P.O.P. (Pile of Pipes)
Here is an "in studio" photo of a piece just completed. It is my larges piece to date and stands about 24 inches tall. Most of the materials is re-purposed scrap copper from my local metal recycling facility. The piece is composed of mostly copper pipes. I used a large sledge hammer and the anvil my father gave me to crimp the pipe into sections and cut them into various lengths. I finished the top with a solid copper sphere. The base was made from plumbing fittings, copper wire, sheet and copper shot. It is designed as a garden piece and I may accelerate the patination by applying chemicals to produce a verdigris affect.
The inspiration came from the works of Claire Falkenstein who was a noted sculptor from the early 1900 through about 1995. Claire was an American sculptor, painter, print maker, jewelry designer, and teacher, most renowned for her often large-scale abstract metal and glass public sculptures. She made a series of pieces employing copper pipe and glass.
Michael Hutchings
Coppersmith
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