Rusty Bits Challenge :: Lies They Told Me...

"I am still standing there waiting for you where you left me. I hope someday you will come otherwise I will remain like this forever. I was there but you were gone leaving all those glimpses of memories." ~ Sushan R. Sharma

It all started with that hunk of rust I pried off the bottom of my car.

A few weeks ago I saw a picture on Brenda Schweder's wall about a piece of rust that she found in a parking lot. Sweet rusty serendipity! It looked a lot like mine so I asked her to share what she would make of it. That is when Brenda threw down the rusty gauntlet and issued a challenge.

Make something with the rusty bit and share it with the world.

Intrigued. And you know I never shy away from a challenge.

So, despite all the things that I had going on this month - including being called for jury duty (but haven't had to serve...yet) - I thought "heck, yeah!" I would take her up on that challenge.

I stopped by a local art gallery on my lunch break called the Riverfront Art Gallery to get some inspiration. They happened to be showing an exhibit of local artists using repurposed or recycled materials called Re-Art in honor of Earth Day. I had a little personal tour from the director, Nancy. Man, do I wish that I had seen that call for artists! This is totally in my wheelhouse!

One of the most intriguing and dominating pieces was a coffee table sized hollow piece that was made of steel with all these tubes and gears around the outside. It was all welded together and had a pebbly surface with the most amazing steel-green patina. There was also recycled glass from the dorm they tore down on campus fused in some top secret process to create this porthole effect and a whole piece of art made from wine corks. A whole flock of talisman dolls were actually re-purposed Barbies that had been embellished in a very interesting display that said a lot about women's image and domestic abuse. I hope they do this exhibit again.

{images I took of art at the Riverfront Art Center Re-Art exhibit, April 2013}

One of my favorite pieces in the exhibit was a departmental mail cubby from the University that was made into a Cabinet of Curiosities. (Those are just two of dozens of cubbies in the top middle picture). Broken stems from wine glasses, the type balls from a Smith-Corona typewriter, pencil nubs and snips of maps, parts of rulers and tiny animal skulls... there was so much to look at! I have to go back and take a closer look at each of the cubbies. I would love to come and see where he stores all these treasures! A great commentary that nothing is ever wasted, that even in those broken bits that others would discard there is beauty and intrigue. That piece is part of what is inspiring this new series that I am embarking on.

As I was working with the rusty bit, which I sealed with a metal sealer (no use needing a tetanus shot just to wear the rusty bits), the idea that I had was to make a sandwich of metal bits with the micro screw set that I got last summer at the Richard Salley class. However, as I was cutting the rust, the more fragile pieces with the raggedy edges was falling off. To me those were most interesting! The center of it is more sturdy and I can still do something with that, but this was causing me to stop and re-evaluate my plan. It will still be something I come back to when I have more time to engineer it, but since I started at 10:30 pm and had a goal to be done by midnight, it wasn't in the cards.

I had a heart shaped bezel sitting out where the rusty bits were falling. That gave me the idea of making a Cabinet of Curiosities sort of series. If you know me at all, then you know how I feel about hearts. I am not the sort that likes the traditional pink and white lacy hearts. Hearts are not perfect like that. We all have ours stitched together Frankenweenie style with exposed cogs, battle scars and old flames.

I looked in the dusty corner of my studio and saw a large sheet of this perforated metal. That looks sort of like lace, but I just liked the texture. If I had been more awake I might have tried to color it or patina it or maybe even torch it (I got the torch out to play this weekend finally but never did anything more than set it up on the kitchen island). I trimmed a small piece to fit inside and then found a rusty bit to add to it. I drilled a little hole through it all and added the clock hands with the micro screw set. I still might add resin to this piece, but I am not sure how that would work with the rust, and I don't want the great color to be obscured.

I knew I needed a more industrial looking chain than what I had in my stash. Miss Brenda was kind enough to send me one of her innovative Now That's A Jig kits to play with. I have wanted one of those ever since I read her book Steel Wire Designs (love it!) and found out that she pioneered this new tool. I wanted to use it to make my own chain, but considering that I started this after most {sane} people's bedtime, I knew that my brain was not up to the task of learning a new tool. So I will save that for a future installment. I went on a treasure hunt and found a box of E-clamps and Retaining Rings. I discovered about six different chain possibilities for these little retaining clamps. I will be buying more of those in the future!

The remaining parts with the pearl and chain were just defunct pieces in my studio that I have repurposed. So I would guess that this might qualify me to enter the next Re-Art exhibit at the Riverfront next year!

I am calling this series LIES He  They Told Me...

And this piece is called "I'll only be gone for a minute." The clock has stopped on their love. Frozen in time.

I think the next one will be called "She is just a friend."

Hmmm... I wonder what rusty bits will show up in THAT one!

;-)

Thank you Miss Brenda, for intriguing and inspiring me!

Please go and check out what my friend Miss Brenda Schweder has created.

Your turn...

I have actually never had much experience (thankfully) with lies of this sort. 

What phrases would you suggest I tackle for this series? 

I just came back from a walk and talked to a local boutique owner who wants me to create a line of these called LIES They Told Me (rather than He) so now I will make a few more in this series and see what comes of it!

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her popular line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.