Thursday & Friday

Well I'm getting there but the I missed my deadline in the rose range but got this far with the prototypes.



We've sold all 10 of the Freddie's the serviette holder we cast. I may have to look at entering him into the Carol Boyes competition this year. It's theme is serviette holders.







Scampi braai logo for potjie pot lids was originated and cast this last week.

The sculpture is coming along nicely. We've got the seat together and are now busy with the back.





Friday night saw us almost miss our first printing Photo Booth Fairy experience because of car trouble. Luckily my mechanic could pop by to help.
It was a pre-teen office party which was very entertaining bu rather heavy on ink consumption.
Here are some of the best from the evening. My favorite is elvis lips and then the confused one with the security guard on duty that evening. You just can't beat photographic proof.



Managed to get my rooster Randy to stand still for a sec to get a good pic.



Rather beautiful isn't he! Not when he's chasing you, that's kind of terrifying.
He's not needed for the girls(pullets) to produce eggs but was the only rooster of the five, five week old birds I bought. He crows beautifully as well.

Hope to have some more things done this coming week.

Plenty on my plate

Gosh! Time flies and it feels like i'm making very little progress. This is what happens when you divide you attention by too many things. And below are just a few, not to mention the chickens and the eggs...




Me with my first egg.

I've taken on a casting job for a fellow artist and roped in a friend and foundry man to help. Its taking some serious thought and time to execute but in the end will be a good experience. Fortunately Danie's clued up on bronze and body casts. It's going to look amazing.


Digital rendering of piece to be cast in bronze.

My wife and I also started a small business of our own, "Photo booth fairy" which can be a bit demanding, especially when functional modifications are need. We've just managed to get it to print out photostrips.



Claire in the booth. Some of the photos are hilarious.

Finally Freddie's coming out of a two piece mould but still requires serious labour. Hmmm... Another alternative would be to cast him into a refractory drawn from a silicon positive but Eish...that wouldn't really be in keeping with how we do things.

Guess I'll have to accept that it's going to have to be a labour of love.

The rose range is coming on slowly and I'm hoping to make the toilet roll holder, towel ring and short rail tomorrow. I'll upload images of wuma goodies early next week.

"Life's what happens when you've got other plans"
Friends of ours will testify to that. They've been trying for a baby and just received the news that they'll be having identical twin boys.

All in all, things are good and sales are also picking up :) with a few people wanting basins and bathroom accessories.

As Elaine always says
"Keep smiling"




This one seeded itself.

New Rose Range

Still in clay, so slight changes can be made.

Any thoughts?

We've tried a Rose Range before but I've never managed to complete it in such a way that everything worked together aesthetically. This will hopefully become the new Rose for the Range of bathroom fittings that will include the following:

• Long towel rail
• Short towel rail
• Full towel ring
• Toilet roll holder
• Wall mounted soap dish
• etc...

I may even consider re doing the finials but lets not get ahead of my self.

I'll update the blog with images the minute things are ready. I've now got to wait for the clay to dry out thoroughly before casting the masters and starting the moulds.

Patience is a virtue people!

Will they're drying, I'll get going on Freddy's mould :/

Freddy’s Tummy Tuck

Freddy the frog was a custom order that didn’t materialize. He initially came out off a three piece mould, with one piece a core which created complications. We made a handful for friends and family before shelving the mould, promising to look at streamlining the process. I’ve personally never sold one or exhibited him but some ones seen him somewhere and wants a few.  The planned surgery will hopefully allow him to come out of a two piece mould without cutting back too much on his most valuable asset, the beer belly. Yes i modeled him after myself :)

Original Freddy

Under the blade/chisel

Happy customers come again.

A big thanks must go out to the hand full of previous customers who came back with friends to make my day at the Irene market. I'm pleased to say that people are traveling and still buying gifts for loved ones, friends and business associates.

Ltd to availability of stopper part

Half-Full

While I try not to make a habit of leaving wine in the bottle, I stumbled over this today and thought that with a bit of work it could make a novel product for Irene Market stall. I’ll upload the finished products in the near future ; )

Motivation

“I finally found a hobby even less lucrative than gardening. Personal storytelling websites! Go me.”  almost Derek Powazek words.

Look, I'm an avid gardener, and enjoy a number of other hobbies but not everything can be done to generate money. I will also not claim to be a man of many words or even capable of putting them together nearly as well as some but i'll try. Inevitably 'll fall back on pictures as my best tool of expression.

The main purpose of this blog is firstly to share news about developments at Wuma Handcrafted Aluminium. The side objective is to promote awareness of the business and hopefully stimulate sales.

The recession hasn’t missed us either but we’re hanging in there. If you’ve ever been close to running out of Petrol/fuel, like I was once on the way up Van Reenens pass, you’ll know the feeling. There’s only so much you can do and some of its in vein but it keeps you going. We made it then and we'll make it again.

All views/feedback and suggestions are welcome.