A Copper Alliance Member
Copper in the Arts
Issue #7: November '07 - Cont'd
Copper Artist Burt Squires Revives the Historic Barn Star
Copper Artist Burt Squires in his studio
Photograph by Paul David
“What emerged from this unlikely marriage was The Copper Star,” says Squires. “What began as a simple quest to spend more time with my two, now three, young children has blossomed into a thriving business with customers in every state and five foreign countries.”
According to Squires, the tradition of barn stars date back to the early 1800s, when barn builders would create a trademark star that was unique to the builder of the barn. Originally popular in Pennsylvania due to the state’s German settlers, barn stars grew in popularity across the US after the American Civil War, but no one is entirely sure why. One theory for their increased popularity may be traced back to the great East Coast earthquakes of 1884 and 1886, which hit 15-miles offshore of New York City. Although no buildings were demolished, many masonry buildings along the East Coast required reinforcements to make them structurally sound.
“The predominate technique at the time was to install a series of threaded rods called earthquake bolts that spanned the length of the building,” says Squires. “The ends of these rods protruded to the buildings exterior (often in gable ends) and were capped off with a large threaded nut—in the shape of a star! Stars were chosen because they were already commonplace on the gable ends of buildings. As a result, stars became elements of both form and function.”
Squires chose copper to create his barn stars because of its natural durability and beauty, and has now has expanded his repertoire to include copper clocks and home décor items such as copper garden art, house numbers and wall accents.
Burt Squires's copper barn stars
Photograph by Paul David
All of Squires’s stars start out as flat sheets of copper, on which he forms the 5 separate points before joining the stars together using hand-hammered copper rivets or bolts. To achieve the “architectural grade” quality of his work, he uses 20 oz. copper for all of his copper products. Squires developed his own machinery to produce and manufacture his copper stars, with a little help from his astrophysicist background.
Squires says that he started his business serendipitously, when trying to find a copper star that would last on his East Berlin barn.
“I was very concerned that a steel star would rust and cause rust bleeding on my barn and stone foundation,” says Squires. “This type of damage was quite evident in steel star installations in my area. After having no luck finding a copper star, I decided to make my own. Having figured out how to make the two I needed, it seemed a shame to stop. Five years later I can comfortably say that I have made thousands of them.”
Between his copper stars and his aerospace pursuits, Squires has an ongoing astronomical theme in his life, and is currently an engineer on the 2020-manned mission to the moon project.
“Stars, in one way or another, have been a constant thread in my career,” says Squires. “Although I have been involved the many cutting edge technology projects, I think my copper stars will be my most enduring legacy. In my opinion, no one will ever throw away a copper star; I really think my stars will be hanging on walls for hundreds of years to come.”
Resources:
Watch a short video (2:23) of Burt Squires fabricating one of his signature "Copper Barn Stars".
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Martino Hoss and Pastel on Copper: Vignettes of a Memory
Over Sound, pastel on copper, by Martino Hoss
Photograph by William Wickett
“Serigraphs are very methodical,” he said. “I needed spontaneity.”
He wanted to experiment with non-traditional materials. He noticed a spare copper sheet one day and began to paint on it. Initially he used copper that had been distressed, and sometimes he would distress it himself. “I used to walk on it and ride my bike over it,” he says, attempting to get a worn look. But as the years passed, he began to gravitate towards clean copper.
Since he was exposed to the natural environment, having grown up near the Monterey Peninsula, he decided to paint images of familiar landscapes using pastel on copper sheets. “I consider myself a colorist,” he says and in seeing his copper works, it’s clear that the pastel provides a brilliant pigment, but also that the copper provides an incredible luminosity. “The copper kicks out a warmth,” he added. Hoss uses 10 ounce or 12 ounce copper sheets, applying one coat of pastel, before administering a spray fixative, and then a final coat of pastel. (There are a few other tricks, but he won’t divulge them.) He prefers copper sheets in the 10” x 18” range, though has produced a few pieces as large as 3’ x 4’.
Though painting on copper isn’t unique, Hoss’s familiar themes have drawn collectors from private individuals who own multiple pieces, to corporate America, and overseas investors. He estimates that he has painted about 450 copper-based pieces and averages 50 to 60 each year. “I’m fortunate that I don’t have a lot of inventory,” he adds.
Though he plans on experimenting using oil on copper, the idea is the same. He sketches his base idea with a Sharpie pen, and then gets to work.
Becoming, pastel on copper, by Martino Hoss
Photograph by William Wickett
Hoss has shown at galleries in locations that reflect his love of nature; Sun Valley, Idaho; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Santa Barbara, California and many others. According to Hoss, those who purchase his work, are intrigued by the copper because it possess an almost three dimensional quality to it. But they also respond to his timely themes; landscapes that capture an image we’ve all seen, even if we’re not quite sure where. He capitalizes on this fundamental idea and sees his copper pastels as “vignettes of people’s memories.”
At his home in Seattle not long ago he awoke early one morning and grabbed his young son to watch a sunrise over Lake Washington. After standing outside in his pajamas viewing the sunrise, along with others who had gathered to watch the magnificent moment, a woman turned to him. “Well,” she sighed, “enjoy your day at work." He paused a moment, then said to her, “I’m working right now."
That sunrise will surely make its way into someone’s home, where Martino Hoss’s name will grace a copper and pastel painting, one that carries a memory of a landscape someone once saw, a place not too far from home.
Copper in the Arts: HISTORY
Honoring the Bronze Bas Relief at the Base of Provincetown's Pilgrim Monument
Provincetown's Pilgrim Monument
Photograph by Peter Whitlock
Although many people associate the pilgrims with Plymouth Rock, they actually landed first at Provincetown, Massachusetts, where they spent five weeks exploring the tip of Cape Cod before sailing onto Plymouth Rock. Located at the base of Provincetown’s commemorative 252- foot granite Pilgrim Monument is a stunning bronze bas relief created by the renown sculptor Cyrus E. Dallin, (1860 – 1943), signifying the signing of the important Mayflower Compact by the Pilgrims, in 1620. In fact, millions of visitors and generations of residents have climbed the monument, and it is one of the most popular visitor attractions in Provincetown.
“The memorial bas relief is framed by a granite structure seventy feet long and twenty feet high,” says Laurel Guadazno, Education/Program Manager at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum. “The bronze bas relief, cast by the Gorham Corporation of Providence, Rhode Island, is nine by sixteen feet and the entire structure cost $40,000. The bas relief was designed by the well known artist, Cyrus Dallin, who gained notice when he won the contract to execute the statue of Paul Revere to be placed in downtown Boston, near Old North Church.”
Another well-known and typical Dallin work, according to Guadazno, is the Appeal to the Great Spirit located in front of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
“Many local guides indicate that the bas relief was put in place in 1920,” she adds. “For instance, M.C. Hatch, in The Log of Provincetown and Truro on Cape Cod, writes, ‘In 1920, Provincetown held her Tercentenary Celebration, a fine affair, with parades, speeches, floats and distinguished visitors. It was at this time that the beautiful bas relief, The Signing of the Compact, was unveiled.’ There is no record, however, of its unveiling in the program of events that took place that year, and the bas relief itself is dated 1921. Some evidence indicates that the park, where the bas relief is located, was created in 1921 and it is likely that the bas relief was installed sometime after that to commemorate the incorporation of the town. Whenever it was installed, it is now a well-known landmark and a fitting tribute to an important historical event, the signing of the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown Harbor.”
Closeup of Pilgrim Monument Bronze Bas Relief
Photograph by Peter Whitlock
Copper in the Arts: NEWS
New Gallery for Art of Native North American Art Opens at Metropolitan Museum, Rare Copper Mask on Display - November 15, 2007
The New Gallery of Native North American
People opened November 13 at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, featuring a
rare copper mask by a Haida artist
Photograph courtesy of Naomi Takafuchi
Notable works include a Kwakwaka'wakw piece, probably the work of a Haida artist, which is unusual because its primary material is copper. Copper was much valued among Northwest Coast peoples, and in this instance the incised patterns of killerwhale fins on the cheeks may be a sea association that identifies the copper as wealth from the sea. The large size of the mask, the shape of the ears, and the full-toothed mouth are bearlike features, while the eyes, nose, and volumes of the face appear more human in character. The liberal amount of copper, coupled with the fur and abalone shell in the mask, suggest that it was probably an important crest object. Abalone shell inlay graces other objects on display, as well, like the detailed headdress frontlets in the same case.
Objects on display are drawn from the Metropolitan Museum's holdings and from the well-known American Indian collections of Ralph T. Coe of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Charles and Valerie Diker of New York, among other lenders. The first gift of Native American objects came to the Museum in 1879, when archaeological ceramic vessels, then known as Moundbuilder and originating in New Madrid County, Missouri, were given. A decade later, the Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments brought many American Indian works of diverse origin into the Museum's collection. In the late 1970s, the Nelson A. Rockefeller collections were accessioned, forming the basis for the current installation.
The display in the new gallery is organized by the North American region and emphasizes the art of the Great Plains, and the Northwest Coast of the continent ranging high into the Arctic along the Pacific. Other regions of North America represented in the Metropolitan Museum's new gallery include ivory objects from Alaska's St. Lawrence Island and Yup'ik masks from the Kuskokwim River delta; baskets of Chumash and Pomo manufacture from California; Mississippian period ceramic vessels from Missouri; and Navajo wearing blankets from the Southwest.
The renovation and installation of the New Gallery for the Art of Native North America was overseen by Julie Jones, the Andrall E. Pearson Curator in Charge of the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. A variety of education programs will be presented in conjunction with the opening of the new gallery.
Resources:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York, New York 10028-0198, (212) 535-7710
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