Zan Smith Metal Sculpture

I woke up early this morning and decided to run out to Freshfields Village to take some pictures of the frogs at Carolina Clay Gallery.  There was a brisk chill in the air and the light was very good.  This was the first time that  I have been there at the crack of dawn and  I wanted to try out my new canon 24-70 2.8L lens. Judging from my first real shoot with this lens I have to say it is a superb piece of glass. The colors and contrast are excellent as well as the sharpness. It seems to have that X-factor which brings me to the purpose of this blog post.

The above Papoose on Knee Frog has that “aliveness” of personality that is difficult to explain but you know it when you see it. This frog was made by dad and it is unique in that it shows the frogs relating to one another with eye to eye contact. I did not really pay much attention to it while I was shooting (just another frog), but it became very apparent when I was reviewing the images back at the studio. With every slight shift of camera angle came a new spontaneous  expresion. It brings to mind Frank Cabot and his claim that “they have soul”.

Mig welding stainless steel

In my last blog post I mentioned that we used corten steel for the family practice piece and I thought it would be interesting to discuss the use of stainless steel in my sculptures today.  Stainless steel is always made using chromium. The minimum amount of chromium used to make stainless steel is 10.5%; it is chromium that makes the steel stainless. Chromium also improves the corrosion resistance by forming a chromium oxide film on the steel. This very thin layer, when placed under the right conditions, can also be self-repairing. This is a very basic description of stainless steel and a more thorough definition can be found here.

  Stainless steel is an excellent material for the modern day metal sculptor primarily for its anti-corrosive properties but also for its strength and bright clean finish. I primarily use 304 grade stainless. It has less chromium content than say 316 making it less brittle and not quite as shinny. In order to cut stainless I use a special machine called a plasma cutter. It uses a combination of air and electricity to sever the material. I use my torch freehand and am able to cut out basically any shape I want. In order to join the metal together my weapon of choice is the mig welder. I was born to mig! Mig stands for metal inert gas and is also referred to as GMAW or gas metal arc welding. In mig welding the wire electrode (.030 308L stainless) and a shielding gas (tri-mix) are fed through a welding gun. The main benefit of mig to me the sculptor is that it frees up one hand to hold something in place while I tack it as well as it is pretty easy to get a good strong weld. I also like to Tig weld when I want an aesthetically pleasing or intricate weld. Tig stands for tungston inert gas where the filler material (3/32 308 stainless rod) is held in one hand and the torch with a tungston electrode and argon sheilding gas in the other. Tig welding is an art in and of itself and the learning curve is steep. 

The pro’s for using stainless in my sculptures are many. First and foremost it brings structural integrity the the piece. Sometimes it is obvious such as a standing frog on a ¼ inch stainless steel base. Sometimes not so obvious such as a sitting bench frog where no stainless is visible (it’s there believe me). Stainless is strong, powerful, and bold. I can’t sculp without it. It is present in some form on everything I have ever made. Aesthetically it is hard to resist, although alone stainless can be a bit severe for my taste. There are quite a few optional finishes for stainless but the most widely used in outdoor sculpture are the polished mirror finish or brushed finish of which there are many variations of each. I really enjoy working with stainless as I have it to thank for putting the mig in my hand.

When there are pro’s there are usually cons and this is no exception. The main con in working with stainless steel is the expence of the material as well as the machinery to manipulate it. As an artist it can be cost prohibitive to just “goof” around with stainless. Also, one must wear a respirator and have good ventilation when welding stainless steel because of the  potential health hazards of the chromium.

Stainless steel is one of the big three metals that I use. The other two being copper and brass. I am always evolving as a metal sculptor and my current path is to utilize  more stainless steel in my work. The trick is to get it to play well with the other metals. 

I was recently walking in downtown Charleston and came across this “blast from the past”. This was my first piece of metal sculpture that I worked on with dad.  The year was 1979 and I was thirteen years old. He was commissioned by the Medical University of South Carolina to build a sculpture that would fit in with their logo and family theme. I have vivid memories of the experience. We began by brainstorming ideas and then building maquettes. Once we decided on a model I took a black and white photograph and processed the negative. I then put the negative into a slide projector so we could project the image onto large sheets of kraft paper to use for the templates. Corten steel was the material of choice for its anti corrosive properties. Finally we put fire to the metal and started cutting and grinding the steel. Dad would use a tree with a crotch in it for making the large bends and then a blacksmith vise for the rest of the forming. The base was made from forming sheet copper and filling it with concrete.  We then installed the finished piece to the fanfare of the six o’clock news.

Needless to say I was mesmerized by the process. I was paid $200 dollars for my efforts and I bought a black and white (Beseler 23CII) enlarger with it. Its funny how things work out that almost 30 years later I am doing the same thing by making metal sculpture and funneling the profits into photographic equipment!