Valentine’s Day 10th Anniversary Show January 31st, 2010 Sunbrothers Studio Presents: Valentine’s Day Roses 2010 Has it been 10 years already?  Join me for a look back at a decade of solar powered sculpture, and take a peek at what’s to come in the next. Saturday, February 13th, 2010 from 6 pm-10 pm FREE admission Sunbrothers Studio 1345 S. 50th Street Richmond, CA 94804 The show will feature examples of past work, a special edition of new Long Stem Roses, vining sweat peas, solar blades, and a collection of artworks and crafts by other contributing artists. And don’t miss the raffle at 9pm.  Grand Prize: a Longstem Rose! - raffle tickets available at the show. Posted in events | No Comments » Glass flower construction January 28th, 2010 Glass flowers start from 18×18″ pieces of flat borosilicate glass.  The glass is scored with a glass cutter in a grid (across and down) to make an x/y array of smaller squares. Cutting running pliars break the glass along the scored lines.  Individual squares are broken apart by hand. The final result:  when everything goes well, a stack of glass squares used to make petals for flowers.  When things don’t go well, a stack of glass squares and a stack of odd shaped waste pieces where the glass didn’t break evenly. Posted in work process | No Comments » CNC Plasma Cutting November 28th, 2009 One of the early steps involves cutting the basic leaf shapes out of copper.  This was once done by hand, but now accomplished with a CNC plasma table.  Plasma cutting uses superheated gases to ‘blow through’ the metal.  For the rose leaves, I use 12 oz. copper sheet. The start of a CNC run Each leaf is composed of 3 -5 leaflets on a central stem.  The CNC allows me to cut this out as a single shape, with copper details as thin as (about) 1/16 “.  This would not be possible to do by hand. A rose 'leaf' is composed of 5 leaflets The leaf drawings are done in software and stacked together in the CNC program.  A bit of experimentation has yielded a process that cuts a whole 3′x5′ sheet in a single session, with a water fed assist on the plasma torch to keep the copper cool, minimize distortion, and leave a cleaner edge on the cut metal. A water feed allows finer detail and minimizes distortion from the heat The goal of the run is to have as many succesful cuts as possible.  Errors can lead to unused copper and wasted time.  This run had over 100 leaves, with 5 that were not succesful.  I have not had a large run like this go 100% good, though one time I came close with only 1 lost leaf. A finished sheet. A few of the leaves on this one were lost. Posted in work process | No Comments » August: Gone already? August 24th, 2009 The month of August has shot right by, but not without a few studio developments I’ve been working on a new method to encapsulate my solar cells.  All of the solar panels that I use the artwork are custom, studio built from single crystal solar cells. A bit messy, I know. But its better than it used to be... The silicon wafer is the functional heart of the solar panel, but its thin and fairly fragile.  To protect from damage and water, the wafers must be sealed behind a piece of glass.  The process I’ve developed isn’t the quickest way to accomplish this, but the panels are very durable and the encapsulant works well with the structure and shape of the cells. Four individual cells provide the necessary voltage to charge a battery The pieces are stacked, solder, and attached to lead wires prior to encapsulation Posted in work process | No Comments » New roses July 09 July 29th, 2009 Here’s a quick look at some new roses I’m currently building – these are the bases for roses that will have 2 -4 flowers each Each rock is drilled through, and sits on stainless tubing mounted to a steel plate.  The rose will use the stainless tubing for both support and as a vessel for the electronics and battery. Posted in sculpture in progress | No Comments » A few changes here and there… July 10th, 2009 There’s been a new addition to the studio (of a sorts), and this in small part has helped contribute to my lack of updates on the website.  I’d like to welcome little Corwin to the Sunbrothers family and will be teaching him the finer aspects of welding and brazing, glasswork and electronics just as soon as Maia lets me have him alone at the shop.  I can’t wait to get a picture of him in a little welding helmet and leathers. As far as sculpture is concerned, there is a Long Stem Rose on auction at the Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival (July 15-18).  This is part of a new batch of Long Stem’s as well as three larger ‘rooted’ roses.  Some are commissions and some will be held available to new inquiries. Next up will be more pea vine work, and dag nabbit I’m itchin to start some more carrots.  As always, inquiries are always welcome and studio visits definitely encouraged! Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments » Sunbrothers Studio Presents February 16th, 2009 Valentine’s Day 2009 Saturday, Feb. 14th, 6-10 pm (rain or shine) 1345 S. 50th St. Richmond 94804 This year’s show (my 9th annual) is shapin up splendidly. Following tradition, I will have a new set of single and double Long Stem Roses available. Behind door #2 will be a set of Vining Sweet Pea starter plants. And last but not least, I’m unveiling a new concept I’ve dubbed the Solar Blade. The roses are pretty well dialed in at this point, and have always been a presence at this show. The Vining Sweet Peas have been long in the coming; these are the first be cut from the CNC Plasma equipment. The Peas were one of the main reasons for getting the CNC, and all of the components have been retooled and refined. The Solar Blades are full size, stand 6 ft, and are a hybrid of sculpture and lighting. They represent a new direction and take advantage of recent advances in LED technology, which is finally ready to use as general lighting. And yes, of course, they are solar powered. It is (as always) my pleasure to share the floor with other artists: Collaborative artists include Dan Romo (patinas on Roses and Peas); Studio Romo Zachary Wetzel (blade fabrication); South 50 Studios Also on display will be work by Mike Woolson |selected photography| Jumbobrain Jon Sarriugarte |fire pots, custom forged furniture| Form and Reform Kitty Hutton |paintings, mixed media| Zach Wetzel |fire sculpture| South 50 Studio Dorklandia |I don’t know but I cant wait| Dawn Ryan |Salue| Relartivity Dan Romo |looking glass scopes| Studio Romo Matthias Beckman |fused glass| Matthiss Katie Keech |selected paintings| Dave Andres |fire sculpture, jacobs ladder| Please join us for an evening of light and art. And don’t miss a chance to win a Long Stem Rose at the RAFFLE!!! Raffle held at 9:00 pm, tickets available at the show. Winner must be present to win. Posted in events | Comments Off Other News: January 2010 November 2009 August 2009 July 2009 February 2009
	1345 South 50th St. Richmond, CA 94804 - 510.215.2884 - kevin@sunbrothers.com