Christmas Fish - 2010

Just in time for Christmas!

Many of you have asked when the new Christmas Fish will be available.   I started working about three weeks ago and have created all sizes and colors of Christmas Fish, colorful mobiles, and desk plants you don't need to water.

The Christmas Fish are an ongoing tradition that was started about 1977.  Gretchen and I would make all types of Christmas ornaments and hang them on a bare white fig branch that substituted for the standard pine tree.   

This year I made Christmas Fish sized from 3 inches to about 18 inches. They are mounted as singles, as pairs, and three in a group, so any number combination is possible.   They are priced at $15.00 to $25.00 per fish, and are available in a rainbow of color combinations.

[Yes, I will mail them to you].

Call me if you want to visit the gallery
If you don't see one you like let me know.
--
Dennis
254.723.8318

Earrings

Over the past several month I have created a few hundred new earrings.  I have made every effort to be sure that no two pair are alike.  The earrings are made from very lightweight aluminum and hand painted with bright and iridescent and duochrome colors.

The earrings are $20.00 / pair or two pair for $35.00.

Here are samples of the current hand painted iridescent and duochrome on aluminum inventory.

Here are samples of the enamel colors hand painted on aluminum.



I always have the standard glass and wire earring on hand.

I often make drawings of the new earring designs - for example:



I also make some specialty and promotional earrings for sports and musical groups, etc.

 

Mobiles

10 Red - h 24" x w 14" - $360.00

  

I have always admired mobiles.  I like the way they move in the slightest breeze and provide hours of entertainment without  batteries or high technology.

15 BW - h 30 x w 14 - $280.00



B41W8R - h 20 x w 20 - $320.00



The Guppies

I found a smaller gauge of aluminum wire and started making a smaller version of the fish wire sculptures.  Some like them large and some like them small, so the best option is to make all sizes and all possible color combinations.

It is difficult to tell from a picture the actual size of the sculptures.  The red scale box scale should help.

Jelly Fish

One of the hobby stores had bags of glass globules in some very interesting colors.  The glass resembled jelly belly candy and the jelly fish had a name.

These wire sculptures are larger in size and vary from about 6 inches to 20 inches and larger.  Height [H] x Width [W] is posted to determine the relative size.

Desk Plants You Don't Water

One day I was cutting some aluminum and one of the pieces reminded me of a plant leaf. The next thing you know I found a glass plant container at an antique store and plants for purple thumb people was born.

I can't remember how many of these I have made, and I didn't take pictures of all of them.  Here is a image of the largest collection I can find.

I just finished this latest version and so far, is it available...,

Here are a few images I found of some plants I made 3 years ago.  Fortunately they are all sold and living in California.

Sheet Aluminum

A good friend gave me a sheet of aluminum.  He told me it was to be used on an old airplane.  [Apparently, some places are not all fabric].  As it turns out, the combination of aluminum wire and sheet aluminum has a high degree of creative flexibility.  The combination is very light weight so the slightest breeze will make the sculptures move.

And then I discovered that you could paint the sheet aluminum.  This one is candy apple red.

Multi-colored Glass and Aluminum Wire

The next innovation came when I found aluminum wire in multiple gauges.  The more flexible wire allowed me to create sculptures from one inch in size and larger. 

By using a silicon adhesive I’m now able to mix and match any glass in various colors.



Glass and Wire

At some point I got the bright idea to use stained glass to create glass and wire sculptures.  It was a eureka moment.  When creating stained glass panels the is always a tremendous amount of wasted glass.  Glass that is priced at $20.00 / ft sq is sold by the pound in small pieces.  It seemed like a wonderful way to recycle what was considered waste.

Of course I was still using the “very stiff” bailer wire which, as a result, required me to make large size sculptures [usually 16 inches and larger].

How it all started!

Way Back When...,

In 1977 I was working in a stained glass studio and experimenting with mixed media sculpture on the side.  I had a geode that someone gave me and it looked like a fish filet.  I had some wire so I fashioned what I thought looked like a fish and used the geode for the fish body.  I hung it in my studio and everyone that visited admired it. 

I could not find another geode so I started using old rusty corrugated barn tin and bailer wire.  Again, the fish seemed to be very popular.  Soon I discovered that not everyone liked the rustic look so I started making the shiny metal version.  When I found barn tin I would make rusty fish and as I collected shiny metal I made shiny fish.  What I was discovering was there was an audience for every type fish I could make.