How they are made
Handmade Door Wall Art
Each piece, right down to individual bolts in a door for example, is hand shaped and carved.
How they are made
Each new piece, or ‘Master’ starts with a detailed design process drawn up in 2-D, initially using pencils and then with fine liners. Sketches are the first thing I work on, and when I have the requisite proportions, details and size, I draw up the design full size before transferring every detail I need to the backboard that will support the original ‘master’ before the silicone moulding process is applied, rather like a map. I tend not to use much colour at this stage, and focus on the pieces and individual elements to be considered, although I do use a little shading on some sketches.
Every stone and piece of wood is initially roughly shaped to fit the pre decided size and format, and although I work using photographs it is common for me to alter certain things with the aim of a more harmonious finished piece of work. Given that I focus on small featured sections of existing buildings only, the balance has to be carefully manipulated. The photograph is used firstly to inform and then hopefully inspire a well rounded composition.
Each piece, right down to individual bolts in a door for example, is hand shaped and carved. I also apply full detail to all the edge pieces too, at 90 degrees to the main image, which gives a much better and more finished look when displayed. Many pieces are quite tiny and I almost always have to work with +2.5 reading glasses whilst simultaneously looking through a large vintage magnifying glass I managed to acquire some years ago. This does certainly help to make everything considerably more accurate, and brings a lot more consistent control to the whole process and this also includes the painting. I never paint my work just with the naked eye, although I have tried, as I just don’t find it possible to do accurately enough at this scale and the attention to detail required.
The original work is built up from a variety of materials, and I cast my own basic building medium, from which I do the carving, into chunky bars of different thicknesses to give me a good selection of ‘blanks’. From these blanks I can mark out and then cut off the sizes I need to first shape and then radius, before attaching them to the baseboard all before any carving and sculpting can begin. The pieces are generally too small to carve whilst being hand held, and on a couple of occasions early on I found that out to my cost due to the keen edge of the scalpel blades I use.
Every piece, and these often tend to mount up into the hundreds, is then carefully worked on, but only after all the other main pieces have also been attached into their positions. Effectively this means that all the stone, brick and wooden elements are in place, but not so some of the more fiddly items that I do add on later, after the bulk of the carving has been done. These would be, for example, the metal items like hinges, door bolts, wall ties, and so on.
So, once everything is fixed and I’m happy with the overall look I add the infill ‘mortar’. I use a couple of very small spatulas and some equally small tapered round steel rods that I found for this job which generally works very well. I apply this filler material in small sections as I need to work on it before it goes hard and consequently unusable. If it starts to dry too quickly I have to quickly scrape it out and start again. When all the meandering channels between the stones are filled this brings everything together in a cohesive way and gives me a solid, but still unsculpted surface to work on.
The next part of the process is the majority of the carving. This takes a lot of time. Many hours of closely focused work, making sure the stones look the way they should, and that the grain in the wood follows like it naturally would do. There is no way that I have found to speed this process, but I don’t particularly mind that as the process brings its own level of satisfaction. The tools I use are mostly files, small riffler tools and, crucially, scalpels. I get through several blades in a day sometimes because although the metal is flexible, they can’t always take the force I need to put them under. I grind the individual blades into shapes that work better for my working style, or for a specific need, and I buy two different types. One has a long tapering point which snaps easily but which is great for cutting, the other has a curved cutting edge which is better for the details. I normally have four scalpels at hand to work with, and they mostly have slightly modified blades. It can be pretty frustrating when a really good well used one finally breaks!
Many pieces are quite tiny and I almost always have to work with +2.5 reading glasses whilst simultaneously looking through a large vintage magnifying glass I managed to acquire some years ago.
There is no way that I have found to speed this process, but I don’t particularly mind that as the process brings its own level of satisfaction.
I wrap a lot of masking tape around each scalpel where my finger tips naturally rest because otherwise my fingers can become quite painful due to the pressure I need to put them under for the carving. This makes them feel more ergonomic, and give more of a natural extension of your hand. It is quite inflexible work as the material I cut into is dense and unyielding, and consequently very hard to push the blade into.
Once everything is shaped and complete, I spray a thin coat of white primer to more easily check for imperfections, as there are always a few little bits I have missed to sort out. I then finally add any last pieces to the design, for example the hinges, door furniture, wall ties, etc. These I cut from thin sheet brass or aluminium and then carefully hammer them about until they look the part.
The completed design is then boxed up to make a sort of shallow tray. Silicone rubber is poured over the entire design fixed inside the tray and that gives me a very pliable and reliable mould from which to cast from. The material that I use to produce the designs is a top of the range superfine casting plaster that feels almost like a ceramic. It is extremely hard, heavy, cool to the touch and with a stone-like finish. As it is a very fine grade it picks up every little detail requirement very crisply and also handles the delicate business of de-moulding without taking damage.
The cured plaster is tough and resilient, as long as you don’t knock it too hard or drop it, and if looked after should easily outlast the owner. Once out of the mould and fully dry I check thoroughly for any imperfections, like a tiny air bubble or two that will need attention, and carefully radius the sharp edges off all around the rear of the casting, both for safety when handling and also for a professional finish. The backs are an important part of the product and consequently it’s important to me that they look good.
THE FINISHING TOUCHES
At this stage the artwork is effectively finished, except for the choice of colouring process and/or framing if requested, and adding the following to the reverse side:
- A 4mm thick mounted backboard, painted black, for extra strength.
- A 2mm thick x 20mm wide black neoprene foam strip along each of the four sides for protection to the artwork, and for the paintwork of the wall against where it is to be displayed.
- The official Chip and Splinter logo and letterhead graphic with limited edition number, date, name of the artwork and personally hand signed in order to denote it’s authenticity.
- Quality brass D shape picture hanging fixings fixed to the back using brass picture wire and brass screws so the finished piece can be put straight up on a wall with no fuss or bother to the new owner.
(The picture wire I use carries a manufacturer’s 6kg break weight limit which is easily more than is needed, being more than the weight of the pieces themselves, but for extra security the picture wire is doubled on all the larger designs).