Lily fountain installed and finished at First Montessori of Atlanta!
August 23, 2004
Here's some pictures of the completed lily fountain at it's home at
First Montessori Atlanta.

Lily_kids.jpg 97k

Lily_front.jpg 92k

Lily_side.jpg 93k

Lily_Kiki.jpg 99k

Kiki_Jeff.jpg 99k

Lily_side_close.jpg 64k

Lily_tipping.jpg 79k

Lilies_tilt.jpg 104k

Lily_bottom.jpg 86k

Jeremys_dragonfly.jpg 49k

Lilypad.jpg 56k

tipping.avi 2.7m

tipping_close.avi 1.7m

Dragonfly_flutters_side.avi 3.5m

Dragonfly_flutters.avi 1.9m

Antonia_dedication.jpg 55k

Burning_Ideas_credits.jpg 66k

Landscape_credits.jpg 63k

dragonfly_larvae.jpg 56k

Lily leaves and lilypads get veins
July 28, 2004
Here's how I made the veins for the leaves in the fountain.

I have a friend who has a pond and I went over to look at his lilypads.
The veins are very unusual -- this is what they really look like!
When I put the veins in the copper lilypads,
it really makes them look real!

The lily leaves are also authentic, based on real leaves.

I was inspired to make the leaf veins after a visit
to the SunBrothers' studio. They're friends of mine who
make copper solar roses.

The lilypad form I made by plasma cutting the form out roughly,
then grinding it so the edges were sharp, but still even with eachother.
Then I braised it to a piece of steel
so it would hold its shape when I pounded it.

I made the lily leaf form by laying down a bead of metal with a
MIG welder, then grinding the edges the same way -- sharp, but
still in the same plane.

After that, I wanted to give a curve to the leaves and also
give them so thickness, so I made a form to pound the spine over.
When pounded against a sandbag, the spine makes the leaf arch
and makes the whole leaf more rounded.
I will weld a thick stem to it, to give it even more thickness.

The lilypad form took over 4 hours, and the lily leaf form took
over 5 hours, but the effect they have on the leaves to make them
look natural, was well worth the effort!

veins_in_use.jpg 92k

lilypad_veins_form.jpg 78k

lilypad_veins.jpg 71k

lilypads_all.jpg 85k

lily_leaf_veins_form.jpg 76k

Kiki_pounds_leaf.jpg 82k

pounding_closeup.jpg 68k

leaf_ready_to_pound.jpg 81k

leaf_veins_done.jpg 89k

leaf_veins_finished.jpg 76k

before_after.jpg 85k

leaf_spine_form.jpg 74k

pound_leaf_spine.jpg 76k

leaf_spine_pounded.jpg 69k

Copper is polished and colored with flames.
June 6, 2004
I polished this flower and just touched it with a gentle pinpoint
flame, which caused oxides to grow on the copper. These oxides are thin
and cause irridescence on the surface -- similar to how soap bubbles
are colorful, but don't have pigments. Bird feathers are also the same.
Try holding a colorful feather up to the light -- it is actually only brown or gray.

These oxides might even protect the copper for a while and prevent it from corroding,
but probably over time, they will still turn penny-brown, then green with age.

But the bright colors will look really spectacular when the fountain is dedicated!

back.jpg 26k

side.jpg 35k

side_close.jpg 40k

side_spots.jpg 30k

pivot_shine.jpg 33k

Movies and pics of all set up
June 5, 2004
Some quick movies and pictures of al the lilies functioning,
wihle the light is good!

Now, back to work! :)

06050013.jpg 133k

06050018.jpg 116k

06050024.jpg 28k

06050027.jpg 36k

06050008.avi 3.3m

06050010.avi 3.2m

06050019.avi 1.4m

06050025.avi 1.5m

06050026.avi 1.3m

silhouette.mov 1.3m

All lilies are now set up!
June 2, 2004
All the lilies are now set up in their base for a first test!
How exciting!!

1_lily.jpg 105k

all_7.jpg 105k

lily_from_above.jpg 61k

lily_from_side.jpg 68k

pivot_closeup.jpg 56k

base.jpg 112k

Testing some lilies to see if they dump properly.
May 28, 2004
Using just clamps, I set up the lilies in bunches to see how well
they worked dumping one into another.

3tip_2cycle.avi 3.1m

4tip_2cycle.avi 2.8m

Big lily tipping test
April 23, 2004
This is the big lily that I originally made to test the concept
of a tipping lily flower.

lily_tipping.avi 3.2m

Test movies
April 22, 2004

04230001.AVI 3.2m

04230002.AVI 3.1m

04230003.AVI 1.4m

Lily head finished
April 15, 2004
The copper lily head finished, and held up with a potential stem.

flower_head.jpg 49k

flower_head_side.jpg 43k

Kiki_flower.jpg 59k

Kiki_flower_side.jpg 64k

Kiki's sketches
March 17, 2004
Some initial concept sketches by Kiki, to show what she could do,
and some other ideas for the fountain.

leaves.jpg 33k

lily_tip.jpg 27k

Initial concept sketch
February 12, 2004
This is the sketch sent to me by First Montessori, to describe what
they want the fountain to look like.

Dragonfly_fountain.jpg 28k