Dogwood Metal Sculptures (DVD)
When the Dogwood blooms it's a sign that winter is over and spring is in the air. Maybe this the reason for the dogwood sculptures popularity. For whatever reason dogwood sculptures have never lasted long in my shop. I could have always made more of these and I'm sure they would have sold, but they are not the easiest pieces to make. I'd suggest starting with the small dogwood sculpture shown in the DVD. Once you've made the small one then move up to one that is a bit larger. One of my students was hesitant to move into larger sculptures. This was until I told them that ‘often a large sculptures is nothing more than a number of small sculptures put together to make a large sculpture’. Those were the magic words and they were no longer hesitant to make the larger pieces. As I said, these are not the easiest pieces to make but, as often the case, the extra work is worth the effort in the final piece. It all starts with making some patterns. Once you have your patterns it's time to begin cutting out the blossoms and leaves. In the video I have used both copper and brass. You could also do the piece with all copper or all brass, depending on what you have on hand. This is a step by step video so you can easily follow along. The skills involved are mainly brazing, flame coloring and veining. Covered in the video are five designs. The small dogwood spray, one that is two to three times as large. Either of these can be used separately or hung together as a grouping. After having made the two smaller sculptures in the DVD it's rather straightforward to move onto the large wall sculpture. The large sculpture is approximately 44" x 32", depending on how you want to position it on the wall. Then there is the small table sculpture. These sell well and are especially good as gifts. Plus this is a good place to use up any extra dogwood blossoms that you have left over.
One hour and 11 minutes.