The trout is nicely placed by a pond fed by a brook, with his own little garden to swim through. He is in the shade of the pine forest, overlooked by the wrap-around deck of the house, way up a gated private drive in the mountains beyond Park City. Pretty snaz-o digs compared to his cousins at the busy intersection of 1300E/2100S in Salt Lake.
Yesterday it was snowing, and today there is a trout in the yard- must be springtime in Utah.
I spent the morning at the foundry tweaking the patina and the spots, then came home and worked the bright spots a bit more. It will fly in the yard a few more hours, then swim into the studio and wait for delivery up to Park City.
The trout is ready to head back to the foundry for sandblast & patina.
Fish On A Stick! Ha! (for fans of Harvey Birdman & Stephen Colbert)
The trout came home last Friday in three pieces and waited out the blustery snow splattered weekend. Today’s shop session brought the long stainless steel rod into the head section of the fish, passing through the belly and welded top and bottom for stability. I worked quickly as I could go, as the welder is nearly out of gas- and surprised myself by getting it all together before the tank ran out. I either drank too much coffee before starting out, or it was from grinding the seams and sprews- but my hands were a bit shaky for the last bit of welding. After the months of “carpenter’s elbow” in both arms from finishing out the Herriman Mobile, I decided I would call it a day.
Private commission production! A single trout is being privately commissioned from my pre-existing mold. The molds had gotten a little dusty- the image with both sides of the mold show a contrast of washed and unwashed. I want the trout to be moving his tail, so each half of the mold must be done separately, then joined together. To get the movement in the mold I slump it over a bent sheet of metal for one half, then flip the metal and place the opposite side of the mold on the mirror curve. Wax is applied with a paint brush til thick enough, which takes awhile.
Once the two sides are painted in, they must be joined together. Flexing the mold for the movement of the fish compresses one side and extends the other- the gap in the side of the fish illustrates just how much movement has been added as I have to cut one side in half to match the head and tail. To fill the little gap I created a section of the fish to fit and seamed it into place. Next I’ll heat up the tail and give it a bit more flex, then add on all the fins. Once it is all together I’ll tweak the seams, add a few new spots, then it will be time to swim on down to the foundry.
DangerHart 