"Permission to Board" Mixed media Ostrich Egg By Ron Gerton

Description
The butterflies, lily pads and frogs are all sterling silver. There is over 6 ounces of silver in this piece. The other metal parts are hot cast bronze. The design of the peacock feathers is a tribute to the late and great artist, Binh Poe. While carving the peacock feathers, it seemed like a shame to not take advantage of the interior space. I was curious what the inside of an ostrich egg looked like, too. So I cut the top off off the egg and thought about how to continue the peacock feather concept. I decided to make a 3D feather out of wax and cast it into bronze. I had already made a wax base and cast it into bronze. The base and bronze feather pass through the hole the egg came with. I was getting ready to manufacture a hinge and metal rings for the lid and body out of silver sheet metal when I noticed an old silver plated teapot sitting near by. After some careful measurements, it looked like I could just cut up the teapot and use it's hinge. Pure luck that I had cut the egg at just the right spot. Some epoxy and bam, a perfect hinged lid. Strong and attractive. It still needed more, it needed more 3D. So I decided to cast a bunch of delicate butterflies and add them. Finally, it looked much better above the base. There was still a little time left so I decided to make the base come alive with some frogs and lily pads. So I created some wax frogs and pads and cast them in sterling. The one trying to climb up gave me idea for the tittle, "Permission to Board".

Bio
Ron Gerton is a retired mechanical engineer with over 30 years of experience in the nuclear field. The Art Nouveau style, with its emphasis on natural forms and shapes is his favorite design inspiration. He creates hollow vessels from highly figured wood and combines these with cast bronze shapes to create unique sculptures. He has his own bronze foundry he constructed out of discarded industrial materials. To him, nature is the greatest creator of beauty and his challenge is to display it beautifully. He has been doing high end jewelry for over 40 years.
He has pieces in the permanent collection of the Detroit Institute of Art Museum, the New York Museum of Art and Design, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, The Addison museum of Art in Boston, The Fuller Craft Museum in Boston, The Minneapolis Museum of Fine Art, The Mobile Museum of Fine Art, and the University of Michigan Art Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum of art, Salem MA. His work can also be found in many fine private collections and in numerous books and art magazines.

More information is available on his website; RONGERTON.COM

To see the auction and support the animals visit https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/Artists-for-Animals-Eggsellent-Auction-15596