There are challenges and opportunities throughout one’s life.  Let us rise to them...

I was commissioned by a thoughtful parent to create a desktop sculpture for her 12-year-old son whose beloved pet had recently died.  
 
The sentiment I wished to convey via this sculpture is that we can and do emerge anew as we continue on life’s journey.  Death, transformation, and rebirth are a natural and normal part of life.   

This sculpture is not intended for him only as a young person — I hope 'Phoenix (Rising)' holds a message which proves valuable to him from this day forward.   

I began this project by making sketches which evoked the emotional tenor I wanted to convey.  From a sketch, I made a clay form to determine the elements’ shapes and sizes.  With a clay model at hand, I was now ready to fire up the forge and light my oxy-fuel torch...  
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'Phoenix (Rising)' was created from mild steel using forged and tack-and-bend techniques and measures 5.5” tall x 4.75” wide x 2.5” deep.

The inspiration…
Sinuosa was inspired by flowing rock formations in Salta, a northwest province in Argentina which I visited in 2018.    

Visually interesting from afar, the tall and slender abstract form invites viewers to approach closer and examine traditional joinery techniques and forged details.

Sinuosa is a human-scale sculpture designed to complement its outdoor surroundings and leave viewers refreshed. 

The realization…  
Sinuosa was made at the 3rd International Forging 2020 event on February 27-March 1, 2020, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where an international group of blacksmiths shared artisanal skills and taught trade skills free-of-charge.    

After my team completed Sinuosa on the final day of the event, the sculpture was given as a gift of public art to the city as a thank you for hosting the event.

The pedestal was designed and built the weekend before the event.  The pedestal perfectly complements the sculpture without overpowering it.

Sinuosa is a physical realization of collaborative efforts amongst artist-blacksmiths! 

A gift of outdoor sculpture for the city…
I'm honored to have been asked by the event organizers to design a public art sculpture.  

Until its final outdoor placement is determined, Sinuosa resides at the Luis Perlotti Museum in Buenos Aires.

The sculpture's vertical orientation needs only a minimal footprint in a dense urban city such as Buenos Aires.   ​

I like to imagine Sinuosa's suitable surroundings might be...    

• Adjacent to/amongst seating in a small neighborhood park, or
• In a small plaza which offers respite for urban workers on their lunch break.

In gratitude…
I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to design Sinuosa and lead the team to build it.  A huge thank you to Team Sinuosa!:  Katherine Ackerman, Eben Finer, Claudia Alvarez, Kurt Rempel, Hernan Onnainty, Peter Sevin, and John Crouchet.

Mil gracias to the event organizers:  Fabian Rossi, Jerry Coe, Carlos Real, Alejo Kerwitz, and Dario Klehr.   And a shout-out to Forjadores Argentinos for documenting the event and connecting blacksmiths around the world. 

Many thanks to Fabian and his delightful wife, Cristina, for hosting me in their home, and for Fabian and Alejo’s assistance constructing the pedestal.  

John, look how much one can accomplish between breaks!   

Final measurements...
The sculpture itself is about 5 feet tall (about 1.5 meters) x 15" wide x 6" deep.  Sinuosa atop its pedestal is about 7.5 feet tall.  (The pedestal measures approximately 30" tall x 20" wide x 20" deep and is made from 3/4"-thick steel plate and 8"-wide x 5/8"-thick flat bar.)  
 
Construction details, half-lap design, and joinery method...
Sinuosa was designed to be forged without power tools, as none would be available on-site at the event.

The sculpture is comprised of 5 pieces of overlapping (i.e. half-lap) steel plate joined together with rivets.

The sculpture's profile reveals a gentle curve which evokes movement. 

Simple butchering tools and a sledge hammer were the main tools employed.  (A butcher is used to create a clean shoulder so that metal is not removed, but moved down and over…).   A torch was used in lieu of a forge, as spot heating was the most efficient way to butcher while not distorting the straight lines we were establishing.

The visually uncluttered form belies the details required to achieve the simple, streamlined look:

• The vertical lines in the sculpture are intentionally placed to highlight the otherwise sinuous lines of the sculpture.  Keeping the multiple vertical lines parallel to each other was critical and challenging.   

• A keen observer will note that the sculpture’s ‘seams’ are different on each side, given the nature of half-lap joints.  Keeping track of which side of a piece to draw down to half-lap required vigilance!   
• The edges of the sculpture are ‘upset’ to provide depth and texture.  (‘Upsetting’ is a process of heating and hammering the metal to push it back onto itself to increase its diameter.)

And for those interested in even more construction details…

• The sculpture is comprised of five (5) pieces of 1/2" steel plate, torch-cut to approximate dimension — and don’t forget about those ‘tails’ that need to be accounted for when butchering those far edges…
• Each piece was butchered to receive an adjoining piece; this is the half-lap concept.  Where a piece met an adjoining piece, the adjoining piece was necessarily butchered on the opposing side.
• Each piece was butchered to half-depth so that when the two half-laps 'mated,' a return to full-depth of the original steel stock was realized.      
• Each sculpture piece overlaps at least one other piece; some pieces required as many as three (3) butchered half-laps.  There's a total of three yards of butchering on this sculpture!  
• The half-laps are riveted together using 3/8” x 1.25” rivets.  In addition to joining the sculpture together, the large round rivets provide visual interest and depth.  The riveted look is carried throughout, including the bolts which attach the sculpture plate to the pedestal.  
• For ease of transport and installation, the sculpture and pedestal were designed as two separate pieces.

Design and maintenance considerations…
Sinuosa was designed to meet generally accepted public art guidelines for safety, durability, and minimal routine maintenance.

The finished sculpture was sealed with multiple coats of clear lacquer, allowing the beauty of the hand-forged texture to show through.  Periodically, just like a painted object, the sculpture will need a fresh coat of lacquer applied to it.

If/when the sculpture rusts, it can be easily cleaned with a wire brush to remove the rust, then painted with clear lacquer to restore the sculpture to its original and pristine condition. ​

I’m pleased to have been asked to design and build a sculpture and lead the international team to build it at International Forging 2020 in Argentina.  Taking place in the city of Buenos Aires, fellow blacksmiths and I will share the skills of restoration and preservation.

We will have blacksmiths/teachers in our group from US, Canada, Russia, Spain, Chile, and Ukraine—this has has become a true international conference. Our goal is to share our knowledge freely, and everyone is welcome.​

According to Jerry Coe, a Berkeley, CA-based blacksmith and organizer of the event, “During the past two events in Buenos Aires, we have trained 150 blacksmiths and awakened the trade skills that have been lost in the area. This has brought the attention of Argentina’s national education program and gained recognition from the Ministry of Culture about preservation and restoration of Buenos Aires historic architecture and national museums. We have gained support from Buenos Aires’ US Embassy.

In preparation for the 2020 event, we are organizing into teams to approach the teaching of our craft in a thorough manner. We expect 200 students to attend. Many of the students will be professionals and have small businesses of their own. 
 Along with classes in tool making and traditional artistic smithing, we will have a class discussing design, bidding, and presentation and the class will delve into determining economic rent/shop overhead. We will also have a forum to discuss ecological approaches to blacksmithing and creating sustainable environmentally friendly products."  

This event began in 2016 and has occurred every 2 years since that time. 

Forjadores Argentinos is a group that was formed after the inaugural event in 2016.  This Facebook group serves to keep the Argentinians connected and to share projects, meeting announcements, and foster connectivity and collaboration.  

Elegantly simple design.  No wonder I made two of them!… 

This steel tripod base and stone top brings a fresh look to its surroundings — whether that be a guest room or an office sitting area.  Sturdy, stable, AND good looking — If only we could all be that way… 

I used 3" x 1" tubing for the steel legs, and the stone is  1.25" thick.   ​

These round side tables measure about 19” tall, with a diameter of 20”. 

Stained glass in jewel tones was custom-slumped as diffusers in this front porch light. 

To begin, 3/8” steel plate was bent to convex on a fly press, then the edges were upset to give depth to the steel. 

Before slumping the stained glass diffusers, molds/forms of the openings needed to be made.  The stained glass was then slumped into these forms, allowing for a proper glass-to-steel fit on the steel plate. 

​With minimal points of attachment at the wall, this fixture seemingly ‘floats’ off the wall. ​

Front porch light with slumped glass measures 22” tall x 9” x 6” deep.  

The forged elements topping this fabricated gate make an affordable yet custom touch at this beach house. 

​The central forged element references a whale’s tail in a subtle nod to the house’s seaside locale. ​

Whale Tail gate measures 48” tall x 32” wide x 2” deep. 

I recently celebrated a milestone birthday and gifted a sculpture to the world... 

Walking Stick was first exhibited at the 2018 ABANA Conference Gallery in Richmond, VA. 

This 16-piece forged steel sculpture features pin-and-wedge joinery, allowing for easy breakdown/transport/reinstallation.  

'Walking Stick' was sealed with a clear lacquer finish.  Final dimensions are 37” tall x 17” wide x 10” deep.