IIW welded art exhibition, 2021

SIMON RICHARDSON (UK)

After completing an apprenticeship and qualifying as a welder and fabricator in 2000, over the past 20 years, Simon has worked in welding and fabrication for a number of prestigious companies in the UK and Australia. He is presently a Team Leader at TWI in the UK. In addition, he is studying mechanical engineering and obtaining his welding inspector certificates. He became interested in weld art after he saw it on Instagram several years ago. Mattia Bross has been a great inspiration for him. What really captured his attention with this kind of art, were the colours which can be achieved when welding stainless steel, and

one of the true great satisfactions he obtains from doing this, is seeing someone else enjoying the art which he has created; as well as how the colours of the art work change throughout the day as the sun rises and falls. This never ceases to amaze him and he likes to refer to this weld art as “paint by weld”.

Contact info E-mail: syma_art@hotmail.com • Facebook: SYMA Art and Weld • Instagram: syma_art

Exhibit “THE GREAT ’METAL’ WAVE OFF KANAGAWA” Simon’s latest art has been the adaptation of the ‘Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by a Japanese artist called Katsushika Hokusai. It is his wife’s favourite art so he decided to create the same art through weld art and call it ‘’The Great ‘Metal’ Wave off Kanagawa” and present it to her on her birthday. It is made of 3mm thick 304 Stainless Steel plates. He prefers using satin finished stainless steel rather than mirror polished as it gives the art more texture and is less prone to scratching compared with the mirror polished finish. The welds are made using Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW), controlling the tungsten stick out, gas flow rates, travel speed and amperage control, all which can affect the colours of the art. Simon has many ideas for future art, which include using other mediums such as grinders and a flame torch to achieve heat tinting as well as engraving in conjunction with welding. Currently, he has taken a great fondness to Japanese art and how the style of art adapts when welded. His plan is to start going into 3D sculptures as his hobby starts to grow. Dimensions 50cm x 40cm

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