Whew! I have completed my first thirty days here at the museum and what a pleasure its been. I do feel like I've only just gotten started and now, with less than two months to go, I need to get cranking! This weekend I will assist Bob Rogers in teaching the Introduction to Sand Casting class and we'll pour bronze and hopefully be able (weather permitting) to fire up the cupola and pour some cast iron. This will be good experience for me, as we have all we need to conduct foundry classes at SmartShop, but up until now, I just haven't had the time to gain the expertise to run the equipment safely and teach at the same time. I like working with Bob, he's so funny. He's an engineer who swears up and down he's not an artist, but he is an artist! An artist in denial! Bob holds a wealth of knowledge about the foundry and all of its sometimes tedious and sometimes dangerous processes.
Last night was Moiler night. Its a time when volunteers are invited to come to the museum and help stage the next exhibition. Funny name huh? Moiler comes from the root MOIL which means to toil or drudge. I think its great how the museum has turned drudgery into a party. We painted the upstairs gallery walls, and most of the pedestals. I finished my moiling by scrubbing all of the paint out of the sink in the gallery kitchen. It was a fun night with pizza and beer and we even got to sing a few songs from The Sound of Music,.. "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens..."
