Bike Wheel, Spinning and Not Spinning

wheel piece completed in winter 2014

Last year I made a bike wheel piece that spins, but I made one big mistake. the colored bulbs on top are just set onto the spokes. When I had this piece at June Art Fest last summer, someone pointed out a bit of information I had missed: spokes can come out of the wheel rim.

new wheel bulbs with underglaze partially complete

So I had to make another piece, this time with holes in the bulbs for the spokes to go through. I also added textures to the bulbs because my mom told me to (and you should always listen to your mom).

two wet clay bases in progress

I also made some new bases, with chains like the first base, but I played around with textures and additions to these bases.

new wheel piece with bulbs being attached

I had the bases and the bulbs in place with time to spare before my show, but transporting the bike wheel piece to Seattle didn't go so well. On the first day of setup, I discovered that the wheel of the new piece wasn't staying on the base.

new wheel piece in CORE Gallery

I ended up at a hardware store that night minutes before they closed. I ran in with half the sculpture to get a bolt to attach the wheel to the base. Unfortunately, the bolt I got wasn't the best bolt. I epoxied the sculpture together that night, but in the morning it seemed to be listing dangerously to one side. 

check out the shadows under the wheel

The bulbs on the wheel are attached so that one side is a bit heavier than the other. As time ticked away and I was ready to leave the show and drive back to Yakima, I finally decided to err on the side of stability. I ended up adding epoxy so that the wheel no longer turns. 

new wheel piece and old wheel piece

Though I worried about it off and on during the days after I left Seattle until the night I returned for the Art Walk, the sculpture stayed upright. I left a sign on the pedestal instructing viewers not to touch, and the piece is visually ok and probably a bit better than last year's piece.

second base with chain being epoxied in place

But I intend to conquer this piece. I still have one more base at home that's ready to go. This weekend I threw some replacement bulbs. Since I think I need to fill the gallery again in a year, I am thinking I will need to streamline some of my forms, so no texture for these bulbs.

wet clay bulbs before the spoke holes were attached

My show continues at CORE Gallery in Seattle through February 28, 2015.

Larger Base (in progress) for Spinning Bike Wheel

One fault with the spinning bike wheel piece was that it was top-heavy. I filled the base with cement and the problem disappeared, but I've been wondering if I could balance the wheel weight with a wide base. I started coil-building a wide base, but as I built, I realized I didn't want a straight, level top.

The top of the new base, before and after I cut it at a slant for a gear.

I leaned the form over at the top and bisected the top section from the base with an angled gear. The top section is highly textured with small jewel-like sprigs. The lower section has an impressed texture with sprigged decoration.

Attachment for one branch-like "stem" on the sculpture base, set in place (left) and lifted out of star shapes (right).

Thinking about using the bike parts as supports, I designed two branch- or stem-like pieces connected with bike parts. Both pieces are leftover from the SRAM Part Project from 2012. Both insert shallowly into the wall of the base. The irregularly shaped one (top) will have a bolt securing it to the ceramic braces on either side. The star shapes lock the bike part into a vertical position because the metal form has sections that rest inside the notches.

A second attachment for a branch-like "stem" on the other side of the sculpture base. In the picture a paintbrush is showing the location of the eventual bolt or rod.

Both "stems" will be removable for easier transportation of the sculpture. The second arm will be secured with an invisible bolt or rod inside the sculpture. The plastic bike piece will rest inside a cut-out in the wall of the sculpture.

One "stem" base in place while attaching sprigged gears.

Last year I created some sprigs from a round plastic gear piece that is part of the rear derailleur (I had to look that up) on the back wheel of the bike. I decided to use the actual gears as well as the gear sprigs as surface decoration on the sculpture base. 

Placing the actual gear helped me arrange the sprigged gears.

The holes represent the placement of the plastic pieces. I only had one piece cleaned and ready to attach while I was building the base, so I held it in place with a hole cutter punch while I placed the clay gears.

The base is almost done (building).

After firing and glazing, I plan to increase the height (and weight) of the base by attaching a series of coils of bike chain underneath the bottom rim of the sculpture. Revolution Cycles (go buy all your bike stuff there, please) in Yakima is still saving me bike parts, the latest box was filled with chains.

There are so many chains my camera can't focus on all of them!

Another Bike Wheel Base

My first throwing project of the summer was a couple of bases and a some bulbs for a second (and third, perhaps) spinning bike wheel piece. I wrote about the bulbs and the first base a while back. At the time I hadn't finished the second base. 

Th second new bike wheel base with sprigged top, attached bulbs, and stamped base texture.

I'm happier with the second base, mostly because of the sprigged decoration on the top section. I also added a couple bulbs to the sides of the base. The entire base is still perhaps a bit narrow, so I will probably have to weigh it down with some cement in the hollow base so the wide wheel doesn't topple the whole thing over.

The hole will be where the bike chain goes into the base. the smooth line around the base is the path for the chain after firing.

The chain path is also a bit more complex than on the previous bases. The chain comes out of the base from behind one of the added bulbs and snakes behind the other as it passes.

The sprigged texture took time, but I much prefer this texture to something simpler.

I also got around to learning how to remove the spokes from the wheel rim. I was happy to discover that the end of the spoke, where it gets thicker, is removable. This means I can make the holes in my bulbs fairly small and they will slide on and fit snugly.

The piece at the end of the spoke unscrews and inserts through the rim from the other side.

All the pieces are in the kiln now, but I'm waiting to fire them until after the weather cools off a bit. Today's high is supposed to be 105. I don't think I need to add to the heat in my studio.

Several bulbs drying. The small hole should be large enough to fit on the spoke after firing.