Kevin received a commission to create his interpretation of a Pampas plant. He searched online for “Pampas plant” and found Pampas plants in a rainbow of colors! He loved the pink and a cream color, and could see green stems complementing them for a New York sculpture garden.
Like any plant, this sculpture has to be able to move, to sway in the wind. Research and development time!
Kevin started playing with different-sized stems in aluminum and steel. How was he going to shape it? How was he going to make the plant look right? He had a lot of fun trying several different sizes, shapes and textures. He made individual test stems with a few “leaves” on them and stuck them in the ground, then watched them as the wind blew.
Which one moves the best? Which one has a nice sway? He didn’t want them too heavy so they wouldn’t move. But he also didn’t want them so light that, on its site when they get 40, 50, 60 mile an hour winds sometimes, the plant could get destroyed in a windstorm. Kevin also had to take into consideration that it snows there, and he didn’t want the sculpture to get covered in snow and bend from the weight.
Finally Kevin had his shape and look. He had the right thicknesses of everything. He knew he wanted the whole plant to be a little more than 6 feet tall.
Kevin made this sculpture before he got his CNC table, so he created his CAD file, and sent it to a water jet company that cut out the parts on a water jet table.
Of course, he also had to think about, once fabrication was completed and powder coating done, shipping it, and it being transported to the site and assembled. Figuring out how that is going to happen is part of the overall planning for the sculpture. Is it easy enough for the patron, with written instructions or a video, to put together the sculpture without any trouble? (Yes, it was.)
Kevin then shows the sculpture on location.
So that’s just a quick look into how Kevin’s brain works, from talking on the phone with the patron, to creating and shipping a commissioned sculpture. This patron wanted this plant in his garden, where it’s not the right setting to grow, so that’s where Kevin steps in.
Before you go, you might want to stick around for another moment to see him help put together a teaser for this video ….