Coppersmith

Copper Vase an Evolution

Sometimes, a piece of sculpture evolves over time. This vase is a case in point. The patinated, copper base and central support started out as the structure for the piece tht later became "Il Monde." That was featured in an earlier blog and was done in a Claire Faulkenstein style using over 200 feet of copper tubing. The original idea was to have a cut crystal sphere inside a cage of copper that was illuminated by and electric candle set inside the copper pipe column and concealed by a sliding trap door. That door proved to be problematical later when the base was reused.

 

I ended up deconstructing the piece as the base structure looked too busy with all the copper pipe below the shpere. At the time I was also experimenting with foldforming techniques and produced a number of leave structures. In time, I applied those leaves to the rejected base of Il Monde and capped it with a hand twisted, forged ring. When I filled the vase with water to test for leaks, it did leak. My solution was to our in molten lead to seal those leaks. That was not successful so I mixed a two part boat repair resin and pushed that in to the bottom of the pipe. Still leaked. Last week I applied the torch and burnt off the resin and heated the lead filler until it melted. Some molten lead dribbled out and when it cooled, the leak was fixed. Lastly, I patinated the base area, left the leaves a nature flame finish and applied a sealing coat.

 

Michael Hutchings

Coppersmith

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Il Monde One Copper Sculpture

Laruccia Tree, Latest Addition

 

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I recently purchased a Laruccia copper and glass tree on the internet. From the style, it appears to be an early version from the mid 1960s. I had never seen the branching structure that this piece has. Smaller copper cable was joined to make a three-forked branching for the glass fruit. Since it was unpolished, that also helps to place it in that time frame. It is about 8" high and in great shape, like new condition.

Laruccia was an active sculptor from about 1962-1974. His studio was in Orange, California, in an oversized studio cottage. He worked primairly with copper but employed other metals, semi precious stones, acrylics, cast exotic cements and chemical compounds. After his move back to Queens, NY, he worked primarily in graphics but was not active on the art scene.

I am an active collector of Laruccia works, please contact me if you have one of his pieces and would like more information. 

In Copper We Trust

Michael Hutchings, Coppersmith