Finished bird and the cage

  The project looks almost finished now.
   The tail is fixed to body. It was really hard to fix it and keep it the right position. The araldite was very helpful, because i could move the tail a bit in a right position when araldite dry out a little bit. I expected that the tail will be a bit longer, but it took quite a lot of wire to fix it as one piece. I still like it and satisfied with the out come due to it can actually fit in a cage. If the tail would be any longer a would have lots of troubles placing my bird in the cage through the small door-cage.

    the wings fixed on a body and makes it much easier to control the balance. I have put a bit of strong glue where it is fix so they would not move up or down. They are very light and easy to bend, but need to be careful with feather, because when you touch the wing you may brake them. Wing looks really good. I didn't cover them from both sides with feathers, as it looks more effective when you can see what they are made of. I'm still thinking if it would be better with no feathers at all. From the other side, the bird covered with feathers looks completed/finished. 

   

what needs to be done

Today 

• fix the tail on a body
• fix the wings on a body
• cover bird with feathers (including head)
• place everything into the cage

Tomorrow

• prepare original parts for the porch
• wright in a blog for what's done today
• find all the papers I need for the assessment
• watercolour storyboard

There is almost no time left. I feel quite tired as I took a big project to do for myself. I think it took me twice more time to do it then I planed, as I'm doing it every single day for the last 3 week. the only help is that I don't work at the moment, but as soon as I finish FMP I have to find another full time job, to save some money for the BA course. No, seriously, this is just never ending.

Anyway, It seems I'm much more keen on doing the bird and the cage then a storyboard. What shows that I probably choose a very good course for myself next year and as well that I really really really need to just sit and do the storyboard.

Im so tired doing things every single day, kill me

So, everything goes as it was planned. WOHOO! La-la-la-la... 

Yesterday have been done:

• birds body with the hole to put in a buttery and a light;
• all parts of the tail are done and painted;
• wings base done and covered with wire-mesh, ready to glue feathers and beads on them;
• body fixed on legs
• neck fixed to the body and the head. It even BALANCED!   f8ck me, that was really unexpected X)

   The body is made out of aluminium wire - egg shape and covered with wire mesh to finish the form. I have used polystyrene egg to try make the more exact. Unfortunately this idea didn't work, because in the end the body was too big and out of shape in some places. Had troubles when I wind Ali wire around polystyrene egg. It just didn't wanted to sit on one place and I abandoned this method/ idea quite quickly. The second body I  did by eye and it came out much more in shape I wanted.
   First I wanted to make the birds body out of polystyrene egg and glue the decoration on it, but when the idea with putting the light inside the bird came to me, the polystyrene egg wont be appropriate for this. I can't place the light in It.
   The wire mesh on the body works very well. It is light, it holds the light and battery inside and the decoration is very easy to stick on it as I tried it yesterday.

     The parts of the tail are made out of metal wire, thin cooper wire, glue, feathers and beads. the bead was fixed on a top of wire. The feathers were glued together. The PVA didn't work, so I used very strong glue for metal, plastic and wood.
     Feathers I ordered from e-bay, after I used painted crow feathers on a birds head. I have quite a few of them, as I picked them up in a park on a first part of the course, when we had research and mapping projects. I wouldn't say they look bad, but in compare to the small golden, purple and brown marabou feathers they do look poor.

   The wings again were made out of wire, the same way as I did them on a trial bird. The only difference is that i covered them with wire mesh, so it would be easier to glue the feathers on them and as well, so i can try feathers on and choose how I want to place them. There will be no beads fixed on wings, as it was planned in the beginning. The marabou feathers looks rich and effective by them self, the beads will be too much on.

  As all the parts have been joined together i was very happy with the result. I definitely made the right decision when I put extra golden wire on legs, as it made them heavier and made all the body balanced.

   Talking about neck, I would say that metal wire and big beads are there more for practical purpose. The wire holds the head and connects to the body and beads makes it easier to bend the neck with out damaging the form.

Satisfied.

The decoration is finished. It took me two days to prepare all the parts, cut them out and paint them.

    First thing in the morning, I fixed already painted black Ali wire spring to the top of the base. It has more practical purpose then decorative, as all the branches, leaves and flowers are fixed on it. Nevertheless, the aluminium spring looks good in conjunction with the top bit and Ali branches. I like the effect that I get from wire forms considering how long it took me to do everything. It took me 15min to make Aluminium spring and 30min to paint it from all sides.

    The branches with leaves are made out of aluminium wire. It was quite easy to bend the wire and give it a leave form.I think it took me around 3 hours to make 4 of them.  All the branches were painted black and gold. I'm also really happy that I found and tested the aluminium wire, as it is much more softer material then a thinner metal wire from college shop, that I used since the beginning of this (FE) course.

    

Attached some photos how the finished design looks like. 

Talking about The first idea was to make flowers out of wire mesh and Ali wire. Than a week ago I found 6 dry roses on the top of the kitchen fridge. Shortly, all of them were painted black and gold, cooper and gold and left to dry. Today I fixed the flowers to the golden Ali branches and cut out of Aluminium sheet the leaves (tin snips that designed to push the metal out of the way are absolutely amazing to use for that). Painted roses looks really good. I'm really happy I tried this idea, amazing how quick and easy is to make something that looks like that. 

The material I choose i found very practical. Easy to use and technically in no time I get quite effective successful result. To find out about materials and get some ideas of how I can make the decoration for my cage i went to the 4D modeling shop on Leman street. Where overall I spent around £120. Uuuu.. that was very painful.

just to relax me all involved in making the door

me all involved in making the door

Many things have been done for the last 3 days, but even more still needs to be done.
I have tested the PORCH. It's brilliant, everything works and it looks good. I wouldn't say it is very practical (for everyday use for example) but it is a very important part of my project and it does work as I wanted it. I still need to do a proper one, the one that will go in the cage. The test showed that plastic tube needs to be pained very carefully, the paint leaks on a plastic tube, so the layer HAVE to be very thin. The storyboard it's self needs to be on right size with big tube, otherwise you can't see it. Already had this trouble with the test porch.  

OMG, just realised that I didn't drilled the holes in a top base for the porch, and already have put the  decoration on top. I can't believe it! Have no idea how I will correct it now. That's bad, very very bad.

I'm a little bit behind my action plan. I suppose to finish the decoration today, but painting and waiting for everything to dry took to much time. Started doing the decoration in the morning and still not finished. The decoration base is done and fixed, wire mesh fixed on top and painted gold. The top flower done and fixed. I did as well flower test, rose made of metal wire. Everything looks really good, even better then I expected. Even if i'm a little bit behind my action plan, the materials I choose for decoration are good. Everything does forward quite easy. What i didn't think about is the time for painting every single part separate.

right now Im still finishing making some parts of the decoration - cutting the leaves out of aluminium sheets and fixing them metal wire.

what I will need to do tomorrow is
1.drill the holes in a top base for the PORCH.
2.paint the rest of decoration till the lunch time
3.glue and fix everything to the base.
 and hopefully keep doing what's on my action plan.

Ooohh, that was a really nice Sunday today.  The door sits nicely, even doesn't fall when it's open. I wasn't really sure how I will fix it. In the end just drilled holes in the wooden door and connected it with the aluminium wire to the metal bar. Door made out of wood looks much better then a wire one. It is more suitable because the base made out of wood as well.

The base is finished.

The golden apple is finished.

The head finished.

 

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Here are cage designs that I like the most. I just need to find the easiest was to make something like this.

The middle cage on the first photo is almost what I would like to do. But I with have troubles with replacing it, holding it, and need to find out if I can actually hang in the studio. I also like the contrast it makes, might look really good in our studio. 

On the second photo cages on the side look too 'fairy-taily' and not elegant enough for the fire-bird. Also I  don't really like working with wood to make cage like this. 

The golden cage in the middle on the second picture is perfect for the fire-bird, but i'm not sure how effective it will look like in our studio, as its colour might be too light. From technical side, I can bend 10 wires all together, but it might be too complicated to join them together on the right distance from each other. 

What I don't like on the last picture is cubical shape and glass. But I definitely like the bronze colour, bronze and gold probably are the best colours for the fire-birds cage.  

9:43 in the morning. SUNDAY morning. can't believe i'm awake already :)

I had two polystyrene forms. One sphere and the other one - oval. 

Head was simply cut with the scalpel to a shape I needed. Afterwards I sand all the expanded polystyrene to give it a smooth surface and covered it with 2-3 layers of PVA glue thinned with water, so I wont have any troubles painting it.

The polystyrene ball was flattened on a table to give it a bit more apple shapes. With the scalpel I carved the hole in the top of the apple and sanded the ball again. After just covered with PVA + water to finish.

I can't say I like working with polystyrene. It is quite hard to give it a shape I want. Besides I don't have a special tool, I think I saw somebody cutting polystyrene in the college with electric-hot-wire-funny-tool. Im really satisfied with the apple, today I just need to colour it and it will be finished. Polystyrene ball does have apple shape and It was really easy and quick to do it. Perfect! Unfortunately the head doesn't look that promising but it's ready to finish. Today I want to finish the apple and the first head + make another head, to see what suited the best.

The legs have been made out of aluminium wire. I couldn't decide rather I want to leave them simply wire shape, as it's looks quite neatly, or to cover them with thin golden wire to them more birds legs shape. It was a hard decision for me. Main reason why I decided to cover the legs with one more layer is the rest of the body. The body will be coloured and decorated with feathers and beads, so the 'naked' wire legs just wont look appropriate, it's a completely different style. In the end I like the outcome.

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Jessica Joslin

Her personal web-site / galery

Absolutely beautifully done beasts. Mixed media. She uses Brass, bone, toad skin, cast pewter, leather, glass eyes. There is nothing unnecessary. Very neat sculptures.

the fire bird

first i wanted to make the fire bird out of metal wire (from college shop). The sample is quite small and definitely too small for the bird cage. I got some aluminium wire and it is much easier to bend but the bird somehow don't look finished. The fire bird as a wire sculpture only doesn't look appropriate for the project. Not effective enough. 

Yesterday I started to do bigger one out of mixed material. The head and body will be made out of foam plastic. Coloured, decorated with beads and feathers. I experiment with the bird head and the moment. Find it hard to work with foam plastic, to cut it with scalpel and give it a form i want. From the other side, it's very light material and I can't imagine anything else that will be that good for the head as it holds on a long neck. 

The metal bars that goes around the door on a cage are dry and looks quite stable today. Just need to paint them and finish the door. nothing bend during the night this is what i'm really happy about. I think I chose the easiest materials to make the bird cage from. Have problems with assembling it as it is my firs bird cage and I'm not get used to work so precisely with measuring everything 5 times. 

It's seems i'm more exited about making the bird cage and the bird then drawing the storyboard. Cage almost finished instead of the storyboard. Need to hurry up with finishing storyboard as it slows me down a little bit.

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     Elizabeth Berrien

Wire sculpture

WIRE is metal that has been drawn into a long, thin rod or thread. SCULPTURE is art in three-dimensional form. WIRE SCULPTURE is any art made from wire.

 

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Wire Sculpture and paper Art : Dodo Sculpture on Papaer Tuffet

Materials:
Silver wire, acid free tissue paper, copper walking stick

Looks like a figure in a crystalium for me. Very light and amazing wire use.

For more of her sculpture look here:

http://www.polyscene.com/

omg.. reflective writing.kill me please x.x

The base is done. It is actually quite good. The sides nicely polished, all the metal bars fits. The holes are drilled half way through the base. Not all of them on the right place. You can't see the difference, until you look for something wrong. But because of that I had troubles fitting a door. Needed to send the sides a bit to fit. I need to be more precise and measure everything twice.

Had lot's of troubles with painting the base. I sand it with sand paper, so there wont be any dirt. This paint I get from college shop and it just doesn't sit properly. You can't see much on the photo but it didn't sit plane. I got the other paint from Home Base for wood and metal. The paint didn't sit on a wood at all, the wood observed the colour and left silver marks. The black paint on a metal bars sits very well and look good, don't even need to repaint it. I covered old paint with new a couple of times (gold and bronze) so it sits nicely.
NEXT time I 100% make sure I covered anything i would like to paint with PVA+water so it wouldn't observe the paint.

The door is the worst! Door made of aluminium looks just cheap. Tried to do it with wire mesh and it looked even worse. I didn't thought much about the door when I did my research. Was sure that metal door made out of aluminium will be the best. Lucky found some baton. It was easy to cut it, i have wood cutting monster at home. I should think through all the details in research part. Details like how Im gonna make the door. Needed to go through lots of videos on youtube to find out how to fix it.

The wires for the base wast that hard to cut. Tried to cut them all at once and end up melting some of them together and spend 10 min to cut only half way through. Did all of the metal bars separated after that try. YES, all 16 separate. The second method was even faster i would say, well at least much more easier to do for a girl.

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Bester create a series of three sculptures about the Trojan Horse Massacre with Trojan Horse III being the last and most powerful in the series. Unlike these earlier examples, which evoke the feel of African scrap metal toys as a reminder of the child victims, Trojan Horse III is characterized by an extraordinary sense of energy and vitality.

All art news

I'm interested in how this sculpture have been done. I haven't found any information how he made these sculpture. Nevertheless, looks energetic and quite detailed.

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I had a few similar ideas but never realised them. Can't say it looks impressive, but i definitely like the wave-leaves effect coming out of the cup.

Ruth Downes, storm in a tea cup, mixed media

art notes

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This is what i will properly research after I finish this project. Really like the outcome. First thought it was made out of wire mash.His wire figures are almost alive.

Derek Kinzett

derek Kinzett personal web-site

 

                                 There is something spiritual about his work, magic. Very expressive wire sculpture.

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How do they do that? that is simply amazing.

Forget the wax museum. Ivan Lovatt has created sculpture of celebrities using chicken wire.       

Time to put things together

What's done
the base for the cage
the base painted golden and bronze
drilled holes in the base for metal rods
the door is done
metal rods painted black
the cage has been assembled
20 shots of storyboard is done
6 of them finished and coloured

What's NEEDS to be done
build the door frame
drill holes for the porch
make the porch, cut the plastic tubes
make the bird and place it in the cage before putting the door on the cage
finish the storyboard
drill holes on the top of the bade to fix the decoration (aluminium wire & metal plate)
the decoration needs to be painted before fixing it on a cage (black and golden)
the porch needs to be painted golden
bird shit painted and stick on a glue to the base
the golden apple

storyboard printed and fixed in the porch


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 I was looking for some ideas for the cage designs. What can I do with wire and aluminium sheet. The dragonflies on a firs photo remind me of my wire insect that i did in the beginning of the course. I might use them now for the decoration. Here are some garden art designs and metal works for candles.

change of plans

It seems that a whole project will be a bit different now. I wanted to do a fairy-tale with out words in the beginning. Don't think it will be that effective now. The text, like the guide through the story help you to get the mood and atmosphere together with the drawing. It is possible to make a fairy-tale with out words, but it needs to be much more detailed and more shots of a story. You will need to draw every single action and many of dialogues to get the whole sense of the story and understanding what is going on.
The text will make the story completed and easier to get it.

Can you tell a story with out words in sculpture? May be, if you get the main idea and characters, the mood and everything together to inspire public. To interest them in those old good fairy-tails.

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Attached Russian illustrations for kids fairy-tales. I still have most of them in my books back in Latvia. Most of them are watercolours and some oil. Watercolour illustrations are my favourite, some of them are very colourful. This is how the watercolours suppose to be used, no? very light effects with rich colour that gives magic fairy-tale atmosphere. However some of them, like the first one, aren't as colourful and magic, but they show you russian world, gives you the idea of what time a years it is, what time a day and the most important people - their expressions and poses.
Colours - this is what i like about this illustrations and watercolour technique. In my childhood books no names of the artists, so the other companies would not steal your best illustrator. Lots of books are not reproduces any more and lot's of illustrators are unknown.

Ivan Bilibin illustrations
Slavic Folklore
Russian Fairy Tales

As folklore comes from many different cultures, one cannot forget the Ivan Bilibin scenarios.
Russian Fairy Tales are strongly influenced by Slavic folklore. They're absolutely stunning.
His illustrations are astounding and among my favorites.
He was born in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, known as Russia's "window to Europe", in August 16, 1876.
He went to Munich to further his education but later travelled in Northern Russia.
His Art came from his interest in the old wooden architecture and became acquainted with Russian folklore.
Later he published his findings in a monograph in 1904.

His watercolors were admired and he got a commission to illustrate fairy tales as a State Document.
He gained acknowledgment in 1899 with his illustrations of Russian fairy tales and these included tales such as The Tale of Ivan the Tsar's Son, The Frog Princess and The Little White Duck.
He traveled to Cairo and Alexandria but settled in Paris in 1925. He died in February 7, 1942.