Studio-Rama #1

This is the first of an ongoing series of in-progress reports from the workbench.

Yesterday saw a good run of work out in my studio. Although I'm working on three pieces currently, I'll focus on the neckpiece below. About 15 years ago I was making a lot of work using tin cans as my structural element.
I've been off in other directions since, and it's always fascinating to me to revisit those older interests, with the added perspective of the years.

Here was my starting point - an empty Sterno can for keeping food warm. This is what the can looked like about three days ago, before crushing it. It was just the crushed can when I started yesterday morning.

After forming the dome into the back of the crushed can, I attached some very heavy-guage steel wire (maybe 6 guage??) on top and soldered where they twist together.

My bench at this stage.

Laying in the imagery that would form the background (a color lithograph from about 1880). I thinned the paper down significantly, so when I poured epoxy resin in, it would become very indistinct. That's a bead of labradorite.

The epoxy poured, objects added in (including the title, 'Sensations'), Victorian glass over the top, and here, clamped to set.

The chamber at this point. Notice how dislocated the face has become. Love that. Many people wouldn't even see the face now, but someone studying the piece close-up would see an eye, and the whole thing would change.

Building a set of bars to cage the glass in.

The cage, ready to be attached through the side panels of the tin can.

The piece as the day finished. Off to finish it (hopefully) today..