# Other Arts...



## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

This is an oldie but goodie....

A while back I wanted to make a nice gift from scratch. I was in school and during my breaks I decided to go to home depot which was conveniently next to pearl paint, $200 later this is what I made....




I used a nail gun to make a frame that would easily fit lighting, a dura-plex board, and hold the weight of the materials













After that, I separated the pieces of glass so that I could create an image. Funny part is that I bought the glass in ratio I had in my mind of how much of each color I would use. Amazingly I was not short any pieces























Once I did that, I basically got lost in the process...


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## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

Until I was finished...


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## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

Without lights...












The next part was messy, I have to fill the gaps with grout....






















Now the grouted version in the dark...


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## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

Cleaning the grout from frame was not fun but it got done...












Now it was time for the varnishing of the frame














The finished product from all angles....


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## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

Simple wiring...


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## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

The final look


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## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

This all panned from a project I had done 6 years earlier...




















A gift to my Mom, a lamp with 2 different roses on each side


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## Mike (Sep 7, 2010)

That's an awesome piece, ArmyGeo! 

This is probably a silly question, but did you cut the glass as you went so that you'd have glass of the size you needed, or did you estimate and cut it at the outset and work with the pieces you had?

Were you able to prevent any grout from getting on the glass, or did it just come off easily before it dried?

It looks beautiful even when unlit, but _amazing_ with the lights on behind it. I wonder, is it able to be hung on a wall? I would imagine the lights get relatively hot, and it looks like they'd be directly against a wall if it was hung. Have you considered using LED lights? I'm not sure what they cost, but I've heard that they produce next to no heat and require very little power, which would make the piece safer and reduce the total cost of ownership.

I haven't seen anything like this piece before, though admittedly I don't know all that much about art. Is this something you read about and decided to try creating, or did you come up with it yourself?

As for how much you could probably get for it, I'd imagine that would vary a lot depending on where and how you attempted to sell it. I wouldn't think $1,000 is outside the realm of possibility, though. I have no idea what the average person interested in something like this would be willing to pay, though, so I voted for somewhere in the middle in your poll. 

Oh, and the lamp looks great too, of course! Is your mother partial to elephants?


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## PencilMeIn (Sep 2, 2010)

Wow, that is beautiful! Now is this something you do regularly or was it just a one time thing? I agree with Mike about its worth especially if you already put $200 into it. How long did it take start to finish? If you've done others I hope you'll share them with us!


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## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

Mike said:


> That's an awesome piece, ArmyGeo!
> 
> This is probably a silly question, but did you cut the glass as you went so that you'd have glass of the size you needed, or did you estimate and cut it at the outset and work with the pieces you had?
> 
> ...



- I did both I cut the glass as you went so that I'd have glass of the size you needed and with the larger pieces I would estimate and cut it at the outset and to work with the pieces you had

- As for the grout getting on the glass this is just like when you put up tiles in the bathroom. You want to get it all over, so every open crevice is filled. While the grout is still wet, with a damp sponge you clean and the sponge off. Then you let the grout dry, once the grout dried, I used a special sponge that has a sand paper texture to it. This definitely was not fun and took about and hour.

-I attached the back with a hanging wire system that was used for heavy frames, and when installed in the room it gave a relative nice look. 

- It did not get hot because they were fluorescent lamps, specifically the ones for kitchens. They were not directly against a wall when hung. 

-I did consider using LED lights, at the time the cost and time were a factor. I made a small LED set up from some spare LEDs I had but getting the amount that I needed to get the brightness I wanted was going to take too long and cost more. 

-This was something I came up on my own, I have always been a fan of Tiffany lamps and windows. This was a merger of the two.

-My mom at one point collect elephants. I will post some of my other mediums that just deal with elephants.


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## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

PencilMeIn said:


> Wow, that is beautiful! Now is this something you do regularly or was it just a one time thing? I agree with Mike about its worth especially if you already put $200 into it. How long did it take start to finish? If you've done others I hope you'll share them with us!



-Start to finish about 16 hours

-This is a one time thing, but I always wondered about making more and selling custom versions


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## NaturePhoto1 (Sep 4, 2010)

Incredible! Love It! $750!


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## NaturePhoto1 (Sep 4, 2010)

You should get it appraised.


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## Mike (Sep 7, 2010)

ArmyGeo said:


> I attached the back with a hanging wire system that was used for heavy frames, and when installed in the room it gave a relative nice look.
> 
> It did not get hot because they were fluorescent lamps, specifically the ones for kitchens. They were not directly against a wall when hung.


So the piece is directly against the wall when hung but the lamps aren't? Is that because they are recessed in the piece? How long did you leave the lamps on for in order to determine that the heat was not an issue? I don't mean to heckle you about it - I would just hate for you to one day sell the piece and then somehow be liable for damage caused by a fire. It sounds like you've already put it through its paces and determined it isn't an issue, though.



ArmyGeo said:


> I did consider using LED lights, at the time the cost and time were a factor. I made a small LED set up from some spare LEDs I had but getting the amount that I needed to get the brightness I wanted was going to take too long and cost more.


How long ago did you look into the LED option? What did the two florescent fixtures and bulbs cost? Assuming it could provide adequate light, something like this seems perfect for your purposes:

http://www.marinedepot.com/Ecoxotic_12.5_Inch_Stunner_6_watt_LED_Strip_Linkable_LED_Light_Fixtures-Ecoxotic-XX08010-FILTFILDLK-vi.html

Even if it increased your cost a bit over the cost of the florescent fixtures and bulbs, the fact that it would use much less electricity, the bulbs would never have to be replaced, and it would eliminate even the potential for _perceived_ fire hazard related concerns might make the piece considerably more appealing to potential buyers. 



ArmyGeo said:


> This was something I came up on my own, I have always been a fan of Tiffany lamps and windows. This was a merger of the two.


It's really an awesome piece, ArmyGeo, in both its aesthetics and inventiveness.



ArmyGeo said:


> My mom at one point collect elephants. I will post some of my other mediums that just deal with elephants.


I figured that must have been it since an elephant base for the lamp would have seemed an arbitrary choice otherwise.  My mother is into cows for some reason. Maybe I should try making her something cow related. Anyhow, I look forward to seeing your elephant themed works.



ArmyGeo said:


> Start to finish about 16 hours
> 
> This is a one time thing, but I always wondered about making more and selling custom versions


I'm impressed, I would have thought it would take longer. I definitely think there is a market for these... things (what do you call it, anyhow?), especially if you can make custom versions. 



NaturePhoto1 said:


> You should get it appraised.


How do such appraisals work, NaturePhoto1?


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## ArmyGeo (Sep 9, 2010)

Mike said:


> So the piece is directly against the wall when hung but the lamps aren't? Is that because they are recessed in the piece? How long did you leave the lamps on for in order to determine that the heat was not an issue? I don't mean to heckle you about it - I would just hate for you to one day sell the piece and then somehow be liable for damage caused by a fire. It sounds like you've already put it through its paces and determined it isn't an issue, though.












I made the frame with those specific things in mind, the frame had to be able to hold on to the lights without touching the wall. On top of that, the frame actually had buffers that I put after those pictures. This actually pushed the frame away from the wall by 1/2 an inch. This added ambiance lighting to the wall, totally not planned... The lamps gave off no heat, they are actually used in kitchen sets. As lighting from under hanging cabinets. The pictures also don't show the safety features we implement to the wiring to prevent shorts. 



Mike said:


> How long ago did you look into the LED option? What did the two florescent fixtures and bulbs cost? Assuming it could provide adequate light, something like this seems perfect for your purposes:
> 
> http://www.marinedepot.com/Ecoxotic..._Fixtures-Ecoxotic-XX08010-FILTFILDLK-vi.html
> 
> Even if it increased your cost a bit over the cost of the florescent fixtures and bulbs, the fact that it would use much less electricity, the bulbs would never have to be replaced, and it would eliminate even the potential for _perceived_ fire hazard related concerns might make the piece considerably more appealing to potential buyers.


Good points, but you forget time and budget were major factors to this project. Three low heat fluorescent light set with the pieces ready to install into a wood unit...$12


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## karaann07 (Nov 7, 2010)

Wow, this is stunning! My mom has done some mosaic work, and it looks so beautiful, I really want to try it, but I'm just so dang impatient. If someone would just crack all the ceramic or glass and seperate it out for me, it would at least be a start. Ha ha ha. It never occured to me to make a lighted glass piece. Maybe I could try to reign in my patience just once...


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## BgArt (Dec 8, 2010)

Thanks Army GEO. I always like to see the progress of the work. It's amazing what you can do with glass, isn't it?


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