THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER...

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THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER is my second boat in the SETTING SAIL....ARTISTS AT SEA exhibit at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts on Bainbridge Island in WA state. This show will run through July 1st. Twenty-two artists participated in this exhibition and if you haven't seen it already, it is definitely worth a visit.


THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER measures 11.5" x 3.5" x 9" overall. The boat is photo etched and fold formed copper and the base is photo etched nickel. There is a quote that wraps around the boat. It is one of my favorites and is by Isak Dinesen ( the woman who wrote OUT OF AFRICA). The entire quote reads, "THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER....SWEAT, TEARS OR THE SEA." I believe there is much truth in these words.


I have written a little bit about fold forming before and you can read about it here. In the past I have only tried this technique on jewelry sized pieces. After buying a little bit larger cross-peen hammer I decided to try my hand at making a larger boat. I also wanted to see the results of photo etching the metal prior to forming the boat shape. There are a few limitations....the most important one being that I have to use fairly thin metal (26 gauge) to do fold forming and that means the etch can't be as deep as I might like. Still, I was pleased with the results. I doubt I will be making any fold formed boats larger than this one....I've 'guess'timated that this project took about 1600 blows with the hammer. I took photos of the whole process and in a few days I will post them along with details about fold forming.


I was pleased with the results of the etching on the nickel base. Nickel has a tendency to erode a bit....sometimes that is a problem....but in this case it seemed perfect for an underwater scene.