Day Forty Two

I have been visiting Memphis on a yearly basis for over 6 years. The Metal Museum has served as enough engagement that I have not yet had the inkling to visit any of the many local points of interest. Well, today is the day! Mom, John and I are going to Graceland!

http://www.elvis.com/graceland/

Day Forty One

Today is another blustery, snowy, icy day. My Mother and her husband John are here for a visit and I've had a grand time getting lost in Memphis while showing them around. Its great to discover this city, even if its freakishly cold and a little too much like Michigan right now. We toured the east side of Memphis, admiring the houses of the wealthy. This afternoon we've been enjoying the warmth and comfort of the duplex on the Museum grounds, cooking, cleaning and watching movies. An altogether un-newsworthy but wonderful day.

Day Forty

I think we need one of these in Kalamazoo. This is the sign for Joe's, a liquor store in Midtown.


And since today is Video day, here's a little forging vid I shot a few weeks ago.

Day Thirty Nine

Today Wally is on campus to teach a beginning blacksmithing class. Virginia Nuckolis is down from Bucyrus Mo to take the class and keep us company. She brought fresh "Girlfriend" eggs with her. The Metal Museum Board of Directors meets in the library this morning. There are a lot of donuts to help sweeten the day. I will be in the Con Lab working fervently on the results of the my silver pour which occurred yesterday. I will only eat one donut. I will only eat one donut. I will only eat one donut (per hour). There are tiny silver horses in existence and they are lovely. I should have them ready to photograph by this afternoon.

The finished Horse Head Story Board, ready to inspire SmartShop students.

What I see when I go in to the Con Lab to work on my jewelry scale silver pieces.

Day Thirty Eight

Today's blog entry recognizes and pays tribute to Mr. Jim Masterson, a.k.a. Uncle Jimmy, G-Y-M, Mastahsohn, and more. Jim Masterson received his Master of Fine Arts from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1994.  He began working at the Metal Museum in 2000, and is currently the Shop Foreman. Jim is patient, helpful, most always cheerful, has the funniest most distinct and commonly occurring laugh. Jim is a Master Blacksmith and possesses amazing abilities in both design and fabrication of ornamental metal. Jim probably knows a little about everything and a lot about anything having to do with metal. Since arriving here and being privy to his wonderful self, I wonder how I might ever be able to live without him. Jim Masterson is truly a work of art!

Jim's Shoes.

Day Thirty Seven

If you'll remember, back around Day Fifteen or so, I went with Judy Davis and Mary Catherine Floyd to Coro Lake Elementary and taught the 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes how to make patterns for cast aluminum tiles. In the last few days, Jeannie Tomlinson Saltmarsh and I have been ramming them up (making molds from oil sand) and casting them. Here are some of the result of our labor. Only 100  more tiles to go.
This project is designed as supplementary arts learning in public schools. I am hoping to revamp SmartShop's Foundry program and take this project to our public schools, with the designs for the patterns being inspired by and based on the scientific concepts that the students are studying. Cool huh? Best part? This is all 100% recycled Aluminum. Next best part? The tiles will be assembled into a 3 dimensional quilt and installed permanently at the school. Wow!

Day Thirty Six

Photo: Trying on hats at the Germantown TJ Maxx.. gotta make time for girl time! The overalls are a nice contrast...

Today is the day that Richard Prillaman pays us a visit and teaches me how to invest my wax sculptures and pour them in precious metal. Today! I'm very excited to see this next stage of creation, because those little waxes have been sitting on my worktable for quite some time. It also seems like I've been doing a lot of work, but not getting things finished. Today is the day of culmination! After today, it won't be long until there are many little river pendants and many tiny horses to chase and tool. I'll be sending my work back home just as soon as its finished in preparation for my show at SmartShop in April. ONWARD!

Day Thirty Five

The results of yesterday's time at the forge. After lolling around a bit and questioning the level of my dedication, I finally made it out to the smithy and found something to get excited about. Jake Brown taught me how to forge a horse head. He had seen it done many years ago as a youngster and it has always stuck with him. I was thrilled to learn of course, and had all kinds of fun trying to forge the perfect horse. These were made with 1/2" square bar. I will turn them into fire tools today. 

  

"How To Forge a Horse Head in 7 East Steps"

Just to make sure I had earned my food for the day, I went ahead and made a story board. This shows step by step how to forge a horse head. See? its easy!

"How NOT to Forge a Horse Head in a Myriad of Steps"

These are the ones that didn't make it.

Day Thirty Four..

Its another snowy day here in Memphis. We're expecting another 3-4 inches of snow/sleet which will cripple this town for days. The schools are closed again, and there's hardly any traffic on the bridge. Jake and I have cleaned the house, made lunch, and spent way too much time on the internet. Its a sleepy day in general, which only the appearance of the sun can cure. I'm happy the shop is only a few steps away and after the wood burning stove has had a chance to heat things up and take the frost off the anvils, I'll head out to work. There's much to do and the clock is ticking!

Day Thirty Three

Phew! almost didn't make my daily blog entry. We've been going hard since 8:30 am. Here's some pictures from our iron pour. WAAAYYY too much fun today! Thanks for all the fun Mr. Rogers. The results of all of our hard work need to be tooled before they can be shown, but rest assured, you'll see!

 

And from our Bronze pour (also today):

Day Thirty Two.

Meet Memphis Local Celebrity and All Around Super Strange Fella'  Prince Mongo.

Day Thirty One...

Photo: Detail from FLOW.

Word has it my application for a KADI (Kalamazoo Artist Development Initiative) grant from The Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo has been approved. I'd applied for partial support of my Artist Residency here at The Metal Museum. (Remember Day Eleven?). Now I can purchase some materials and resume my intensive learning all of the subtle nuances of both Fine and Sterling Silver.


Thanks Arts Council! Without your support this project would not be able to fulfill its potential!

Would you like to know more about The Wondrous and Fantastic Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo?

Click here:

Day Thirty

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..."

Day Twenty Nine

Why is Memphis so great? Here's what Rufus Thomas had to say!

Day Twenty Eight

This may look easy, but I can guarantee you its very difficult. For me.

Day Twenty Seven

This is the new shape.

What does it remind you of?

Day Twenty Six

No progress to report. Spent the day singing this song:

Day Twenty Five

Okay, I'll eat my words and wipe that smirk off of my face. This Ice Storm is REAL! I'm so sorry to have mocked Southern Weather. Memphis is CLOSED and everything is covered with a 3/4" layer of frozen sleet. We're out of dishwasher detergent, cigarettes, and milk and we're running low on coffee and tp. This is HORRIBLE!
Yesterday, dizzily continuing my pattern of having great studio days when all of the rest of the world  is safely and sanely tucked in warmly at home, I managed to forge all day and make the beginnings of a very nice piece. I'll call it FLOW for now, but I'm sure that will change once I've started finalizing the design.

The only trip I made outside during the day was to go for coal. Once.

My Companion for the day, The Metal Museum's Hallmark power hammer. Yes, you did see correctly, the top sticker reads "I have been had by a Redneck" the middle sticker is Tatu and states emphatically that he is a "Love Machine" (a reference to the hammer as well, of course) and the lowest on the pole does indeed state, "Don't tip me over you freakin' hillbilly".This was the entirety of information that flowed into my head yesterday. Where is that redneck? Do I look like a hillbilly? I don't feel like one! The Plane! The Plane!

Parts is parts. FLOW in process.










And finally, for the cherry on today's utterly giganomous blog entry (can you tell I really am not excited about venturing forth unto the world today?) I made a little video with my friend Bill in mind. His last name starts with a K. Bill K. is a discerning character and is not impressed with blogs and silly talk. I'm almost sure he hasn't visited my blog yet, but I'm hoping one of you will let Bill K. know that I made a special video just to impress him (and now I'm doubting he'll be impressed) and prove that I am working and just not playing on the computer all day. This one's for you Bill!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3yMkCi2Mmo

Day Twenty Four

Photos:
"Three Characters" in process. Notice Phil is overseeing.
New terminus discovered while making "Three Characters"
"Three Characters" complete and delivered.

 Today we are having an "Ice Storm". I am trying to keep an open mind, because in Michigan this constitutes a beautiful day.
I am getting a really good perspective on how much harsh weather we really live with in Michigan. From a southern viewpoint, Michiganders are a crazy brand of super tough people.
The whole of Memphis is shut down and I may be the only person on the grounds today. Acting as sole Museum Blacksmith, I will continue my forging. After completeing "Three Characters" I have not yet had enough of the "funny little shapes on the ends of the skinny sticks." (my fine art training is really paying off!). Its great to be back at the forge, working with ferrous metal, something within my realm of experience. I will not linger long, however, as I am not here to function within my comfort zone. I am planning on forging a few pieces, but then taking those ideas and translating them to forged fine silver in a drastically smaller scale. Then the fun really begins (and the muttering and cursing and pacing and heavy sighs).

Day Twenty Three...

I'm sure most of you already know that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated here in Memphis. There are several folks here who remember that day.  Their stories are as painful to hear as to recount. The profound affects of MLK's work still touch our lives today. His message lives on and there is still work to do.

A visit to the Civil Rights Museum is a must do here in Memphis.

 

The National Civil Rights Museum, located at the Lorraine Motel, the assassination site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., chronicles key episodes of the American civil rights movement  and the legacy of this movement to inspire participation in civil and human rights efforts globally, through our collections, exhibitions, and educational programs. 


Visit : http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/home.htm