Flaps I - quickwall art idea

17 years ago

Here is a recent project that turned out better than I expected. I was about to throw away a ruined mess when I saw some art potential and started adding concrete to the flaps of mesh til they were rigid. The back of it is about 13 by 15 inches and is made of 3 inch thick styrofoam covered in one layer of mesh and quickwall. The inner square is mirror with broken safety glass on top. Some of the safety glass is painted (on the back) with liquid goldleaf.

I am thrilled with the wall it is hanging on. This has been a concrete block eyesore for years and I rubbed on a layer of Quickwall and did some painting and - what an improvement!

click on pictures to enlarge - these are all photos of the same project, showing how changing light on the wall changes its look. I am working on more of these - sort of a series.... Flaps II and Flaps III etc.

Laura

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Comments (20)

linnea2
17 years ago
INteresting Laura!
It's always about breaking out of imagined restrictions,
isn't it? Good for you, bravo!
tango88
17 years ago
Both the wall & the mirror frame are wonderful! Great job Laura, show us more! --- Tango
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Dena, Rick... great ideas. All I have thought of so far is adding layers of flaps by doing one set and wrapping plastic wrap around them as they dry on the wood, then doing another set right over them. When dry, the plan would be to release one set at a time. I would think you could do quite a layered look that way . There must be a lot more a person could achieve with the hinged mesh technique.... Right now -after reading Dena's post - all I can think of is wanting to make a huge goldfish with flowing thin mesh fins. I wish I was more able to sculpt a fish. Abstract shapes are easier for me (no drawing talent). Laura
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Rick - I see no damage in any of the quickwall items that were left outdoors. I just had a few that were supposed to hold water and 3 of those I purposely left out full of water so they would go thru the freeze/thaw cycles our winter offers. (gets down to -10 for a few days most winters but can also race up to 50 a lot of days) . They all did fine - still hold water all summer. My surprise is that they hold water at all. Why in the world would a thin walled quickwall ball hold water? I don't have much experience with any of this but the same ball made from concrete and mesh seems to leak like a sieve but the quickwall ball that is open to the weather has to be emptied after rains - I have left the water in it for weeks and it never leaves - it seems very waterproof to me. Life has so many mysteries. Laura
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rickharmer
17 years ago
Congrats!Great recovery on a what might have been a lost piece of art.You da woman!!
Cheers from here
Dena6355
17 years ago
Laura,
It is a very nice piece of art, and is attractive in it's display. I am not positive I understand, though. Is the white background the concrete eyesore you are referring to? And is the black and rust colored piece the 13x15" piece, the wings (black and rust). I have difficulty with perception some time. Could you take a close up of the black/rust and mirrored part, please?
Thank you and again it is very attractive! You have done so much with quickwall, and I am sure you have ideas in process,
Dena
Fleur
17 years ago
Laura, I love your "Flaps". Leave it to you to come up with something great out of something that was destined to be picked up at the curb. Sort of like making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Since you've managed to save this project, I wonder if you also save string and gum-wrapper foil and what you'd make from those. (Is that your Venus hiding behind the wall.) Keep up the good work, as I know you will
nathanhurst
17 years ago
Very cute. I want one.
sereneseen
17 years ago
Great, creative piece of artwork. Love the wall too. You are very talented.

SereneSeen
ltd123
Original Author
17 years ago
Dena - yes, the white wall used to be the eyesore. Here is another view of the art piece... see if it helps answer your question. I will go try again a little later.
Thanks for your comments.
Laura

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ltd123
Original Author
17 years ago
I love the comments.
Fleur, string and gum wrappers must be the only things I DON'T save. I spent the day trying to bring some order to my workspace (carport). It is obvious I am saving way too much. Order will only be achieved via multiple trips to the curb on garbage day!
yes, that is the leaf torso showing at the edge of one photo.

Nathanhurst, have you made one yet? It would be fun for Flaps I to have a big brother in Australia. Send photos...
Laura
nathanhurst
17 years ago
Not yet - I'm still mulling over how I want to use it. Oh for more time!

What did you use for the colouring?
lazydaisy
17 years ago
ltd, you're always coming up with something clever. I love it and the wall too. It looks so "retro".

So you gave me an idea, I'm going to start an "art edition" also, but I'm calling mine "Flops I through Flops VI"...looks nothing like yours though! :)
ltd123
Original Author
17 years ago
Nathan, I first use water based acrylic paints - first, I often pour water on the whole project to make the watered down paint flow right on. (with a brush) . These are the craft paints that come in the 4 inch tall plastic bottles for 69 cents each.
When I get something I halfway like I let it dry and then go at it with cheap cans of spray paint . As I understand it, the oil based paints can be used on top of water based paints. I just drift the spray across the project and let the colors "catch" on the rough surface of the concrete.

I have no idea if this paint job will last 20 years outdoors or 20 days.
Well, I think I used similar techniques on some of the things I did last summer so that means they still look good after 12 months.
Laura

Lazydaisy - heheheh - I love the Flops I through VI concept. I peeked at one of my still-wet projects last night and I fear it is the start of a new Flops series here.
Laura
bailey_09
17 years ago
Laura, a terrific flop! I'm curious as to what you started out to do that failed. You mentioned a leaf torso behind the wall - have you posted a picture of it? Also, why do you use oil paint over the waterbase and acrylic? Have you tried a faux finish glaze?
Barbara
ltd123
Original Author
17 years ago
Bailey, the failure story will be written later - I can't take a good look at the project yet but if it is as bad as I fear I will take photos and ask everyone what went wrong. Basically, a friend called saying he was standing next to the biggest leaves he had ever seen and wanted to know if he should cut them for me. Who could resist that?? They were wonderful (27 by 33 inches!) - no idea what they are... they came off some shoot out of a stump. I had to work on them immediately and he brought me 3. good heavens, I had no idea big leaves were so time consuming and took so much concrete. I soon saw I did not have time to do anything but a big stepping stone idea for each leaf. The last one, I poured the cement in the place I want the stone to be and put the leaf on top and poured on 50 pounds of sand, hoping that would force the leaf imprint into the wet cement. When I lifted a tiny corner yesterday I could not see any print at all and fear the whole leaf won"t have left a print when it dries and comes off.
Laura
rickharmer
17 years ago
Morning,Laura.Lots of fun,and I'm glad to see that you're willing to expose your failures as well as your triumphs-it helps us all.
On paint,Little and Lewis were on Martha's show and they said that they use exterior latex,cut 2 to 1 with water on some of their pieces(they were doing a bit about mirrors).I find their colours fabulous;it really is something for me to try to attain.
Have you tried colouring your concrete with powdered oxides,etc?The colour's permanent,and you could add on to the base colour with acrylics,oils(maybe),latex paints,that sort of thing.I got powdered colours at a concrete supply company-green and blue are expensive(!)but the others weren't too bad.I use DAVIS COLOURS ,and you can find them on the web.I've also found that I can get quite a variety of colours at my pottery supply company,packaged in small batches.These are for pottery,of course,but my limited experimentation showed some promise.Perhaps others here have more to say about using these colour additives.
Like I said,it's"fun,fun,fun until my wife took the credit card away"(apologies to the Beach Boys!)
Cheers from here
nathanhurst
17 years ago
I found acrylics outside faded quite quickly (within a year you can notice a difference). Particularly red (as it absorbs all the high energy light). Oxides seem to be the only lasting colours, but the colour selection seems rather poor (I guess there aren't many suitable oxides) - I've got rust, yellow/ochre and black. I've seen dark green (chromium oxide). No pretty colours like on this work :-(

On the other hand, when it starts to fade, you just make a new one, different!
ltd123
Original Author
17 years ago
When you use oxides to color a project, could you color some slurry (portland and water) with the oxides and sort of paint that on in layers??
Laura
Dena6355
17 years ago
Laura,
Definitely. Besure that your project is damp, either not totally cured or sprayed with water first.
dena
myback_garden
17 years ago
I love your ART..What a great piece..Deb
walldecolover
13 years ago
Great idea..I wish I would be able to be so creative. If you love wall art you may check the website below.

Here is a link that might be useful: couture deco

Flaps I - quickwall art idea

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