This past fall, I completed a fun project that was also very special to me. My friend and fellow Philadelphia Dumpster Diver artist, Alden Cole, commissioned me to make him a Winged Heart to hang in the transom window above the doorway in his home. I had never made a winged heart design before and was excited about the idea, and though Alden provided a rough sketch for what he envisioned, he allowed me to use my creative freedom with the design. Below is the outline of the design, which was the beginning of my bending pattern.
And here is the completed pattern that I used to bend the glass to.
Bending the glass for this was fun! I chose Ruby Red for the heart, and Neo-Blue for the wings. Below are a few pictures I snapped while working on it.
Here is the neon ageing in, just after processing.
Since Alden wanted his neon to hang in a window but also be seen from both sides, I decided to make a hanging bar for it, rather than mounting the neon to acrylic. The first step was to make the piece structurally sound, which I did by attaching the heart and wings to each other by gluing glass bars across the back.
Next, I made a hanging bar for it out of glass that included a ‘bump out’ to accommodate the transformer. To attach the neon to the hanging bar, I made some double-sided tube supports by gluing two of them together.
After I had the neon in place on the tube supports, I wired the transformer and glued it all together to create a nice, self-contained piece that would allow for it to be moved easily should it ever need to be taken down and rehung somewhere else down the road.
Here it is from the back, on my studio table. Now that it was complete, it was ready for installation day!
Installation day happened a week later, a couple of hours before our monthly Philadelphia Dumpster Diver meeting, which Alden was hosting that day. I arrived early to hang the neon in his window, which didn’t take long at all since I did all the prep work at my studio.
Below is the view from the other side, inside the vestibule.
And here’s Alden and I, at the unveiling during the meeting. So fun!
I met Alden Cole when I joined the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers. Alden is a painter and illustrator who also makes lamps from repurposed parts, or as he refers to them, Luminaries. I love this picture below of the neon glowing alongside some of his Luminaries.
Part of Alden’s commission of the Winged Heart included one of his Luminaries that I was particularly drawn to, titled Casiopea. The base is painted in his own stylized technique, which he does on many of his artworks, that he refers to as being Aldenized. 🙂
Below is a picture of Casiopea, lighting up a corner of my home.
I really like the pattern of the cut glass oval on top.
He uses color changing light bulbs, which I find fun and funky. I love the way the light shines up on the cracking paint of my ceiling.
Alden is 81 years old and is still actively creating and making art, which I find inspiring! I also subscribe to his daily emails, that consist of his musings or whatever is on his mind that day, and always consist of lots of photos. They are always interesting and I usually learn something new. He often features the work of other artists, which has exposed me to some new favorites, like the painter John Rodgers Cox, whose painting, pictured below, I absolutely love and gives me all the feels.
Completing the Winged Heart project was special to me for a couple reasons. The first is that I love when one of my art friends wants to own something I have made. To me, it creates a feeling of connection between us. I also loved the idea of creating a neon piece for Alden because I find him to be a wonderful and inspiring human being. I love this picture of him, which I think wonderfully captures his bright and bubbly personality. Cheers Alden!
