In my latest session with the laser cutter at Maker Labs last week I used the time to cut a more complicated design. The piece is based on a drawing I did over the summer (as part of the daily drawings on circles) and spent a considerable amount of time carefully tracing it in illustrator. When I started I did not realize how much work it would take to clean it up and turn it in a vector file worthy of laser cutting. The original is below.

I cut the piece from bamboo ply leftover from previous laser cutting projects from a few years ago. It looks striking in the wood, but the longer I examine it, the more I want to go back and tweak a few things with the composition. The piece is 16 inches in diameter, while the original drawing is 3.5 inches in diameter. My aim is to have one fabricated in a much larger size eventually.

I have one final laser cutting session booked this Friday before the residency comes to an end, and I’m hoping to use it to try a cutting material I haven’t used before.