With the success of copper penguins (I count a success as me enjoying a project and learning things from it) earlier in 2016, I thought it would be nice to be able to make something meaningful for Fay, the significant other in my life, whose birthday is in December.

A cynic, and no fan of traditional romantic gestures or customs, I cheekily like to tell her that I love her with my brain, not heart, which is just for pumping blood. Hence the idea for this wall feature for our home. Did I mention I’m a cynical, sarcastic bastard?

The basic heart shape which is repeated throughout the design is a parametric curve; the result of plotting the following:

x = 16sin(t)^3
y = 13cos(t) - 5cos(2t) - 2cos(3t) - cos(4t)

A plot of the parametric heart curve on x and y axes, with t running from 0 to 2π.

This isn’t a shape I’ve invented, but I think, in part, I chose to use it due to fond memories of passing time in school using a graphic calculator to create odd doodles from long parametric equations.

The entire structure is built of this shape, copied, resized, rotated, and arranged into the design below.

A copper-coloured render of the design on a grey background: two hearts at the top, overlapping loops, and a large heart at the bottom, all built from the same curve.
A test render of the design.

Like my previous adventures in pipe-bending, this is all made of 10mm (outer diameter) copper piping, bent by hand and assembled by brazing the parts together. And, once again, the hardest part was probably in trying to make it, and keep it, symmetrical.

The finished copper pipe wall piece hanging on a dark wall, its interlocking heart curves catching the light.
The finished piece.

At about 1.12 x 1.0 metres in size, the finished item is about as large as I could have made it while being able to move it about and keep its design secret. It also happens to be the perfect size to hang on the wall above the fireplace in our living room.

Various stages of the build process.

A double-heart shape of bent copper pipe laid over a paper template on a wooden floor.
Three nested copper pipe hearts on a paper template, with a coil of unbent pipe beside them.
A small double-heart of copper pipe hanging on a pale wall.
The double-heart standing on a wooden mantelpiece against a dark wall, between a knitted doll and some small ornaments.
Two double-hearts joined inside one large copper heart, laid out on a wooden floor.
The partly assembled piece on the floor with a small heart added in the middle, discoloured from brazing, and spare pipe lengths around it.
The near-complete copper structure propped up on a workbench in a brick cellar.
The completed piece, cleaned and shiny, lying flat on a wooden floor.

While building it I was surprised how nice it was turning out and started work on designs for more 2D wall pieces. Beginning with the double-heart shape (which I really like on its own, and reminds me somewhat of Celtic designs when multiples are arranged with rotational symmetry), I then started to play with simple arcs and lines to build shapes that caught my interest.

Designs for more copper pipe based wall pieces. Work in progress.

A render of a single copper double-heart on a grey background.
A render of four double-hearts arranged in a square, pointing outwards.
A render of four double-hearts arranged in a wide diamond.
A render of three double-hearts arranged in a triangle with rotational symmetry.
A render of wavy copper rings around a small grey hexagon.
A render of a ring made of copper and black segments, crossed by two parallel copper arcs.
A render of a few branching copper arcs, rising like a stem.
A render of large overlapping arcs in black and copper, casting long shadows.
A render of a curved band of lens-shaped loops in black and copper, sitting on a long black arc.
A render of broken concentric arcs cut into a raised pale square panel.
A render of broken concentric copper arcs on a raised black square panel.
A render of a simple face made of arcs: two eyes with brows, a nose, and an open smile.
A render of a small bowl shape made of two copper arcs.
A render of a spiral with a coiled snake inside it, drawn as a chain of small copper rings.
A render of a penguin outline drawn as a chain of small copper rings.

I was conscious that I would have to actually make these, which helped keep things simple and made me consider how both light and shadow, plain and painted parts, could be used to create interesting results.

A copper heart is for life, not just Valentine’s.