Tulip Bouquet

I was challenged by a client that I have made several other pieces for to make a tulip, because that was his wife's favorite flower. I told him that I would need quite a bit of time to research and develop it.

When I approached my client with the first formed petal he was impressed and it quickly turned into 3 tulips (one for each of their children) in a tulip petal vase.

From start to finish it ended up taking me 9 months to get it right. The hardest part was figuring out how I was going to make the center of the tulip. I tested and failed at probably 10-15 attempts before I finally found the perfect piece for the center.

I like to use already existing tools/hardware to create my pieces. It not only gives them a rustic factor, but it makes them truly unique pieces of art. I ended up using a split drive as the center. I took 6 nails, covered them with super glue, and then dipped them into the grinding dust off of my floor to give that fuzzy look/texture. I sifted my scrap before doing this to ensure I had only the finest particles of metal, and no trash was incorporated.

In order to form the petals I had to add a new techniques and tools to my arsenal. I learned how to manipulate the metal to shrink and stretch it at the same time, getting that "spoon" shape, by watching a couple of YouTube videos. I had to make myself a shrinking stump, which I harvested off my land and my kids assisted me rolling it into my shop. I didn't have the time to properly dry the wood out to prevent cracking, so don't come after me lol! I made due with what I had at the time. I maintain it with butcher block oil and it has held up well over the years.

Each petal takes me a minimum of 10 minutes of constant swinging on the shrinking stump and the sand bag, taking an hour, just to form the petals, on each tulip. I have 32 hours strictly on the build of this project, not including the research and development of the project.

I now use this technique to form my sunflower leaves, and the petal vase of the 3 rose bouquet.

Front view of tulip

Side view of tulip

Inside the tulips

Angled look at the tops

harvesting the shrinking stump

Carving the shrinking stump

Finished shrinking stump

Metal before its formed

Parts that made up the centers