puzzle over what to do with them. The big pin that makes up part of this piece is such a thing. It sat there for years and finally I felt it was like a pin that coupled carriages together so what better use than to upgrade it to an actual engine. Some of the other pieces were just nearby so it really is a collection of bits that spent time together outside. It certainly is a heavy piece but sort of fun and cool too!

I have done a few cat plasmacuts and am always thinking about different situations. I feed my cats every morning and I am glad they aren’t of this scale otherwise I would end up as catfood as like all cats they are pretty demanding at meal times. Scale plays such a part and thinking about a cat this size makes us glad cats are the scale they are.

 Girls and flowers seem to go together all the time. I had this idea and it might have been from seeing a girl walking through a field of sunflowers or some such like. The main forms are plasma-cut and by using relatively thin material I am able to bend arms around the flower forms. The image was a challenge in that the size is reasonably small and the detail has to work. And as to the tall flowers… hmm that is what I had sketched so hence here it is. .

I did a piece last year where I added one coloured flower to a plasmacut piece. Well I now have some new car panels and I cut out a series of small flowers to use on a couple of ideas. This in one and the finished result  works well I think. I did want to keep most of the colour on the flower cutouts and mostly this has happened. Again, just an experiment really but still learning what I can do.

I did a piece last year where I added one coloured flower to a plasmacut piece. Well I now have some new car panels and I cut out a series of small flowers to use on a couple of ideas. This in one and the finished result  works well I think. I did want to keep most of the colour on the flower cutouts and mostly this has happened. Again, just an experiment really but still learning what I can do.

I did a piece last year where I added one coloured flower to a plasmacut piece. Well I now have some new car panels and I cut out a series of small flowers to use on a couple of ideas. This in one and the finished result  works well I think. I did want to keep most of the colour on the flower cutouts and mostly this has happened. Again, just an experiment really but still learning what I can do.

I do like drawing cats and with a nice new plasma cutting tip it was relatively easy to get the fluffy aspect. I was thinking of painting him black but I feel the metal effects have their own charm.

I was interested in cutting something from tube and then displacing it. The tree forms are what I did and I think they worked quite well but they needed the bird profiles to just make them a touch more interesting. Just an experiment really  but they would be nice desk or kitchen holders

I have used cutlery for all manner of things. This sort of has a bit of Edward Scissorhands about it but it seemed an interesting juxtaposition. Although there is no food present the suggested title seemed appropriate and fun

I have been doing a series of designs using cutlery as the main structural components. I was interested in trying for a bit more expression and using the forks as eyelashes.  There are lots of people using cutlery on Instagram but mainly as feathers and such like, so I was just interested in trying something different. Its not bad except the eyes are a bit close together but the expression is interesting. A fine experiment.. but still further to go.

 I look at images on Instagram and some just suggest ideas to me.  I was looking at an illustrator who made images where one character came outside of the frame of the picture and as I was looking for ideas for wall work for my foster show this suggested a different way to present work still using plasmacuts. I was very happy with the range of ideas I had and how they worked within this format.

 I look at images on Instagram and some just suggest ideas to me.  I was looking at an illustrator who made images where one character came outside of the frame of the picture and as I was looking for ideas for wall work for my foster show this suggested a different way to present work still using plasmacuts. I was very happy with the range of ideas I had and how they worked within this format.

I had this horn in the pile for a bit and it called out to have something done with it. I had made my diver for another piece and he was lying in the muddle on my bench. It seemed fated that the two combine. Hence getting inti the new sound system. Slightly surreal but sort of fun too.

I am still experimenting with drawing with the plasma cutter, The girl came out well and I actually printed from her, I have also been trying overlapping forms so hence putting her in the garden with flowers. I think she is happy here .

I have been playing around with combining wood turning with the metalwork processes. I did a redgum dancer previously on a similar model but this one I made the dress more complex and added the hoop which is from an old seat spring. Needless to say I have no capacity to actually use a hula hoop but I do appreciate those who can. Just more playing around really.

My grandson is into dinosaurs and my granddaughter is into … well girly stuff including barbies. I made a casual remark about Barbie being a dinosaur and it amused me considerably. When I next went to the opp shop I bought three sad Barbies and proceeded to dismember them. This is the third idea I had and it was a fun use of all the extra legs I had around. I quite like this one and I will stop for a bit to do some other type of work.

I often pick up a piece from the pile and see what it suggests. In this case I picked up a piece of tube and cut it in three to make cows bodies. I quite like cows and feel we do underestimate them. My herd has variety with a friesan and a heifer as well as an older cow.Most of the fun was getting different poses and actually doing cows as I don’t often do them.

I collected these two wonderful gears from the metal recycler. They sat on the bench for a bit but I knew they were going to be part of the one piece and overlap. His and hers treadmills..everybody so busy that they don’t connect. That was the idea and the small plasmacuts just added to it nicely.

One of my friends went to the Shetland Islands and there was a craftsman there making model boats out of I-beams. It got me thinking as to what sort of thing I would make from an I-beam and the rhino was the result.  He looked a bit brutal so the flower softened his appearance slightly.  I do worry that we won’t have rhinos to pass to our children’s children.

I hadn’t done a book piece for a bit and this phrase seemed to suggest itself, I guess in this age of transition from books to reading on devices it will be heard quite often and I myself read on/in both mediums .Just fun but marking a change.

 I am interested in overlapping images made with the plasmacutter. This is almost a tableau/diorama and maybe even a bit of a cartoon but it is interesting how each of the forms work together. I expect to follow this idea further over the next while.

 I did a juggler years ago with ball bearings as the actual balls. Because I have been exploring using woodturning as part of my work again I had the idea of combining a plasma cut girl and turned balls. The red goes throughout and I do like the combination of materials. I can’t juggle but I do admire people who can… even if its juggling different parts of their life!

I did the girl as a plasma cut before I knew how I would use her. I often use bits that have made it to my workbench and assemble to try to create something. The wheel ring was there and I made the leaves and plants to suit the form of the girl. The expression and angle of the pose is what first attracted me .She looks at home wandering through the foliage.

A similar image in that it has perspective with the kittens paws being big. I modified this image too and I always delight in kittens bravely attacking anything that moves even if it is 10 times their size. Maybe we all need the bravery of a kitten!

I have been playing with paper feathers and obviously the best place to have feathers is on a bird. My character is sort of holding him via a leash ( you actually can get bird leashes!)  and I thought that to a degree it is like trying to gain Knowledge and wisdom. It is out there but hard to hang onto.. and it will take you places you might not have anticipated

I nearly always pick up stray feathers. They are such magical things and the fact that they can lift a creature into the air is fantasticI also saw a lovely Image on Instagram by Akira Kusaka of a man rowing on a feather towards the moon. It inspired me to do my version. Again scale is the key and a feather this big would raise serious questions about the bird it came from!

I have some friends who bought a piece a while ago which was suspended on a wire like this piece. I was asked by friends of theirs to make a companion piece , a dancer to accompany the bike rider. I did two versions for them and they chose one. This is the other. They both had charm and grace and my dancer certainly appears “light as air”.

Well I heard the title of a piece of music on the radio driving to Warragul and of course this came to mind . What the actual thing is The Magnificat (Latin for "[My soul] magnifies [the Lord]") is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (Greek: Ἡ ᾨδὴ τῆς Θεοτόκου). It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical services of the Catholic Church (at vespers) and of the Eastern Orthodox churches (at the morning services).^[1] It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn.^[2][3] Its name comes from the incipit of the Latin version of the canticle's text.

Sort of cool that it is a Marian Hymn( my wife )

 I look at images on Instagram and some just suggest ideas to me.  I was looking at an illustrator who made images where one character came outside of the frame of the picture and as I was looking for ideas for wall work for my foster show this suggested a different way to present work still using plasmacuts. I was very happy with the range of ideas I had and how they worked within this format.

I had done a series of signs last year and mostly what was required was negatives of each letter for the signs. This meant that the positive forms all fell out and I collected them not fully knowing what I was going to do with them. I had sort of decided to do a face out of small offcuts of wire when I saw these on the bench. My brain immediately said … why not them! And I did use them though I had to add a few bits of wire for definition. I had done a man of letters before as a small mixed media with a man wearing a coat of envelopes ( letters) so this is a sort of recycled idea but done in a totally different way!

I really liked the cartoons of Gary Larson and he often has an unusual take on things. I’m not sure if he had a were rabbit or a were cow but something not a were wolf. Anyway I was playing with knives and forks and I thought that the knives would be great rabbit ears (and they are) and then the idea of fork claws came and almost instantly I had a were rabbit. In looking up the picture for this I came across a Wallace and Grommit cartoon titled were rabbit so perhaps that was lurking in my subconscious too.Silly but fun… possibly a bit of monty python  Holy grail in there too…

 I have been experimenting with flat sheet and using the plasma-cutter.  Again the idea came from some illustration and I was interested in bending the characters slightly. It is wonderful when you do find the partner that fits you perfectly and I have been lucky and blessed.

I was trying to make a more detailed bird form by cutting out all the feathers . I also had some lovely oak in the pile of wood and the two came together quite nicely I think.

This piece sort of came out of nowhere. I was playing with an idea of a girl with a set of stars around her and I thought of birds instead.She is obviously confident to be surrounded by this collection of birds so she is sort of in control. I don’t know if they are actually raven silhouettes but the title just seemed so appropriate.

I have been working with some old books and seeing someone on Instagram cut them into feathers gave me this idea. I have done this using parts of the Decameron and I love the idea that reading will transport you to new lands and experiences. Mind you I also love the idea of flying too but I suspect the closest I will get now is via books .

 I look at images on Instagram and some just suggest ideas to me, This girl was from a painting of a red haired girl with freckles. I seem to have lost most of the freckles and the red hair but I added the flower and the lips. I did like the angle of the head and trying to do details with the plasma cutter.

 I have been playing around with combining wood turning with the metalwork processes. I did a sketch where a bird had forks for his chest and it sort of grew from there. Like most of my work it is a one off although I might explore the idea further but in different variations. He came out reasonable and I do like his tail and wings which developed as I worked on him.

I was looking through an old sketchbook and found this idea. I haven’t done much woodturning for years yet it is fun , simple to achieve interesting shapes( but dusty!)I turned two pieces and this is the first. The legs are long as nearly all dancers just look amazing probably due to clever emphasis of the legs… mind you I have long legs but I cant dance !

I often pick up a piece from the pile and see what it suggests. In this case pick up was the appropriate phrase for an old pick. I had cut off the points for bird beaks sometime previous and this piece called out to be made into a submarine. My character is searching.. for what I don’t know but a cool mini sub to help him find it is always a good start ! 

Trees and the sky are natural partners.It seemed that a tree was a good storage place for the stars etc during the day and that at night it was someones job to releasee the stars so they could take their place again. Sort of a fairy tale I guess if someone writes it but it seemed an interesting idea to make in this form.

I have used axe heads in some of my work before but when my pile was rearranged two more came to light. This one called to be a dress and the incongruity of an axe becoming a dress really appealed.The name says it all although she might have some cutting remarks also!

I have done lots of plasma cuts of cats and they have been quite popular. I also have dogs and I do sketch them from time to time. This was a sketch of Ralph a Labrador golden retriever cross and he is a pretty dog.I just thought the dogs should get equal billing.( why do you need to let sleeping dogs lie?)

I saw a lovely illustration on Instagram of a small character sitting on a big characters nose. I had previously made a giant face that came out of the ground and this seemed a sort of coda to it. My character isn’t aware that the face she is sitting on is a drawing of a face( maybe it is hard to see it anyway) but I did like the idea.

I Always take my sketchbook when I go to see a show at the NGV , usually to sketch ideas that the show provokes. The other delight I have is sketching schoolgirls ( usually) who are doing assignments on some of the works. They sit in all manner of poses and their intensity is just lovely. My Grandaughter is 5 and she draws in the most awkward of poses… many small kids do but they have the flexibility and the intensity. This is similar to one of her recent poses.

I have done quite a few cat pieces with the plasma cutter and I thought I needed to do a few dogs. This one was from a photo on Instagram but he has been modified slightly. I liked the idea of holes for his spots  and his upright pose also was appealing. We have had dogs all our lives and the friendship intelligence and loyalty are just something to be treasured.!.

I have done a number of dancers in the past and always enjoyed making their dress shapes. This time I saw a man on Instagram doing dress forms out of all sorts of materials and as I was working with cut up book feathers I thought it would be ideal to make her dress in this way. It is pages from the Decameron but I think she is too busy to read it.

People often add to my pile of metal by getting rid of broken implements. This was one where one of the middle tines had broken off. It called to me and with a few minor adjustments here is a trophy head for the wall. I have never shot anything in my life so this will be the closest I get to having a trophy head( not that I am all that sure why you would put somethings head on your wall anyway!.

I don’t know where some ideas come rom but this one just turned up and it was persistent in being made. I do like the heart shaped harp and my character is obviously involved in making the music that is appropriate. ( ac/dc I don’t think so) The strings are from an old coat-hanger and my character is from a range of bits and pieces

I saw this lovely image by Akirakusaka on Instagram and I thought something similar could be done with a book. I was fairly happy with the result and I do like the sort of pun of upright piano.

I did a series of cat drawings from a book I got at the NGV called the Book of the Cat. This is close to the original painting by Midori Yamada Rissun but it has a few variations. This is the first cat I have done in this format and I quite like the sinuousness of it.

I do love words with varied meanings and this idea just came to me as a possible project. I used to walk to school, about 2 km through a range of suburban streets and back lanes and I would often try to find alternate routes. I rarely walked with others but this character seems right at home.

I did an aria 1 from the end of a grader bucket tooth. This one was inspired by a timber wedge I had lying in my pile. I liked the ratty end and thought it could be like a fluffy frill. She worked out quite well and the pose seems to suggest she is singing so hence Aria 3.

I look through Instagram in the morning and some things spark ideas in me. I love drawing faces and I did a nice copy of someone’s photo. I am exploring how much control I have in using the plasma cutter so I had a go at this piece. I must admit the cutter adds its own quality to the line but overall I am quite satisfied with the result.

 I periodically look in op shops for odd things that might create something with my metal characters. I had done a tea lady before with a girl in a teapot on wheels and this pot stirred my creative juices. It sort of is tank like but I do love the swirls and flourishes on the pot. I had the wheels in my pile waiting for a suitable use and everything came together happily.

I think I might have seen a picture with clouds in front of the person but in my version I used an aluminium cloud and added a sun to make a double sided piece. If you look from the cloud side behind it suggests that you can look at the clouds if you like but in another focus the sun is shining. From the other side where you can see most of the face, the clouds are being left behind as she moves forward. Quite a positive piece really.The title comes from old pantomimes where there is something behind the hero but they can’t seem to see it .

I was looking through Instagram and there was an image similar to this from Leila.eg. Hers was a fork and a spoon couple with a baby tea spoon and it inspired me to think about what I could do with this idea and my character forms. As I thought further I came up with a range of couple type ideas but this is the first.

I look through Instagram in the morning and some things spark ideas in me. The original inspiration was a computer art piece by Diegoidef but I modified the idea and also added a flower.I have been impressed by a number of other artists who are not defined by the “real “ lines of the figure and I have started a number of pieces following this technique.

I look through Instagram in the morning and some things spark ideas in me. I was attracted by this idea for a piece involving curly hair.

I did a cut out cat face using the plasma cutter and this was the space inside this image. What was left was the negative space but it was missing the eyes and nose. I added these by welding and rather than call it negative cat I thought it looked even happier ( more positive). I was inspired by the first one to print from it with ink and paper and I did the same for this one. The result was quite different really but all versions have some degree of charm.

I was deciding what to do with some lovely shapes cut from a dragonfly’s wing and I thought a fish might be nice. The phrase “ fish out of water” came to mind and I did a fish leaping out of his bowl.( which was fun in itself in that the bowl had no water to begin with). It did look a bit plain though so my girl rider added both colour and whimsy to the scene.

I am enjoying experimenting with the plasma cutter to see how well I can translate images I find and drawings to metal. It seems pretty versatile. I saw this girl on Instagram and thought she would make a lovely piece. I certainly love the fact that some people can be graceful through working so hard and it is certainly something I can never achieve. It is based on an image of Megan Hill although I have modified it a bit( longer hair) and I suspect Meagan would not regard it as a portrait. Still. I am pleased with the result and I will be doing further small pieces using this process.

I have done a series of pieces involving pinecones and some have been birds, insects, dresses and all sorts of things. This cone was on my bench and calling out to be used and as I was doing some plasma-cutting this idea came to mind. Because the cone was partially opened it sort of reminded me of a basket of fruit headdress worn by Carmen Miranda in the 60’s and this is how it developed..

 I was given a set of quite beautiful and worthy books (literary) from a school library where they had not been read (or touched!)  Old technology I guess. I did find it hard initially to “damage” them to make sculptures but I overcame the years of people telling me not to damage a book  I have very dirty hands usually). Anyway, this idea developed possibly from seeing ideas on Instagram of illustrations. This one was the most cut up into a bird shape and I had quite a few problems trying to get the wings to stay out and affix my character .It really is an allegory I guess

I saw a beautiful painting on Instagram by YoolimKang and it was a girls face surrounded by flowers, I looked through my book and found another girl’s face and cut that out with the plasmacutter, I then surrounded it with cut out and constructed flowers so although it owes its genesis to Yoo lim I have developed the idea in my own direction,

I have been tidying up my shed recently and a whole range of small treasures have come to light. One thing I found was this old iron base and it instantly suggested I make a warship out of it. Ironclads were the name of the first iron warships from a previous time but the shape and the heaviness just mad the name quite apt( as well as the “iron” element.)

I look through Instagram in the morning and some things spark ideas in me. I saw a 10 year old girl doing a typical 10 year old pose. At the same time my pile of scrap handed me this motor cover which called out to be made into a dress. The two things came together and I added a bit of my interpretation and here we have a girl loving life and dancing.. It sort of reminds me that snoopy ( cartoon) often had a dance for spring or some such occasion and this joyousness just makes me smile. You can’t be unhappy around this piece!

I often react to the shape of tools and mechanisms. This pick head was on my bench and suggested a kayak. I have a friend who does this competitively and I thought this might be a nice gift for him

I found a disc of pine and the idea of cutting out the middle and sandwiching it between plasma cut shaped metal was part of my exploring different ways of combining plasma cutting with timber. I finally decided to add the stainless steel wool for the tree tops as an extra element of texture although it did look ok without it ( starker) . Anyway I am content with the finished product although it doesn’t have any real message .

 I went to China and we saw a lake of lotus flowers. When we returned they had  all died  but the pods were also interesting. When I was in Zart art buying some art supplies I found small bags of these pods and I had to experiment with using them. This is the first piece and I love the contrast of hard and shiny with natural and textured. I have changed the size relationships to suggest trees but it seems a delightful piece to me.

 I have always had dogs… well most of the time. As I am a big man I love big dogs and this is a big dog.. possibly a bit bigger than normal. I saw a photo of one of my past students with her dog and it occurred to me to make a few sculptures on that theme. I do love the way most big dogs put up with little kids sitting on them riding them and otherwise tormenting them. Dogs are so loyal and trusting it is a joy to have them around.

Instagram again in that there are some beautiful drawings on there. I used one from minarim as the initial impetus and altered aspects of it to allow me to achieve the effects I wanted. The contrast of rust to sealed areas was what I wanted to play with and the finished result is more or less what I was aiming for. I do like the balance of positive and negative spaces also and my girl is a bit more subdued than the original drawing.

My wife is very busy at the moment dealing with our two grandchildren. She always seems to have one in her arms and is so patient and supportive of them it is such a delight to see. (I am the grumpy old man who lives in the shed… so quite a contrast!)  However, I thought I should at least create something that sort of captures the time. She always was a wonderful mother and now she is being a wonderful grandmother.

I did a face of a girl in this manner and I was quite delighted by its effect. The idea for the cat face came from the “rockitman” on Instagram who had done a rock engraving in a similar simple manner. This one also inspired me to try to print from it and I was quite content with the result. I have two cats myself and one loves me and the other allows me to serve it. Nonetheless I do like cats ( and dogs) and they add so much to our lives .The title refers to the positive as distinct from negative form.. as well as the expression on the face.

I look through Instagram in the morning and some things spark ideas in me. I saw a cartoon type face, (with an outline) and for some reason it suggested this composition. It is sort of like the Cheshire cat in Alice in wonderland but it sort of invokes a presence of someone/something that is sort of supernatural well to me anyway.

 I am still exploring combining plasma cutting metal with wood and I saw a lovely little sketch of “bean people” on miillustrations on Instagram. I enjoyed turning the forms on the lathe and using different timbers (Red-gum, Camphor laurel and Oregon) and the faces are aluminium and plasma cut. There is a lot of fuss about same sex marriage at present and I liked the idea that my characters were all different yet basically the same. I am for same sex marriage and I am against prejudice in all forms. My little characters are maybe a gentle way of showing similarity and differences (and nobody is yelling!).

I original did a piece called prickly about a character surrounded by forks who was “prickly”. Needless to say she didn’t find a home I recycled the piece this year by making a new figure and cutting down the forks to produce this idea. It still uses the forks( and looks quite fine ) although really he hasn’t got into the water yet so he shouldn’t make such a splash yet. Ah what the heck, the idea is interesting and quite fun..

The title is from a song but there was a starting point in an Illustration by Carosurreal on Instagram. I have done a number of pieces using stars as part of the composition and this one sort of developed as I went along.An image of Hedy Lamar even added to its development. So many possibilities and so much fun exploring them.  .

 I have different ideas for using the plasma cutter and although I have done a range of cat images I thought to do a striped cat. I have a striped cat myself but not as distinct as this one and it as interesting to try to develop the drawing so I could use positive and negative shapes.

I look through Instagram in the morning and some things spark ideas in me. I saw a lovely drawing in a graphics page of a girl looking sort of sideways with some head covering. This is my adaptation and the colour, face shape and attitude are different. I am enjoying translating drawing ideas into projects for the plasmacutter and using colour to highlight some areas

I have two cats. One is quiet and gentle although vocal at certain times of the day and the other is a big ginger tom who feel he is very gracious allowing us to live with him.  I am starting to explore creating layers in some of the plasma cut pieces and this is one.  My girl is good and the cat developed stripes as I explored printing him with a press and ink. We do have such a relationship with cats that for many of us they help give our lives interest and pleasure.

I love having hugs. There I have said it… still anyone who knows me that is no surprise. I was interested in drawing this and exploring the positive and negative shapes involved in the image. I do like the depth of this hug and the shadows the piece casts. If it inspires more hugs in the world that is not a bad thing.!

The last book is me playing with my plasma cutter again. We have a small playgroup that comes to the gallery on some Fridays and one of the girls was sitting in a lovely pose so I photographed and sketched her. The original pose was her eating and on one of the comfy chairs but I modified this. As to the last book, well the intensity of the pose suggests that she is at the crucial stage of the last book in the series. Also, as books are quickly becoming an older technology ,the pose of someone reading in this way might be a disappearing image.

I saw a similar image on Instagram and the idea really appealed as a topic for a plasmacut. I was going to call it see through but that is perhaps a bit out of keeping with the joy of the pose. I do like that the pattern is actual holes though.

When I first started college I made a lovely window scene with enamel panes and a wooden frame. It had colour and shine and it was an interesting piece to create. This one hearks back to that but it extended my use of the plasma cutter by making holes and placing mirror behind them. The girl ( in red) is drawing the curtains and by separating the pieces creates that sense of distance.. although it was hard to photograph successfully.

I did this piece to try out a slightly larger format using the plasma cutter. I have taught many people over my time as a teacher and some just are such natural thinkers that there seems to be a hum of brainpower coming off them. I sort have tried to show this with this piece. I’m sure you all know someone who fits this .

I was looking on Instagram and there was an image with stars in the background. It suggested a tree of star to me and I quickly sketched the idea down. I always get excited at this stage thinking I have come up with a new idea but when I look for pictures to accompany this piece of writing I usually find a mountain of images by other people who have had a similar idea. Maybe ideas are connected … sort of like a tree of stars!

I have done a series of pieces involving pinecones and some have been birds, insects, dresses and all sorts of things. This cone was so compact that it suggested the back of some giant insect. Of course I had to have someone riding it and after a bit of tricky welding it all came together. It called out to be a bit like riding a wild horse rather than just a sedate trot, hence the title. Yee Ha!

There is a man on Instagram called airtightartwork who produces lovely sculptures of birds from cutlery and it got me thinking what else could be done from cutlery. I sketched a cat with forks for whiskers and this is the end result. He is a bit tigerish but overall the effect is quite delightful to me.

On sunny days I often raise my arms and feel the warmth and almost feel being part of the day.. taking off and soaring would be ideal… but when you see me, the idea that my arms would lift me off the ground… well you can see why the piece is called wish. Still the idea persists !

I was looking through Instagram one morning and there was an image of a person looking at a star through a window. This had some resonance with me as I used to love watching the Walt Disney TV show where the theme was “when you wish upon a star”. I had made a piece called the Watcher many years previously and it was still about, probably because it was a bit creepy. I thought to modify it to give it a more positive interpretation and the man had a gender change to become a girl, the head came up instead of down and the star was added for focus. A much more positive piece I think.

I was doing some plasma cutting and this face developed. I have a bucket of leaves made from offcuts of whatever I am cutting out and the two seemed to say put us together. She looks sort of like an indian chief but mainly I was trying to suggest that leaves were growing from her head instead of hair.. some sort of woodsprite I guess. I do like the randomness of the leaf shapes and textures and she looks a positive and happy character.

I was listening to a Richard Thompson song off his “still” album and the phrase “a fork in the road” just conjured this creation. I guess it comes down to scale in that my little characters interact with normal sized objects in quite a different way to what we do. Anyway it seemed a fun thing to do.. and as to what he is going to do with the fork…?

I saw this idea on Pinterest as an illustration and I have had fun developing ways to make it work as a sculpture. I love the idea that a book will take you to unknown worlds and even “Mischievous Moncton “no doubt was a delight in its time. I did find it hard to drill a hole in the book… the early training about not damaging a book really is still present … but the end result seems worth it. I have captured the illustrations for another project but the rest of the book is sort of still readable… if you demolish the rest of the sculpture!

I had this tip of an excavator fork in my pile for years. It is heavy and I vaguely thought I would make a bird beak or something similar. As it is it is the base of this fairly heavy singer and I quite like the contrast to what it was originally and what it is now. The head is a wheel brace end and the bike chain just filled it nicely.

Aria actually means” an elaborate melody sung solo with accompaniment”

I did an aria 1 from the end of a grader bucket tooth. This one was inspired by a picture on instagram of a girl in a dress and I thought I could imitate the dress with old above ground pool surround( of which I have heaps). She worked out quite well and the pose seems to suggest she is singing so hence Aria 2.

I did a series of balance ”toys” with one of my classes when I was still a teacher inspired by an in-service on “the science of toys”. I was very impressed with the range of things they came up with from turned cones, to tractors, skateboarders and wrestlers. Anyway I hadn’t done much with the idea personally up to now and I thought that it might amuse some people with some of my different interpretations. I do love the magic of it all.. just applied centre of gravity really, but a fascinating thing to play with. This is the first of at least a few.

I have been recently fascinated by the shape and form or pinecones and I have combined this one with a bird constructed from cutlery. I love the texture for the chest as well as the forms of the feathers. There was someone on Instagram doing something similar but his were very different .

I sometimes just pick an awkward piece from my pile and try to think what to do with it. This started from the two buttons on a box. They could have been eyes, they could have been the back of something but I made them into breasts.. surely the most unbreast shape that could possible be but I have been pleased with the end result. I used the timing gear for her skirt, an old sculpture holder for her shoulders and plasma cut her face hands and legs.

I did a piece last year called” walking the dog” with a girl in a similar position… needless to say that sort of inspired this piece.. that and the fact I love words or phrases that can be interpreted in different ways. Catwalk is obviously one of them… maybe using cats for shoes might be a different interpretation but that is a bit yukky so I will stay with this format.I have two cats.. and nearly always have had cats and the idea that they would put up with this is very foreign to the nature of the cats I have had.We have a cat that goes for a walk with us each night but really it is just that he chooses the same time to walk as us and really he is not part of any family activity… Bloody cats!.

This began at the wheels really. I took them off a boot for roller-skating and I was asking myself what I would do with them They suggested that I make a Segway ( I have never been on one but they do look fun). The character I made was going to be waving but when it was all assembled it did look a bit dull. It sat on the table for a day and I tried all sorts of combinations. I had a dragonfly I had made there as well and when I attached this it looked right. What was he doing? Well catching dragonflies of course…. Why…well that’s a whole different story.

 I hadn’t done any turning for quite a while and I thought I should start using some of the brass pieces( taps and pipes) I had collected. The contrast between the smooth turned redgum and the complex but glowing brass seemed to be a good fit so this entirely nonfunctional and interesting juxtaposition came about. I need to explore the colour of brass more as I have quite a collection and I haven’t been giving it enough value. I used to turn hundreds of things from redgum but I have been remiss in using the material since I started welding.

I was explaining to a customer at the gallery that you can get inspiration from almost anywhere if you just have the right mindset. I picked up a copy of Gippsland Lifestyle and it had a cyclist and shadow on the cover ( at Mt Baw Baw) and I thought that would make a fun sculpture to do. I have done a bike or so before and they are a bit tricky but this one came together ok and I used the plasma cutter to cut out an approximation of his shadow( taking it out on the verandah and tracing it).

I think it is quite an interesting composition… but you be the judge

I love playing with forks and cutlery.. well they are such interesting shapes. I have done a number of different dancers in the past ( I still can’t dance) and this one seemed to be more a hula dancer hence suiting the “grass” skirt.! 

I guess Madonna started it with her pointy boobs and this image of lady Gaga also incorporates spikes. Looking at a typical tutu it isn’t hard to imagine it as a spiky dress and I have been doing a bit with cutlery recently and this sort of came together. I made a piece called prickly a while ago and this also uses forks to keep people away. Certainly she is doing her individual dance not as part of a team or partnership. Still lovely though. 

I was recycling this dancer from another piece and I was thinking what to do with her. There was apparently an old religious problem of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin and this sort of made itself known to me. Sounds an amazing thing to think about and I am sure most of the discussion centred around angels.. wheras I made the pin big and solved my problem at least. Obviously the answer is one!

( wiki: Scornful description of a tedious concern with irrelevant details; an allusion to religious controversies in the middle ages. In fact, the medieval argument was over how many angels could stand on the point of a pin.”)

I have started using spade and shovel forms as part of some slightly different pieces. This is the second of them. My girl here looks to me as though she is a grand opera singer and it is a fun and interesting way of recycling .

I have done a number of fish interactions with some of my characters and it always amuses me to see how I will create the fish and what their interaction will be. In this case it looks like they are diving deep. I know people go swimming with Whale sharks and other sea life( I haven’t done this yet)  but it seems a wonderful thing to do. As to being able to control the fish like a horse .. well I can barely control a bike and they have handle bars. Anyway , just another flight of fancy.

I have done a number of fish interactions with some of my characters and it always amuses me to see how I will create the fish and what their interaction will be. In this case it looks like they are diving deep. I know people go swimming with Whale sharks and other sea life( I haven’t done this yet)  but it seems a wonderful thing to do. As to being able to control the fish like a horse .. well I can barely control a bike and they have handle bars. Anyway , just another flight of fancy.this is the second dive as I sold the first oneand had it entered in a show as well

I had not done much with much of the brass and copper junk that comes my way and I did a couple of pieces that made me quite amused with the effects and the lovely appearance of Brass and Bronze. I had a small piece which reminded me of a divers helmet and that lead to this whole piece. All the bits just came together from my collection and I combined brass and copper and steel in this piece. I like him taking his fish for a “swim/walk”.

I have made a number of pieces where characters ride impossible creatures, fish, butterflies, birds and of late I have been making a series of dragonflies using old cutlery so it seemed only appropriate that a dragonfly should acquire a rider sooner or later. It is all a question of scale really and if we had giant dragonflies I am sure some effort would be made to tame them to be capable of this. As we don’t this flight of fancy will remain just that. 

We had an exhibition in the gallery called Joan and the Jindi kids and one of the pieces was this one shown. It inspired me to make my version of it and although I have thought about the rain falling I thought it might be a bit dangerous without something above it to stop people poking their eyes( ends of wire) . anyway it developed from there and my character and base take it quite a way from the original inspiration.

I have made a few different girls with flowers in the past. In this one the scale was the deciding factor. We climb trees, we put our nose in flowers and bees enter flowers. It really is only that the flower isn’t quite big enough otherwise there would be a whole new field of adventure botany. What if we were that small?… or flowers were that big?...I love thinking of the different implications and anyway it is fun to make!

This is the third piece I have used a shovel shape for a dress. My girl here also has a flower to suit her role.The patterns on the dress are fun to do and my character is fairly into her task of carrying a flower.Sort of what spades are used for …. But with a whole different take on the idea.

I was recycling this dancer from another piece and I was thinking what to do with her. I had this old brace in the pile and the two seemed a natural fit. She looks like she is trying out the new gymnastics equipment. I had used an old brace in the past but not as dynamically as this one

I was recycling this dancer from another piece and I was thinking what to do with her. I had this old brace in the pile and the two seemed a natural fit. She looks like she is trying out the new gymnastics equipment. I had used an old brace in the past but not as dynamically as this one

Having done the first head in a book piece I had the idea for a second interpretation. It certainly isn’t as graceful as the first but it has a feeling of “up to your neck in it” although from the other direction .The book being the farmers handbook has a certain topical relevance although I am not sure if reading any farmers handbook would help our local farmers with their milk pricing problems.

I started this head years ago. It didn’t seem to be working at the time and I threw it on the scrap heap. It sat there for a year or so until I saw an image on Pinterest or Instagram which had flowers around a head and another which had nail eyelashes. It provoked me to reclaim the head, finish it by fully covering it and adding hair and also eyelashes . She is much happier now and I do like the combination of materials and ideas

I often just go to my pile of scrap and pull out something that appeals to me at the moment. The small rusty jack was the chosen piece for this work and initially I toyed with the idea of it being either a top hat or a girls dress. Needless to say the dress won. I was going to do just a simple pose but as a jack lifts weights then that suggested the pose here. The hair is from stainless steel strip that someone delivered to me and although it probably isnt perhaps the right gear to lift weights in, she seems to be doing ok.

I was making some dragonflies and a couple of characters for other works and serendipity worked and I wondered what the dragonfly wings ( Knives) would be like on a character. I did one and then thought SPOONS!  Hence this one. Really just a bit of fun. 

I was making some dragonflies and a couple of characters for other works and serendipity worked and I wondered what the dragonfly wings ( Knives) would be like on a character. Hence this one. Really just a bit of fun.

We have a birdman competition at the Melbourne festival( Moomba) and various characters leap off a ramp with odd wing forms attached.. into the Yarra River!  I have never done it myself but this form of mania attracts a certain amount of attention. I had a character leaping off a doghouse in a previous exhibition. I love these determined characters.In this case my hammer broke and in looking at the head it reminded me of astanding pose.. certainly a hammerhead with wings would indeed be taking a leap of faith.

I cut out a series of hearts making a tree with heart shaped holes in the foliage.. of course I cant just let anything go to waste so I decided as I was picking up the hearts ,maybe I would have another character picking up hearts too but sort like as a plant. Certainly we choose who to love and I guess in most cases there is a wide range of people to choose from. What makes the special person? I am not sure but although there are maniacs in the world the majority of people are loving and worthy of love.

People often throw metal objects into the pile. This lovely old Brace ( no bit) was one and I wanted to make a piece that would allow its beautiful shape and most of its design to be appreciated. I also love the word boring .. which I sometimes am and sometimes do. Anyway the idea of the character on the top sprang to mind and once the rust was removed from the brace it looked lovely. Not quite so needed in these days of battery drills but still a lovely thing in itself.

I have enjoyed looking in my pile of metal and thinking how I can give a new life to some of the pieces there. This old axe head called to me. It must be over 100 years old and now it is part of a sculpture and its texture is delightful. I have never been a great risk taker.. I did parachute jump once.. but I know others love the adrenaline rush of the uncertainty. My girl seems to be in control and I hope it works out well for whoever this relates to in your life.

I was cutting out heart shapes to make a tree with heart shaped holes. What to do with the cut outs? It came to me overnight that they would make great wings and hence this piece. I looked up images associated with the title but it only came up with a tv show and I have found no images with heart shaped wings. Have I ended up with something original spurred by serendipity? Ah well, I think it is a nice piece anyway!

I have been recently fascinated by the shape and form or pinecones and I have combined this one with one of my girls to give her a lovely dress. It was a bit tricky getting the proportions right and perhaps it has folk art connotations but the forms of these things are just so intriguing I can’t resist.

I have done a number of pieces in the past for the Blarney Books show which involves interaction with books. I happened to get a small group from an op shop with the idea of using them in one sculpture but as I had them there I saw a number of other ideas forming. This is my original idea( probably seen on Pinterest or some such place). I have glued the books to the base and the girl to the books… I do find it hard to permanently damage books.. even ones as old and unread as these.

I have been doing a few ideas using old books as the starting point. I collected a small batch from the local Salvos and this old Victorian Education Dept reader was amongst them. I had a similar reader and it was one of the tools that introduced me to a variety of writers and different forms of story. I had this idea for a while and it has come together nicely in this piece. I still value reading highly but I don’t know if books will survive the development of e readers etc. Still they are a wonderful resource for me.

I did a piece a long while ago where I made a girl holding balloons. Some friends bought it and someone saw it and years later asked for something similar. I have improved on the original design by adding red and leaving the steel coated with a clear paint.I love the freedom of the image and the joy that we all experienced when we had balloons for the first time.. Magic really!

I did a piece a long while ago where I made a girl holding balloons. Some friends bought it and someone saw it and years later asked for something similar. I have improved on the original design by adding red and leaving the steel coated with a clear paint.I love the freedom of the image and the joy that we all experienced when we had balloons for the first time.. Magic really!

I was looking through Instagram and there was an image similar to this.. I wanted to have a go at plasma cutting this scene and this is the result. Simple and reasonably effective.It sort of has echoes of Magritte but that wasn’t the main motivation

I had this rather lovely rock which at some point I cut in half. It had sat on my bench asking to be used and this is the result. I don’t tend to relax in this sort of way near as much as I should. Maybe this will act as a reminder! 

 I made a pair of the hands which were lovely and I made a bird as a thing for them to release ( as I often do as birds sometimes get themselves inside my shed.) I had seen a piece earlier of a butterfly being released by a pair of chained hands and no doubt that had an effect on my composition. Still I do like the message it sends about setting free something that belongs to the wild.

I have made a number of pieces featuring sailboats. I have never sailed but the image of someone setting out on a voyage is quite romantic. My character here is using a recycled piece from another sculpture as a sail….It suggests a slightly environmental aspect I feel and maybe we are all searching for a way back to a more environmentally friendly world… or is that just a romantic notion too?.

I guess it’s because I am so ugly that I don’t feel the need to take many “selfies”. Still I am amazed at how many people take… sort of like a disease. I really don’t understand this world of phone and cameras. I guess I want to capture an image to do something with it . .Hence I used a girl taking a selfie as a model for my piece “selfie”..something sort of circular about this but also sort of appropriate to the “age” too.

I saw a pose like this and thought I should do something with it. It sat in my sketchbook for a year or so and I decided this year that it needed to become real. As I work, I am influenced by bits and pieces around me and there were some flowers on the bench ready for me to make into “garden flowers”. I thought one would make a great umbrella and this is the result. I did toy with the title “flowers in the rain” but decided to save that for another piece.

I been using odd pieces out of the pile and seeing what they suggest. This is a mattock head and as I sat it on the bench it suggested a submarine. It sort of has maritime precursors as the ancient Greek sailing boats used to have a sharp ram attached to the front to attack other craft. Captain Nemo in 20,000 leagues under the sea had something similar. I don’t think my character is attacking anyone but seems to be enjoying the cruise.

I have made a number of pieces with people flying on the back of a bird and each time it still delights me. The fact that it can “float” in the air is pleasing and in this case the character on the back has spent the last few years looking in a mirror lake so this is a wonderful bit of freedom for her.In every fantasy story where this occurs ( eg lord of the rings) or the hobbit it always is as part of an adventure and I guess flying with a bird in control leaves the future wide open.

Butterflies are little pieces of magic here amongst us.I had seen a book title the butterfly cage and it got me thinking. However, there really are such things, not like the butterfly house at Melbourne zoo, but small display cages for your prized butterfly. I think my butterflies could escape quite easily( if I hadn’t welded them to their branches) but I sort of like that aspect . I used to have a bird in a cage at one stage and really now I think it would be a bit cruel. When we visited China the people brought out their cage birds to parks every morning to converse with other birds… do butterflies converse? So much I don’t know! .

I did a second version of this piece after a request after the first one sold. My girls are meant to be sharing thinking and sharing time…I know it’s a common thing for boys to do…in thinking further girls convey so much through expression both vocal and facial….do girls do this? Anyway my girls are and hopefully problems of the world ( or at least their world) can be solved by this.

Another piece using hearts and again it is sort of what we do when we search for a similar soul… launch a part of ourselves into the great beyond hoping that someone reads your message… in some way it would be good if it was this easy… but alas..

I don’t know where this one came from but suddenly the idea of a Line tamer not a lion tamer popped into my head… I do love mis-interpretations and double meanings so it was a natural. The next problem was how to do it and I was going to add a chair to keep the lines back( as a lion tamer uses..) but this is how it came out.

I had cut up a pinecone years ago to see what it looked like inside. It was just sitting on my bench( I rarely tidy up) and it suggested an animal back so I made the girl and her new pet. If gene engineering continues to develop perhaps this might actually happen and we all have giant pet insects…. Maybe not.. but it is a cool use of my ½ pinecone!

Just a wild thought really. I had done a “water tank” and a “fish tank”, and this idea came out of the blue while I was thinking about something entirely different. It developed over the day and the finished piece has some wonderful implications with the question mark barrel being turned back on itself. Just a fun piece but very enjoyable to do.

Well as I did “iron man” toaster man suggested himself to me via an old toaster on my pile. He did pose a few problems but the end result seems fine. Again a sort of misinterpretation of words and yet when I was hunting for an image to go with the piece there seems quite a few toastermen out there on the net… is there more to come with frypan man, blender man and microwave man? Only time will tell!

I had the wonderful main pieces of this creation sitting around for years. The bottom piece on the bench and couldn’t figure out how to do it justice. This is as close as I can come. The character is looking, kind of lord of the rings eye of Sauron towers and just reflecting on how we all love to climb to a high point for a view.

Another piece using hearts. I saw a man making a tree with steel branches and bronze leaves in Hobart and the idea of heart shaped leaves came into being for me. These are more fruits than leaves and it is a sort of metaphor for our search for love .Again  it would be good if it was this easy… but alas..

 I was looking through Instagram and there was an image similar to this.. I wanted to have a go at plasma cutting this scene and combining with the stainless steel wool I had used in other projects and this is the result. Simple and reasonably effective

I had to do a small piece as an order and they supplied a range of watering cans. I had one left over and it sat on my bench for a couple of years. I was talking to some people about how accidents often lead to new ideas and somehow this can ended up at my feet so it seemed natural to try to think what I could do with it. I do love word play and different interpretations of the same phrase always delight me. Hence water tank. 

I had this lovely copper soldering iron ( the copper pyramid) sitting on my bench for quite a while and I was wondering what to do with it. I had just done a small piece with a watering can ( water tank) and probably the ideas combined to make this piece. I do like to combine different materials if I can and I do like the shine of the copper against the steel. Silly… yes.. but probably no more silly than some of the theories I have heard.

 I was looking on Instagram and saw a girl walking with a sheet of something on her head and that set off an idea that resulted in this piece. The statement was common for years ,I certainly had it said to me at times . Perhaps it is less so in this age of Ipads etc where people often have a range of activities that they do on their phone or tablet, but I have been doing a series of works using old books and this became the latest.

I recycled my piece unicycle into this. I thought the unicyclist was quite impressive but when you add in a line as well it does start to get challenging. Can I balance like this?.... I have trouble standing on one leg so this is well outside my range but I do admire people who can do what I cant.

I have had a few ideas involving butterflies of late. This one is a touch unusual but sort of fun too... The idea of flying  as free and easy as a butterfly is surely a fairly worldwide one  and I have made pieces where people were on the back of a giant moth or bird…still , this one is a development… and slightly silly though full of colour!

I made a work for the Blarney Books show called “Greenhills”. This work featured 3 characters and parts of a book to meet the criteria of the show. When the piece returned I recycled the pieces and these fellows are two of them. One I have changed quite a bit but the other was being a body on the ground and his pose when stood up suggested the sort of dancing that enthusiastic but not very coordinated people do.( My suspicion is that this is the sort of dancing I do…. When I actually dance!)

I have had girls flying by all sorts of means in my sculptures. I saw this image on Pintrest and decided to adapt it to this piece. It is a lovely idea of the music and the bird form but my girl is enjoying the whole experience especially the flying“

A friend suggested this piece as when one of their friends went out in the garden she was always followed by a small contingent of ducks or chooks. My birds are a bit more generic but it has a nice friendly feel to it anyway

Needless to say my pile of metal has many odd and discarded things in it. This hook was calling to me. I have developed a contraption to support it and it seems t have captured something. I have no real philosophical background to this piece other than it all came together and I suspect I am hooked on creating!

We went away this year to a sculpture show in NSW. When we returned a friend had left me a collection of these wonderful glass insulators. Immediately one idea came to mind and this piece is the result.There is a certain degree of insulation in the costume and it favours this punny title. 

I was making a girl a day during a week where I was exploring some of the interesting pieces from my pile. Someone had left this jelly mold and it was perfect for a skirt. I decided it was a young girls outfit and made the legs even longer than normal as some young people seem to be all legs and arms. The attitude came with it!

I love the female form and I love the fluidity of people who dance so quite often I create a dancing piece. I have done both big and small pieces but this is different again. I had done a mid- sized girl previously and I was happy with the scale and what limitations it overcame and what different materials I could use. I had done a sketch of a dancing girl and wanted to use small pieces to make up her dress and this worked out well. I had some old mesh fencing and I decided to use the wire to do the hair. It worked out wilder but better than I expected.She seems to be having a wonderful time!

I was making a girl a day during a week where I was exploring some of the interesting pieces from my pile. This mostly came from.a tow bar for a Mitsubishi( hence the name) I did toy with not another bit of trailer trash but she is too classy for that. The arms came from the loops to attach the chain to and the dress is mostly the cutdown towbar. Even the holes are quite lovely as a pattern. Again she has a strong attitude from a strong background!

I periodically tidy up and sometimes I rediscover pieces of equipment or material that I had deemed as special. This was an old Oil can and I had kept it to do something interesting with it. I had just done another dancing girl and the spout suggested a John Travolta type pose so I started down that road. However as I added more to it, the solder that held the spout gave way and I had to redesign the piece using forks for arms. She is Olive as in Olive oil but she has plenty of personality of her own.

This piece is a recycling of a piece I made years ago. The two hands were coming out of a toaster and looked quite spooky.. such that no one liked it. When it was returned to me from a gallery recently, I decided the hands were lovely but there was no real message.  I hence made a bird as a thing for them to release( as I often do as birds sometimes get themselves inside my shed.) I had seen a piece earlier of a butterfly being released by a pair of chained hands and no doubt that had an effect on my composition. Still I do like the message it sends about setting free something that belongs to the wild.

I did a sketch at a market of a small girl skipping along looking at stuff. The sketch became a small watercolour and then this piece. I think I have captured a degree of the joy of having new boots and my girl seems fairly happy with my portrayal.

I did the snow flake for the “snow Show” that we held at the Red tree Gallery in July 2015. I originally had it pressed against some frosted glass and it was a simple but pedestrian piece. When the glue let go and it fell off after the show it gave me a chance to rethink the idea and I added a character and hence “snow Drop” developed. My friend Bart was making patterns with the plasma cutter and some of his rejected pieces ended up as the skirt!.

I had done another piece where I used a songbird ( a bird with musical forms within it) and I had the idea of following this theme a bit. I was going to use another character with the bird but I was modifying my ballet girl and the two just seemed to call to each other. The title is obvious  and being swept away by the music is certainly one of the implications.

I was going to make a bird form and then I remembered a bird made with spoons and forks and knives and I started to look at how such a thing could be done…as I added two spoons to the front it suggested a fish and as I had a lot of pieces cut from dragonfly wings it suggested scales instantaneously. As I played with the fish I remembered a piece I made with a surfer and the idea developed. Man seems to have had a very long relation with fish ( Jonah) and whale hunters using killer-whales as kelpies!  Anyway this piece developed and the title suggested itself! 

I do like butterflies.. I have had them lifting girls in flight, being walked by people and powering big machines. This is another idea inspired by a sketch I did a while ago of a girl in a cage looking at a big bird. The idea stayed with me but rather than have a sad image I liked the idea that the butterflies could freely move and wanted to stay there by magic. There certainly are a few butterfly inspired dresses out there  but none quite as bizarre as mine. 

My girls are meant to be sharing thinking and sharing time…I know it’s a common thing for boys to do…in thinking further girls convey so much through expression both vocal and facial….do girls do this? Anyway my girls are and hopefully problems of the world ( or at least their world) can be solved by this.

I do like phrases that can be interpreted in different ways. Needless to say my note taker is taking some notes… I wonder what she will do with them at the end of her journey..and who has she taken them from?“

I have made an umbrella girl previously but she was an outdoor sculpture and quite large. This girl came together when I was playing with some bits to make a mid sized piece and she seemed to need an umbrella. She is sort of similar to my skipping with red boots piece but slightly smaller. I don’t know what it is with umbrellas except they are such a lovely shape and an interesting form to add to a piece.!

I made a work for the Blarney Books show called “Greenhills”. This work featured 3 characters and parts of a book to meet the criteria of the show. When the piece returned I recycled the pieces and this fellow is one of them. I added the umbrella and made a whimsical idea similar to a few I have done in the past. It is always a bit of a fantasy of being swept away hanging on to an umbrella( but seeing I am so big I doubt that will ever happen to me!

I never had a billy cart!. I loved the idea but I never had wheels or even more cool ball bearing races. Many things end up in my pile and one of them was some old skates. This is the last to date and I thought a billy cart would be ideal. Unfortunately it doesn’t run anywhere near as well as I would wish…still I at last get to make a billy cart.. even after all this time.

I had my grandfathers clock for years.. it either came out of a ship( he was a ships engineer) or an old car, and I carted it around with me as we moved houses. I finally thought that this year I would use it in a piece and had one of my little girls about to end its existence. It certainly is the end of time for me carting it around and it seems a nice play on words.

Sold at Yakkerboo( pakenham ) art show 2015

“The end of time” was made in 2014 from new and recycled steel and  an old clock.

A recycled character, a restored handle, and an acrobatic combination. This was for the found things show in 2012 .Certainly a found thing!

Again I can’t lie on my back and spin things on my feet …yet another skill I have never developed. Still my character seems keen and it’s a good excuse for a punny title.