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Metal art welding is basically a form of sculpting in
reverse. Whereas sculpting starts from a block of stone and the process entails
the removal of all material not part of what is to be the finished piece, metal
art welding starts with nothing and keeps on adding pieces until the work of
art in completed. Two processes, converse to each other, but resulting in the
same end.

Unlike sculptors who work in stones like granites or marble,
the metal welding artist can use just about any metal, or combinations of
metals he chooses to.  He may form his
creations out of virgin metal sheets, rods or pipes; or he may assemble
existing pieces of shaped metal in to final product.

Welding is, in its most simple form, the joining together of
two pieces of metal by heating the surfaces and then placing them together
until the cooled metal forms a joint. There are different types of welding
methods that can be used, depending on the types of metal involved and the
nature of the joint ? whether it requires strength, a fine finish, whether the
metal can withstand high heat etc.

Metal art welding can be done on any scale, from the finest
pieces of jewelry that are finely welded or soldered together to huge outdoor
sculptures.

The beginnings of modern metal art welding lie in the
emergence of “junk? sculpture when young artists understood that the joining of
various pieces of existing scrap metal could produce works of artistic
integrity and merit. The first works of modern welded metal art were made from
things found in junkyards ? hence the name. Old car parts, refrigerator bodies,
oddly shaped bits of scrap metal, you name it, they were all welded to together
and the results were often surprising in their artistic expression and
originality. Embellishments were done in the form of special coatings and paint
applied to some or all of the metal sculptures.

The next stage was to addition of moving parts ? motorized
sculptures. Windmill effects, rotating tables and wind driven mobiles were some
of the early common design themes used. Much of early welded metal art was
created for shock effect and it succeeded.

Today metal art welding is returning to its basics, and, in
the opinion of many art critics, its purest form. Simple and expressive forms,
created by welding together seemingly uncomplimentary pieces of metal can
create a memorable effect, as in the welding of a rusty old car axle to a pair
of roller skate frames to express the artist’s opinion of the negatives of
fossil fueled vehicles.

While metal art welding can be tiny, as in small jewelry
items, it are normally large in size. The largeness of the welded form adds to
its impact. That is why the majority of art made by the metal welding process
is in the form of outdoor sculpture.

Since most welded art is made up from existing
pieces of metal, this is one art form where the mind of the artist must be able
to not just envision the finished work of art, but be able to look at using
existing shapes to create his vision. Like a jigsaw puzzle , the artist must be
able to locate the shapes he needs to create the final effect.

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Tags: artistic expression, artistic integrity, embellishments, emergence, finished piece, granites, high heat, junk sculpture, junkyards, metal art, metal sheets, originality, outdoor sculptures, scrap metal, sculpting, sculptors, two pieces, virgin metal, work of art, young artists

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