Litore is a desktop fountain inspired by the California coast, an exercise in playing with the limits of sand casting and bringing organic shapes out of cast aluminum.
Design Process
I started out designing this by looking for inspiration in my background. I'm from the bay area, and have visited the rocky coast from Half Moon Bay to Monterey, and I was inspired by the rocky and sometimes harsh beauty of the areas.
I sketched out the general scale and ideas for form, and visualizing how I was going to make the different parts and what needed to be sourced from a 3rd party. Though this project, I developed skills in problem solving when facing physical challenged (such as cantilevering the core necessary to create the channel for the water), practice with woodworking for making the pattern, sand casting for making the two primary pieces, and finishing with river rocks, sanding, and bead blasting to create a cohesive but interesting finish.
I sketched out the general scale and ideas for form, and visualizing how I was going to make the different parts and what needed to be sourced from a 3rd party. Though this project, I developed skills in problem solving when facing physical challenged (such as cantilevering the core necessary to create the channel for the water), practice with woodworking for making the pattern, sand casting for making the two primary pieces, and finishing with river rocks, sanding, and bead blasting to create a cohesive but interesting finish.
Sandcasting is a challenging method due to the inexact nature of the outcome. The temperature of the pour, relative pressure when ramming up the negative, and variations in the pattern all contribute to different outcomes for the finished piece.