Blueberry

 I am calling this piece Blueberry. It is an abstract wall hanging. This the first one of the series I have totally finished. There are several others already done and are in the process of being painted. 

I enjoy doing the hand painting on these. I may start to figure out how to incorporate some collage elements into these too. I don't know too much about color, so I stuck with a monotone theme. I figured blue was a good place to start.

I am busy working in the shop, but I have room to take a few orders right now. So if you are looking for anything to spruce up your garden or patio space you should get in touch with me. You can leave me comments here or send me an email: Kellensmetalart@comcast.net

Meep Meep!

This is the 2nd roadrunner. It's sitting on my porch right now, putting on a nice coating of surface rust. When totally covered, I will use a grinder to make markings to represent the birds feather pattern. The grinder will leave shiny marks on the rusted surface and will be like the lighter colored feathers on the roadrunner. Once I have it the way I like it I give it a clear matte finish coating of enamel.

I sandblasted this piece before putting it outside. The sandblasting took off all of the oil and mill scale on the metal, allowing it to rust much more quickly. It is already more rusty than when I took this photo a couple of days ago.

After it is all finished it is going down to Texas where a friend of mine, Jerry, will set it into a beautiful hardwood base. Jerry makes amazing custom furniture from really nice hardwoods. I am very excited to work with such a talented guy and can't wait to see our work melded together.

Mini City

This is one of my very early metal sculptures. This is one of the pieces that made me realize how much I liked making art from metal.

I basically made a small, fast "sketch" of a city, just as a study. I was amazed how quickly the  small chunks of bar stock, found in the scrap bin under the saw, became "buildings" and then downtown Chicago. After this one I made two more similar pieces that were longer and had more "buildings", but this one stands out because how quickly it went together and gained life. 

Cities and buildings are interesting subject matter because of their relationship and interaction with man kind. I have just recently finished a DVD tower for my house that looks like a mini skyscraper. Maybe I will post a photo of it later.

Sun Lamp!

Hey. Here is another lamp. This steel and copper sunrise/sunset is wired up with a light and dimmer. It provides excellent mood lighting, as a little bit of light passes through the spaces in the copper giving it a nice warm glow. 

This is one of the first pieces that i have used this much paint on. I mixed and layered different colors of enamel to give the look of a sunset or sunrise. I will probably start to use more color in my work, because I am so happy with the way this one turned out. 

This piece already has a new home on the mantle of my grandma's fireplace. I love you Nana. I would love to do a piece like this again if commissioned. The design could be done in almost any size, smaller or much larger.

Everyone have a safe and happy New Year. Keep watching for more artwork and news.

Bottle Fly

 This bottle fly is one of my early pieces. However I just recently finished it with clear enamel. I really love this one and intend to make more in the future. It's a green bottle fly made from a green bottle. These flies usually hang out in gross places and love garbage. So it made sense that garbage could be used to build one. I think that the use of the discarded bottle adds a little punch line to piece.

Love Candle

I made this for my girlfriend Christina for her birthday. I designed this candle holder to throw the shadows of the heart and scrolls onto the wall when lit. This is something I have began to work with, light and shadows interacting with my work. This piece turned out just the way I wanted it to. It looks cool when it isn't lit and it takes on a new life when the flame is introduced. The shadows twitch around as the candle flickers. I am finishing some other work right now that has the same kind of idea.

Work Work Work

  I am still hard at work in the shop. This little birdie has been waiting to be photographed. I made this oversized humming bird by request for my Aunt Becky. It hovers ready to drink some nectar from the flower, which is a botanical invention of mine. That is I didn't copy a plant from nature. I engineered one to meet my needs for the piece. Although it is trumpet shaped, like most of the flowers that humming birds actually drink from.

I like doing sculptures of things that other people like and i wouldn't usually choose to build myself. It is a good way to test my skills. I usually am very happy with the end result of the project. Sometimes to my own surprise I want to keep it for myself. 

Most of all I really like making work that my customers are really going to love. I love making people smile.

I gotta get back into the shop now. My internet/coffee break is over. 

MORE COMING SOON!