Monday, August 27, 2012

The book is in!!

So the book is in. A while back I was asked to curate a lark book. Here it is. It turned out great. The folks at Lark did a great job! Go buy it!




Monday, August 20, 2012

arrowmont

So I just got back from Arrowmont. What a blast. I met so many interesting artisans and students. I taught a "green studio" class which involved alternative techniques to keep your metals studio environmentally friendly. Of course working in metals as a whole is kind of nasty.  It can be almost impossible to get around using chemicals and acids that often create fumes and hazardous waste. For my workshop I demoed different pickle recipes, pouring ingots from scrap, Japanese alloys, alternative patinas etc etc etc.  My mantra for the workshop was "don't be lazy". I learned a lot and I hope that the students took home a lot of new information to make their home studios safer. Arrowmont is a magical place. I often find myself wishing that academia could be more like a workshop. There are no grades, there are no due dates and everyone has a great attitude. I can't wait till next summer when I can have the time to teach another workshop. Also, the food at Arrowmont touched my heart. Being from the south and living in the north I have missed some of Virginia's staple foods. Grits, biscuits and gravy, pie, country ham, BBQ, they had it all! I would highly recommend taking a workshop, retreat or just a visit really. I loved meeting with the resident artists and assistants. I also loved talking with all the instructor and finding out their format for what they were teaching. Over all I brought back a ton of info for future workshops and future projects. I am very excited to get the year started at SUNY. We have a bunch of incoming grads and undergrads and I will be busy whipping the studio into shape the next couple of days.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Friday, August 3, 2012

Final Coin

So I think I have settled on the final finish for this thing. Here is what I did....The sprues were cut off from the casting.  Then the edge of the coin was polished with a rubberized abrasive wheel.  Then it was bead blasted.  Then it was darkened.  Then it was brass brushed with dove dish soap.  Then it was rubbed with a abrasive pad to bring out the highlights. They all have little doodads here and there (pits,slugs,flashing and seams showing) but over all I am VERY happy with it.  I finished 30 of them and now I have 70 left to do. I am lucky enough to have a few folks helping. Lynn Batchelder and my wife to name a few.

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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

coin update

The coins are here!!!! Well some of them. They were 3D printed and then cast in white brass. I have yet to figure out how to finish them. So many.....so many. First I have to cut off all of the sprues. Then they have to be pickled. Then they have to be brass brushed. Then they will go into the tumbler. Then they will be darkened. Then they have to be brushed again. Whew. Lots of work to do. NO TIME TO DO IT!!!! If anyone is bored and has nothing to do in New Paltz tomorrow or Saturday and you are somewhat familiar with metals I could use a hand. Sunday there will be a big event in New Paltz on main street to celebrate 125 years of being awesome! Come check it out. I will be easy to spot because I will probably have polishing compound in my beard and all over my fingers. I could not have done it without the help of Vegan powered cookies from Vegan Obrien Baking company or TABA casting in NY.  Thanks.



photo 1.JPG Coin!! Coin!! Coin!! Coin!! Coin!! More coin with a little brass brushing More coin with a little brass brushing