Octopuses are some of the most bizarre and brilliant creatures out there — which makes them irresistible to sculpt in steel. This one sprawls wide across the wall, its body glowing gold with scattered purple spots, and its tentacles fading from warm gold into cool ocean blues at the tips.

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The tentacles were the real test. Curves and tapers are two of the trickiest things to create in stainless — the metal simply doesn’t want to bend that way. When you form it into a cone, you can’t also make it curve, so I had to coax the illusion of movement with a grinder, layering textures to suggest overlapping arms, and bending only the outer edges to give the sense of full, twisting tentacles.

The suckers are where I had the most fun. I planned every weld to land behind them so that when I ground the silver details into place, the weld marks disappeared. What’s left is a trail of polished suckers that pop against the shifting colors of the tentacles — a little sleight of hand with fire and grinder.

For the eyes, I wanted that wet look so I buffed them to a mirror finish so they catch the light, then cut out their strange sideways pupils. The only paint on the entire piece is the black paint on the inside of the eyeball to create the pupil, so when you look into its eye, it feels like it’s looking right back.

This sculpture is safe to be kept outside.