Old Blue at Camp

[Michael Gibson]

I am very proud (and happy) that my piece has been accepted into Creativity in Construction exhibition for the AAW Symposium in Pittsburgh.

Old Blue, at Camp.

The kettle was turned from Pear, giving to me by John Keeton, been meaning to tell him it was one of the nicest pieces of Pear l had the pleasure to turn, and l still have some left over. The base turned from Honduras Rosewood Burl, the handle from mild steel and the leaves from copper and brass. To form the leaves l used the process of chasing and repousse. To make the tools needed for the repousse I turned the shapes l needed from Pear. The kettles old knocked about enamel and sooty appearance as if used on a camp fire was achieved with an airbrush using acrylic paints. The color on the fall leaves was by the same process. The finish to the enamel section of the kettle was an acrylic gloss, the rest of the kettle and the leaves a matt acrylic and the base was buffed and finished with a microcrystalline wax.

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[Randy Red Bemont]

Very nice. It looks like the real deal. Nice job.

Red

[Roger Chandler]

Another fine art piece from the Gibson studio! I really like the faux porcelain effect, Micheal. I would like to hear more about what the repousse technique is, if you would care to share that.

[John Keeton]

I was blessed with a sneak preview of this beautiful piece and it reveals the depth of Michael's skill set and artistic vision. Just a superb piece, and congrats, Michael, on it being accepted in the exhibit. No doubt, you did more with that piece of pear than I ever could!

[Allan Ferguson]

Very impressive a usual. Allan

[Roger Chandler]

Looked it up! Wikipedia......

Repoussé or repoussage (French pronunciation: [ʁəpuse] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_French) (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Speaker_Icon.svg/13px-Speaker_Icon.svg.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fr-repouss%C3%A9.ogg) listen (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Fr-repouss%C3%A9.ogg)); [ʁəpusaʒ] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_French) (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Speaker_Icon.svg/13px-Speaker_Icon.svg.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fr-repoussage.ogg) listen (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Fr-repoussage.ogg)) respectively) is a metalworking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalworking) technique in which a malleable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleable) metal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal) is ornamented or shaped by hammering (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer) from the reverse side to create a design in low relief (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_relief).
There are few techniques that offer such diversity of expression while still being relatively economical. Chasing is the opposite technique to repoussé, and the two are used in conjunction to create a finished piece. It is also known as embossing.
While repoussé is used to work on the reverse of the metal to form a raised design on the front, chasing is used to refine the design on the front of the work by sinking the metal. The term chasing is derived from the noun "chase", which refers to a groove, furrow, channel or indentation. The adjectival form is "chased work".
The techniques of repoussé and chasing utilise the plasticity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasticity_%28physics%29) of metal, forming shapes by degrees. There is no loss of metal in the process, as it is stretched locally and the surface remains continuous. The process is relatively slow, but a maximum of form is achieved, with one continuous surface of sheet metal of essentially the same thickness. Direct contact of the tools used is usually visible in the result, a condition not always apparent in other techniques, where all evidence of the working method is eliminated.

[Thom Sturgill]

I remember learning chase and repousse in a shop class, though I did not remember the term 'repousse'. Michael, this is a very fine piece and I'm glad to hear that it was accepted for the symposium.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Stunning realism Mike! Congrats on getting accepted to the Creativity in Construction exhibition and also for winning today's cover honors over on Wow! Nicely done and I always look forward to seeing what you will create next!

[Michael Gibson]

Roger,
Glad you looked it up, you saved me half an hour trying to explain it. :)

[Tim Browne]

That piece is absolutely awe inspiring.

[Michael Gibson]

Thank you all for your comments, hope to be in Pittsburgh and see it displayed. Michael