Metal Perch

[Rambozo]

if you were looking for a way to produce an item like the fish and make money...

You farm them out to China.

[Slartybartfa]

If you check out his website, he's a commercial artist. So evidently he's found a way to keep food on the table.

Lots of techniques there that would be fun to play with. Skipping a welding stick across the surface, then sanding it down with a flap sander leaves a very interesting texture.

[fdcmiami]

If you check out his website, he's a commercial artist. So evidently he's found a way to keep food on the table.

Lots of techniques there that would be fun to play with. Skipping a welding stick across the surface, then sanding it down with a flap sander leaves a very interesting texture.

actually slarty, i did. plus read his bio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQQyfiKf8h8

in the mid eighties i worked for an artist executing metal sculptures; doing that i became acquainted with several west coast artists and patrons. the shops that i went into were surprisingly well organized and setup for large projects. they were not disorganized and sloppy like gordon's. he has executed some larger works so i am guessing that he has a studio somewhere else. probably the most well known of the west coast group was fletcher benton; you could have easily transitioned his 'studio' to a working structural fabrication shop.

a lot of people think that they are going to be artists. the fact is there is more to it than just putting out nice work. or creative work. you need to market yourself specifically as an artist; not a craftsperson, there a tons of those. you can see them at crafts fairs across the us at any time. the money comes when you can do a gallery showing and develop a following of wealthy patrons.

the guy on here that did the fountain sculpture should follow that course. deviate from the norm, develop a style, handle custom fab and install and it will lead to money.

that little project was one of the more impressive things i've seen on this website. welding is only one facet of a job, most welding jobs incorporate much more than a few well run beads, in fact in a lot of cases the welds themselves are incidental to the overall piece. i will post an example, art related; these pics were taken at the boston museum of fine arts. i am a fan of the minimalists, this is an example of david smith's work. do you think the art community spent a lot of time looking at his welds (i did look). no it was the message and at the time of execution it was pretty radical.

then on the other hand you have this stuff. my most recent job. i had to drop these four, four hundred pound cable guides to the floor (85) feet. then my helper and i split them inserted new sheaves and using an ac winch operated from the basket of a jlg 85 lifted them back into position and bolted in place. actually there was quite a bit more to it than that but the welding part only took 20 minutes. 48 inches of weld on each bracket. just some 1/8th 7018 that most on here could have done but like i said it's only one piece of the pie. if you want to get beyond 12 dollars an hours you need to be recognized for something beyond just welding.

well, i am trying to make a point here but i think the message is getting lost. to early, time for coffee then work.