California False Indigo in my yard emerging from winter dormancy
Hi Friends,
A few weeks ago I was commissioned to create a piece of art for a new spa in Kansas City, Missouri that’s opening on April 15th. The spa is being built using all natural materials, and the owners are looking for art made from natural materials as well.
They saw the rust and leaf print pieces on my website, and want something similar. I have quite a few of these pieces done, and thought I could probably use one of them as the base layer for a new creation. Then they told me the size that they need — 4 by 8 feet.
Oh my! That’s way bigger than any rust and leaf print piece I’ve ever done, and it poses some problems, the first being shipping. The second problem is scaling up from the 12 x 12 inch piece that they like, shown below.
I gave it some thought, and decided the only practical way to do this was to divide the 4 x 8-foot piece into three panels of 48 x 30 inches each. It’s a more manageable size to work on and to ship.
The third problem was how to get this piece done before April 15th. It takes a while for rust to develop, especially in cold weather, and the work is created in multiple layers.
I told the clients that I couldn’t do it in that short amount of time, and we’re aiming for a July 1st completion date. That will give me time to do some painting and handstitching on the piece as well.
I started the work by layering rusty pieces of metal and eucalyptus leaves on canvas, and rolling them up in sheets of plastic to stay moist. The pieces shown below are the two side panels, and the rusty pieces are three-foot lengths of rebar.
After two weeks I unrolled the pieces to see how they were coming along, and the rust had developed more quickly than I was expecting. The dark marks are from the eucalyptus leaves, which turn black in the presence of iron.
I repositioned the rebar, and rolled then back up for the second layer of rust. They look better in person than they do in these pictures. The rust color is rich and beautifully defined, and the black leaf marks will lighten up when the pieces are washed and dried.
I unrolled the pieces again this week, and here’s how they look now.
I think the rust part is done. I’m going to let them dry and cure for a while, then I’ll soak them in salt water to neutralize the rust process.
I sent pictures to the clients, and their feedback was that they would it to be more spacious with less color and more breathing room. I’m going to have to try some samples to figure out how I can achieve that effect. I’m thinking of masking off areas and painting the background with a transparent white earth pigment to veil some of the rust.
Commissions can be challenging. It’s sometimes difficult to create art that matches the client’s expectations.
Fortunately I’ve never had a client reject a commission piece, and I’m sure this piece will turn out lovely, too. But the process is somewhat harrowing until it all comes together in the end.
What challenges have you been facing lately? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts. You can share them with us in the comments section below.
With love and appreciation,
Cassandra
How amazing you are, Cassie! It is so interesting and exciting for me to see the process for this commission and the feedback process. What am I doing? I’m nervously waiting while a big company cleans our house in Pasadena of a sprinkling of toxic ash. Will they break anything? Will they ruin my clothes? Fall through the breaks in the attic flooring? Break the handblown glass chandelier? Etc.
Thanks, Chris. Having your home cleaned does sound like a nerve-wracking process since you can’t be there to supervise. I hope it all goes smoothly.
Hi Cassandra, thank you for sharing this work and also the photos of your prints in progress. Lovely to see and to hear your client’s response. I hope you can figure out what will make them happy. I know this is tricky. I don’t know you but subscribed awhile back and enjoy your posts. I actually printed papers with leaves following your recipe. Looking forward to your finished piece and how you resolve it.
Thank you, Linda. Yes, commissions can be tricky. Fortunately I have time to work this one out. It would be a lot harder if the deadline was shorter. I’m glad you found the leaf print tutorial to be useful! That is a fun process, and I enjoy seeing what others have done with it.
Cassandra…another master piece.❤️
One of my nieces asked me to make her a piece of art and gave me her colour choices…simple enough but stressing as well…l like to make spontaneous art…what ever art, abstract ( rust art is my favourite ).
I think l will make a few things and let her choose…that way l don’t feel restricted..
Funny creatures we are ❤️
Hi Debbie. Yes, it is challenging when someone else is dictating your color or design choices. I’m like you — my art is spontaneous and I react to whatever happens. Good idea to make several pieces and let her choose.
Cassandra…how do you roll the cloth up without disturbing the positions of the rebar? I do lots of rust dyeing myself and l just place another cloth over it and weight it down…this is done with large pieces like the one you have shown above.
The other small pieces l roll up…
Thanks for sharing your talent and tips l would appreciate
Fellow rust enthusiast ❤️
I find that I get better contact with the rebar when the pieces are rolled. But there are some disadvantages as well. The pieces rolled in the center always turned out a lot more dense with rust than the pieces on the outside of the roll.
Note that my rebar pieces are all going in one direction! So it’s pretty easy to roll them tight and not have them move. If I want rebar going in another direction, I do a second and possibly a third roll.
One problem is that the roll gets quite heavy if I have a lot of rebar in it. Weight lifting time!