Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, .......

One of the things to do today is organize and type my notes and drawings from the Robert J. Trout workshop of the last three days. We were guided by Bob, a Master Roycroft Artisan in Metal. We were taught some of the principals, materials and techniques used by the coppersmiths of the Roycroft Shops of Elbert Hubbard in the early 1900's. Our projects were all in the style of the Arts and Crafts period and employ precision hand hammering.


One of the people who shared this experience with me was John Wayne Taylor. JW is a well know area blacksmith and fellow member of ABANA and the Alabama Forge Council. Here he is listening to headphone radio and his 12" copper plate project.

 

Here are two camera phone photos of my finshed piece with the iconic A&C rose motif embossed on the plate edge.

...best intentions

Here is the small piece that I showed at the Elmore County Art Guild Winter Show. This is a photo from my phone as the piece hangs at the show. This is art glass slumped and fused mounted in/on a finished piece of native Alabama cherry wood. I inlet the wood by hand carving and then used a torch to darken the right side. Finally I waxed the wood.

Easing on Down the Road

I haven't been in the studio for a long time now and I really miss it. It is like living without sunshine. I like the sound of the rain but I need the rays of the sun.

I have ridden further than I have ever ridden a bicycle before. In the last 7 days I've ridden 70-75 miles with one ride of 38.75 miles. My goal is to ride across American in the year of my 65th birthday. 2009 that would be. I'm getting there. Just one little turn of the cranks after another.

I'll be in the studio Thursday and Friday of this week if all goes well. - What does the picture have to do with anything? I just like it.

It's Just Plumbing

This guy on the left is Phil Draper. At the start of summer he gives himself a "buzz-cut". This time he left a strip to tease his wife who promptly sprayed it pink for this photo before he finished the hair cut. To my surprise, this is the only photo I can find of him. It's fitting that he sent this to me by email a year or two ago and I kept it.

My friend Phil makes hand-carved, hand-built, authentic period mantels for designers and architects to install in high-end houses. We met a few years ago in the local library. I was sitting on the floor in the stacks looking for books on sculpture (all on the bottom shelf) and he was moving around in the same stack. We talked for a minute and he invited me to his studio. I stopped by his shop a week or so later and we began a strong friendship. Despite my having moved 3 hours away, we've maintained our friendship by phone and occasional visits.

I just got back from visiting him in the north of the state. He's just two days out of quadruple by-pass surgery and cracking jokes to make the nurses laugh. I admire his relentless sense of humor. Nothing is so serious that a little humor can't make it more bearable. His wife loves him and kids and grand kids seem to too. A rich man indeed.

Friends are important. Good friends are very important.

Healing Hands

I returned to the Doctor's office three days later expecting my hand to have black chunks fall out of it when unwrapped for the first time. Much to my amazement and delight, it looked as good as new! Well, except for a couple of really shiny spots that looked like they might want to cause trouble in a few days.

The repair was amazing. I ran cold water over it and held ice cubes in my palm for the first few minutes. Then I put the pulp of an Aloe plant over my whole palm and continued with ice in a bag as long as I could stand it. After about 3 hours, I called the nurse consult line provided by my insurance company. When the nurse heard that there were white patches of skin, she advised that I get to the emergency room right away. I did so and they covered my palm in silver sulfadene (sp?) and wrapped my hand like a club. (See previous post for a picture.) I don't know what made so much difference but whatever it was I'm grateful!

I am continuously amazed by the force and power of life. It is a strong theme in my view of the world and is reflected in almost every piece that I do. The "force that through the green fuse the flower drives" is reflected in my stone piece where the plant springs from the bulb and bursts the ground open to launch itself into spring and life in the open.