| Griff |
| The Ever Patient Karen. |
| ABOUT THE ARTIST |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
broad ripple windworks
| For ordering information or other questions please email Griff GRIFF@GRIFFANDKAZ.COM |
| Murphy |
As a kid I was always taking things apart to find out how they worked. As I
grew older I grew accomplished at actually putting them back together in a
working condition and this led me towards a career in electronics and laser
servicing always with an eye on how to make things work better.
I began manufacturing wind sculptures in the winter of 2004 after
watching the movie Twister, seeing the brilliant works of Evan Lewis in
Aunt Megs yard. I was also pretty impressed with Helen Hunt when she was
on top of the van trying to fix the Doppler Radar but I digress...... Also I
wanted to give it a go, so I did and soon found out it's far cheaper than
therapy!
The first piece was manufactured in the basement of my previous home.
Some roofing copper, half inch pipe, an old wheel off my mountain bike
and a custom brass turning from Creative Machining Concepts in
Carmel, IN and I was all set to go. It worked out well.
The first sculpture was not clear coated. It looked stunning for the first
couple of weeks then started to lose its luster and turn brown. Whatever
you hear about copper achieving a blue patina effect after a couple of
years outside are all wrong unless that effect is artificially applied.
Copper will slowly go brown after a few weeks outside then stay brown
for the longest time. Maybe eventually it will turn blue/green, I'm still
waiting to find out. I clear coat all of my work now as a standard. The
beauty of the polished copper lasts a long time.
LED solar powered lighting is sometimes used on the pieces to provide
a slowly rotating night time glow. This looks wonderful during the hours
of darkness.
I moved to new premises with a state of the art workshop allowing
more room for manufacture including the recent addition of an English
Wheel used for producing parts with multiple curved surfaces.
My real job has been as a laser engineer for the last 23 years or so and
when not working at that I race mountain bikes with a surprising degree
of success. The rest of my time is shared between my lovely wife
Karen, Murphy our 2 year old Border Collie, creating my sculptures
and learning to ride my unicycle.
grew older I grew accomplished at actually putting them back together in a
working condition and this led me towards a career in electronics and laser
servicing always with an eye on how to make things work better.
I began manufacturing wind sculptures in the winter of 2004 after
watching the movie Twister, seeing the brilliant works of Evan Lewis in
Aunt Megs yard. I was also pretty impressed with Helen Hunt when she was
on top of the van trying to fix the Doppler Radar but I digress...... Also I
wanted to give it a go, so I did and soon found out it's far cheaper than
therapy!
The first piece was manufactured in the basement of my previous home.
Some roofing copper, half inch pipe, an old wheel off my mountain bike
and a custom brass turning from Creative Machining Concepts in
Carmel, IN and I was all set to go. It worked out well.
The first sculpture was not clear coated. It looked stunning for the first
couple of weeks then started to lose its luster and turn brown. Whatever
you hear about copper achieving a blue patina effect after a couple of
years outside are all wrong unless that effect is artificially applied.
Copper will slowly go brown after a few weeks outside then stay brown
for the longest time. Maybe eventually it will turn blue/green, I'm still
waiting to find out. I clear coat all of my work now as a standard. The
beauty of the polished copper lasts a long time.
LED solar powered lighting is sometimes used on the pieces to provide
a slowly rotating night time glow. This looks wonderful during the hours
of darkness.
I moved to new premises with a state of the art workshop allowing
more room for manufacture including the recent addition of an English
Wheel used for producing parts with multiple curved surfaces.
My real job has been as a laser engineer for the last 23 years or so and
when not working at that I race mountain bikes with a surprising degree
of success. The rest of my time is shared between my lovely wife
Karen, Murphy our 2 year old Border Collie, creating my sculptures
and learning to ride my unicycle.