Well I just could resist the attempt to complete this chalice. All was great until I got it home and notice the smallest of cracks at the rim. It must have a cured while I was finishing the bottom. I see another attempt in my future. Turning wet, I soak it with shellac and alcohol. I then turn the interior and coated it with a blend of beeswax, carnuba and walnut oil. I am told that this is the correct finish for a usable goblet or cup. I then turned the upper portion outside, and inlaid some malachite, turquoise and a couple other minerals. I the sanded and sealed the outside with shellac and then the beeswax mix. Turned out pretty good. I then started the base. Using a rotary tool I carved some decoration just below the cup section. I then used a wire brush attached to the cordless drill. I then mixed some 5 min epoxy with green alumilite dye. Sanded all down to just leave the deepest crevices. I also added some gold dust, (very little), I painted the abstract leaves with...
From my mind as a black man living in modern American social ills. Gerard Merchant was born in 1959 in Lynchburg, Virginia. My works are primarily in wood sculpture. My sculptures emerge through a process of retakes and variations that mark my creative journey of examining the ambiguity between my vision, and the wood’s already exquisite origination. As I execute unclear and less formal rules and which should always reference the partnership with Nature, we create Art.