International Sculptor · Bernie Jestrabek-Hart
Sculpture - Metal, Wire and Barbed Wire
   Landmarks, Mascots ... Small to Monumental in Size
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28400 Harvey Rd., Caldwell, Idaho     208-866-8171

 

AVAILABLE PIECES
*Outdoor
*Table top
*New Small Works

Workshops-Lessons

Currently working on ...Golden Ear Bridge Eagles..
Boys' and Girls' Club Sculpture


Newest Works

Horses
Wolves

Accessories, and JEWELRY

Work for
Avenged Sevenfold's Stage -DeathBat
Kid Rock's Stage -
Eagles

Fort Worth Hilton Mare and Foal
Meridian Gateway Signage

BUFFALO

COYOTE  

DEER 
DAGONFLY
ELK 

DOG  
FOX
WOLF

EAGLES  
HAWKS 
other
BIRDS

HORSES
   Working

   Heads
  
Mares & Foals

   Portraits

MASCOTS
MISCELLANEOUS

MURAL
-WALL


PEOPLE 
PLANTS

SIGNS

Prices for Eagles

Pricing Formula

Sample of Book on Creating with Barbed Wire



About the Artist 
 
PublicPieces  

About the Medium 
  


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contact me  

Metal Design Specialties

Carts and Carriages

Cactus
Furniture
Hitch Plugs
Plant Stands
Suns
Toads
Yard Art

 

 

About the Medium of Barbed Wire for Sculptures

Durability

Safety

Strength

Barbed Wire Sculptures

Durability

I create these sculptures out of older barbed wire. Barbed wire is made of steel. The older wire is a soft, clean steel and was not galvanized. (It is called "black" wire.) Some of this wire is more than 40 years old. I prefer this older wire because I know it is durable.

I use wire that already has some rust and the galvanization, it there was any, has almost disappeared. (Galvanization is made up of Zinc and the gas released when heated it deadly.) I choose wire that seems substantial with the rusted coating. Wire that is too rusty is difficult to weld and would not be as durable.

As a finished coating there are two choices:

1.) No coating, leaving the wire to weather naturally, as it does on a fence.

The High Desert Museum chose not to use any coating and this piece has been in the weather since 1988, with no evidence of deterioration. The Oregon High Desert environment works well for the Barbed Wire.
High Desert Museum Mare & Foal1.jpg (24277 bytes)

 

"1867" at the US Bank, in Boise, Idaho, has also been outside, exposed to the weather for several years, with no adverse deterioration. Some color differences have been achieved by car & tree waxes.
1867-front view.jpg (31977 bytes)

2.) In 1997, I was introduced to s substance called "Rust-Be-Gone". I apply it to the rusted surface where it combines with the rust and becomes another substance. I then use good quality paint, for color. There will always be rust inside the sculpture where the coating cannot reach.

I generally use this process when I create a piece where I desire colors other than rusted brown.

Safety

It is the twist of the wire that gives my barbed wire work its texture and life. The "barbs" on the wire are not needed and I usually melt them down so they are no longer protruding unless the person commissioning the work requests that they remain. Therefore, my finished work is smooth and quite safe.

 

Strength

The wires are welded about 2 inches apart which makes the wire very strong. I also incorporate a strong inside bracing when I know it might be needed. An example is the "Great Blue Heron", on display near the green belt pathway by the Boise River in Boise, Idaho.

 

Created by Bernie Jestrabek-Hart     09/20/2007

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