3.14.2010

More metal madness

As the weather warms, many people's thoughts turn to gardening - what to plant, what to prune, what survived the winter, what needs to be moved.  Though I appreciate having a garden, I just did not inherit a green thumb.  When we moved into our lovely 1902 home, the interior was impecable.  Outside there wasn't a single plant beyond the sod in the front yard.  My sister transformed both the front and back yards into a green oasis. Its a struggle for me to do the garden thing.  So instead, I focus on garden art.  What can I add to my garden to make it more interesting...and put off weeding until later...
















I made these Junk Flowers to hang on my fence.  I had a motherlode of metal pieces- odds and ends, flotsam and jetsam.  I started with a large metal lid - a garbage can lid for two of them, enameled pot lids for the others.  I like using a large lid as the base - it has a handle on the backside which can be used for hanging the completed "flower" on the fence.  From there I just played around with different shapes and configurations until something just looked right.  It helped if there was a hole in the middle of whatever piece I was adding, but an electric drill with a high-powered bit solved that problem with little effort.  I did drill a hole in the center of the lid that I was using for the base.  The main component holding the flower together is a long machine screw with a washer and wingnut, threaded from back to front.
This large "flower" is composed of a flat round metal grill underneath a bicycle tire frame with gear derailer, capped off with a old water spigot handle.
This "blossom" has a jello mold layered over a car hubcap, topped off with a smaller jelly mold.  I had the metal screw protrude about one inch out from the center where the nut is attached, making it look like a flower pistil.
This "bud" has a plain jello mold cradling a circular mouli grater, capped with the cover from a chicken feeder with a finial of a sink strainer.

As you can tell, the options are endless.  Just playing around with the parts, varying the textures & finishes while adjusting the depths will give you as much variety as exists in the floral world!

worth a look...

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