More projects beaming out of the Neon program.
Key -> HgAr = Mercury with Argon gas; creates a powder blue color, Ne = Neon gas; no vacancy red :)
Penguin
Rick’s first project in Neon was a multi-area project utilizing the woodshop for the frame and the Neon area to construct the penguin.
Dimensions: 26″w x 38’h, 10mm glass filled with HgAr
From 50K feet, how was it done?
- Rick started off with a pattern for the glass.
- From the pattern, he inverted the pattern to redraw in reverse. This is required so that the surface of the penguin lays flat on a surface, while the electrodes and complex bends push to the back.
- To ensure that all of the elctrodes allow the penguin parts to display at the same level, he made sure that all the glass ends were cut to the same size (Note, the glass penetrates the wood base and is wired to the transformer in the back)
- The wood box enclosure (cavity towrds the wall), was contructed in the woodshop.
- The holes for the glass pieces were measured based on the actual units for a perfect fit.
- All 4 glass units are connected in series to a ~6.5KV30mA transformer
- Rick also added a “white wash” of paint, adding accent and dimesion, to make penguin standout against the black background
The Knot
Devon, as a professional scientific glassblower, had no issue attemping this advanced neon project for his first MMS Neon project.
Dimensions: 10″ diameter (front curcle), 11″ diamater back circle, ~5’depth, Front piece filled with HgAr, the back piece filled with Ne; 10mm glass
From 50K feet, how was it done?
- A pattern was made for the knot (blue) and the backlight circle (red)
- Symmetry is significantly challenging at this scale, compounded with the “weaving” of the glass to achive the knot in 1 continuous piece of glass.
- The design of this piece utilizes a indirect lighting technique (backlight) that allows the red glow to be seen without actually seeing the glass.
- Using the black arylic disks allows for the blue knot to stadout against the red backlighting.
- The Ne and HgAr units are connected in series to a ~4kV transformer
- By design, allowing the ends of the knot to extend beyond the surface of the front disc, allows for some of the blue and red to mix on the wall in the background. This effect adds additional color mixing, enhancing the overall piece.
- The construction of the discs and placement of the glass allow for shadows to reveal. This effect adds volume to the piece (as seen above witht the light blue shadow)
Excellent job by both!
We play on Wednesday nights at the Norwich site. Please swing by or ask the artists for specifics about their pieces.