In search of inspiration

Every once in a while I take a look around for new ideas and inspiration for my carpentry creations. I may take a trip out to a new spot on the island or even just jump in the car with a friend and join them on whatever errand they are running so as to free my mind from other thoughts and just absorb my surroundings.

Although I find this approach works well and has led to many nice pieces coming to reality; recently I have found that the real world in which I live has more decay and garbage than is conducive to the creation of beauty. I took some time looking through Pinterest and saw some lovely furniture and other bits and pieces but nothing really inspired me.

I put cool ideas for wood into Google but this brought way too many pages full of ways to get creative with wood pallets.

http://www.designrulz.com/product-design/2012/09/35-creative-ways-to-recycle-wooden-pallets/?fullscreen=

There are some great ideas out there but nothing that worked for me. This is not to say that making things from pallets is boring but where I live there aren't any pallets available since they are reused until they're garbage then they are, more often than not, just burnt. So pallet art/furniture was struck off the list, had there actually been a list of course, my searching for inspiration I prefer to do in a more random, less regimented way. Experience has taught me that the best way is just to follow my nose as it were. Something always turns up.

This time was no exception and whilst randomly clicking my way through the internet I came across a youtube video entitled Lichtenberg Figures, the image looked cool so I opened up the video to take a look.

A few minutes later I was full of enthusiasm to give the process a try but I was missing the vital ingredient; a transformer. Not the robot car type of course but the kind used for neon lighting would work perfectly. I dug around in my workshop and found the box of bits and pieces I had left over from my time as a shop owner. This was the outlet for my first business here on the island and I had spent way too much money on a stainless steel sign which had neon back-lighting.

I found the transformer, dusted it off but the only way to test it was to actually plug it in and have a go at making my own Lichtenberg figure.

I watched a few more videos and realised that a shopping trip was required as I needed Bicarbonate of Soda to create the electrolyte so the process would work. I should explain.

The process is pretty simple.

You take a piece of wood; to begin with I used some scraps of pine. At a distance of up to about 12 inches two nails should be hammered in. Then, using a paint brush, a solution of Bicarbonate of Soda in water should be applied evenly to the wood between the nails. Now here’s the scary part; plug in the transformer, connect the outlet cables (from the transformer) one to each nail then switch on the transformer and watch. The reason I said it was scary is that the transformer I have kicks out up to 75,000 volts! That’s enough to give you quite a shock. Obviously the Amps are extremely low but to an electro coward like me, the thought of an accidental shock was enough to give me pause.

So I needed Bicarb and headed out to find some. As you may know from reading my earlier posts there are many products on the unavailable list here in Venezuela and it just so happens that Bicarbonate of Soda is on that list, though at the time of searching I had no idea why. I went to town and spent hours going from pharmacy to pharmacy asking for bicarb. I began to notice that I was getting strange looks from the tellers, as well as from other customers. With no idea as to why my asking for bicarb would elicit suspicion I ignored the weirdness and kept looking. Eventually I found some in a supermarket pharmacy and asked for ten sachets. The teller looked at me sharply and said that the limit per person was five; “ok” I said, ”I’ll take five.”

With my purchase in hand I left the supermarket and headed home, eager to try the process out for myself.

As you can see, the figure created looks a lot like a fractal, or snow flake, and like a snow flake no two figures are the same. I found the process to be great fun and the results were beautiful.

But, I hear you ask, why the suspicion over the bicarb?

Later that same day I was chatting with a friend and mentioned the strange behaviour I encountered whilst searching for the Bicarbonate, he began to laugh and told me that Bicarbonate of Soda is used in the process of turning Cocaine into Crack. I had no idea! After a moment of paranoia where I imagined police knocking on my door later that night I began to laugh; remembering all the funny looks but this time in the context of what I had just learned. Though it was a moment of levity I determined that I should be more careful the next time I go in search of certain products.

Anyway, here are a few for your viewing pleasure-

And in a toy I made for the first birthday of my friends' daughter

And thanks to @papa-pepper for my fun 'Follow me' Gif :D