Have I been...

...in a black hole for the last couple of weeks?  Perhaps, if you consider a black gesso frenzy in two studios a hole.  I've been working on a clock, if you can imagine.

The Impossible Clock, °Bart Bjorkman & Win Dinn
Repurposed table, clock workings, chalk paint, gears
47" diameter

This piece, in collaboration with Bart Bjorkman of Puffin Design, has occupied my mind, hours and dreams for the past while, and has been a long time in the works.

Bart found the table (imagine this photo without the clock hands, and some 47" inches in diameter if you can), and knew he had to turn it into a clock.

Well before Christmas, Bart did a lovely cream edging with chalk paint and left the distressed wood showing for the four sets of Roman numerals.  Adding the clock mechanism, he foolishly turned it over to me.  That's when things really started to bog down.

We mulled over a French concept, but I was unmotivated.  I spent hours working on a design concept that included a floral motif, with lacklustre results.  And then the craziness hit.  Why not do a steampunk theme?

I searched the net for clockwork gears, hoping that I could find some larger ones.  No luck.  I found a wide range of gears in sizes of 1.5 inches and under, and ordered what I loved in those.  The larger ones had to be hand-created, though.  Watch out - here comes the fun foam brainwave.

Cutting gears from fun foam is no easy task, and incising them with a ball nib ever more entertaining.

Each gear (hand-crafted and commercial) then needed to be coated with black gesso, front and back, in order to give the medium (glue) something to adhere to.  They were then painstakingly gilded with four different shades of Inka Gold to give that metallic/rusted appearance.

Ranging in size from 2" up to 8" or so, each gear took about 2 hours to complete.  In order to ensure there were enough for the design, I did sixteen of them.  I'm grateful that my artist brain precludes me from doing the math or I'd be really worried about my sanity.

Distressing the cream edge, adding some real metal nuts and bolts and other oddments from my stash, and some layering really finished it off nicely.  I'm loving the results, and can't get enough of the look; I'll be sad to see this particular piece go out the gallery door! Detail photos follow:

I've been calling this the Impossible Clock for weeks (months?) now, and the name is definitely going to stick, in my mind anyway.  It's been a huge adventure, and I'm delighted that Bart was patient enough to wait for it to come together.  Thanks, Bart, for all the fun!