Filed under: Bloggidy Blog
My pal Erika (scrap metal welding gal) is trying to raise funds for a public art project here in Madison. If the project is funded, Erika will be commissioned to make a giant metal tree on a median where John Nolan Dr. and Williamson St. meet. For fundraising purposes, Erika started making these 24″ trees out of colorful electrical wire. Here is one:
They are quite detailed with little flower blossoms on the ends of the branches. The trunks are sturdy, composed of multiple strands of thick copper wire. I thought they needed some glass creatures living in them so I started making those:
The tree squids are my favorites because they build nests for their baby tree squids, which are super cute.
I made a bunch of slugs that crawl up the tree trunks:
There’s also frogs and spiders and flying clams. Dodo birds too.
Some things have yet to be wired together but they’re coming along. The goal is to sell two trees at a fundraising event in the near future. I’ll have more pictures later when we get them all together.
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Aardvark Art Glass 
Arg.
Comment by phil February 21, 2012 @ 7:15 amWish we were there so we could bid on one.
Hi Phil
Comment by cathylybarger February 24, 2012 @ 12:45 pmI’m really enjoying working on these and Erika has no shortage of scrap wire so we will be making some for sale. The funding for the Gateway project is enormous (40 K so far) and something that a tree won’t make a dent in, but it can raise awareness about having a big metal tree move into the neighborhood. It’s also a nice gesture on Erika’s part to donate something to the cause. There’s a chili dinner fundraiser coming up in March to which at least one tree will attend, but we’re not turning loose of it for less than $500 because it was so much work. We’re working on some smaller pieces for the shop.