New Work: A Quick Peek...

I'm packing for my pilgrimage to the great frozen North (well, Texas is north to me!).  I'll be teaching a whole series of workshops in Houston next week, followed by three days of classes in lovely Fort Collins, CO and finishing with a special 3-day masterclass (and more) in San Diego.  I'll be sure to post up some workshop doings during my trip on my other blog, so keep checking in at The Stuffsmith Times for that.

Until then, here are some images of brand-new work that I'll have with me for viewing and purchasing at the workshop venues. Aside from my website, this has been the only opportunity for the public to buy my work and get it in their hands, where, as you can imagine, it is a different experience altogether from static photos.

So, hot off the bench:

Brooch: ODE TO MEMORY. 
Tin can, waxed linen thread, fused glass, mica, 17th-century Korean kozo paper, steel wire, paper, text, soil.

EarThings.


'EarThings' are a new line of unaltered objects to wear, from my personal stash of found objects. Continuing on from my screw-head earrings, these are all one-off's, sold as single earrings. Bus, train & tram tokens, buttons, tacks, and whatever may float across my bench - all with their original patina of age intact. All these pictured and more will be with me on this trip. Any that return unsold will be available via my website, at $35 each (+ shipping).

Brooch: untitled (fork & tie)
Victorian fork, upholstery tack, waxed linen thread, fused glass, steel wire, dichroic glass, paper, paint.

Neckpiece (two-sided): THE SPREADING GLOW. / Histoire des Martyrs.
Bundt cake mold, steel wire, starfish, sterling silver, 16th-, 17th- and 19th-century papers and currency, resin, ivory game piece, markasite, peridot, 19th-century eyeglass lens, rope, brass filings, paper, leather, text, soil. 

 

 

 

 

Brooch: No. 49  Antique spoon, Roman bronze artifact, copper, waxed-linen thread, fused glass, fresh-water pearls, paper, text.


Hope you enjoyed these. Come see them in the flesh!


I also want to thank those who've checked out the e-book I made from this blog - the response has been unreal.

Ciao!

Stuffsmith: Now Electrified!

 

 I'm thrilled to announce the digital publication of my new e-book: STUFFSMITH: The Found-Object Artwork of Keith Lo Bue, Volume One. This 350+ page tome compiles every post on this blog chronologically from its inception in 2008 to last week, then fleshes it all out with hi-res images of the finished pieces worked on here, plus several shots of my studio never before published. 

Perhaps best of all, this huge chronicle only costs $7!

The e-book is in the PDF format, and can be viewed on any computer, plus iPads and such. In fact, if you order and have a different brand of e-book reader that won't read PDF's, I'll convert it to the proper format for you at no charge.

It might just be the coolest thing to bring on that next road-trip!

You can ORDER HERE and I'll email you your own link to download.

Thank you, from the heart, for supporting two years of one of the most rewarding long-term projects I've embarked on. Here's to many more years of smithing stuff here for you!

Keith

Two Kinds of Courage, In-Progress - Stage 3, completion.

Welcome back - sorry for the big gap - I've been teaching, and making, and, well, living..

Now to conclude TWO KINDS OF COURAGE. The act of snipping the hanging crystal element from the bottom of the piece, as seen in last posting, immediately frees the piece and the first thing to happen is a decision to upend the trap jaw, so it will now hang over the elements rather than be suspended under.

With that in mind, I can prepare the assembly to join to the trap jaw.

 A small hole where the brass frame will be pinned in place, using a cotter-pin type attachment.

 Once that has happened, I can turn my focus to creating a plate with the title to hang below. A sketch of the form gets my head around what needs to happen.

The plate being prepared.

After changing the chain to work properly with the new plate, it is attached. I like this form, as the plate with chain visually completes the semicircle of the trap jaw, without being too obvious.

Now to the chain. As the pendant is quite massive and blocky, I begin on making a chain of equal proportions. I'm using some antique spiral shank nails.

 Finished. (Nailed it?)

Now drilling the jaw to attach the chain.

 The links that will act as bails between chain and pendant.

After choosing the heaviest leather cord I've ever used for a piece, I make industrially large brass bail ends to connect leather to chain. Here they're still wet with patina, and soon to be polished.

First thing I always do on completion is to try it on, to make sure the proportions work on the body. This is one of the 'densest', most medallion-like pieces I've made.

View the finished piece here.

Or, view the piece with price included here.

Thanks for taking the journey with me. I'll be taking some time away from the studio to continue work on my upcoming sculpture DVD. More on that soon!

Keith

PS: In the time since last posting, I've finished a piece using the snipped-off crystal element. You can see it here, or for sale here.