FORGING FAWKES NOV 4TH - 5TH 2011 PLYMOUTH COLLEGE OF ART

JON SNOW (WINDYSMITHY)

RICHARD WOOD

LISA HARRISON (SMYTHICKFORGE)

JOFF HOPPER (METAL PIG FORGE)

THEME OF THE FORGE IN WAS SOMETHING TO WEAR - NECKLACE MADE BY LISA HARRISON

DAN 3RD YEAR DEGREE STUDENT FORGING A BOW TIE!!!

WINNING PIECE BY JON SNOW - BLACKSMITHS APRON COMPLETE WITH FRINGE!!!!!!!

BRACELETS BY JOFF HOPPER

UNFORTUNATELY MY ENTRY A BELT FELL TO PIECES JUST BEFORE JUDGING. BELT WAS ALL BUT MADE,  HELD TOGETHER BY A PIN THAT CONNECTED THE BUCKLE TO THE BELT. I MANAGED TO LOSE THE PIN  IN THE WATER TROUGH, MUCH TO THE AMUSEMENT OF THE JUDGE BEX SIMON. I THINK SHE IDENTIFIED WITH MY FRUSTRATION, AS IT WAS JUST BEFORE JUDGING THERE WAS NO TIME TO FORGE ANOTHER!!!!!!!!

INTERESTING LINKS

To the right you will find some interesting links from the college and people i have met through the college. Flameacademy is a blog run by our lecturer Richard Wood who is also studying for an MA at Plymouth college of Art, area of research Entrepreneurship In Creative Practice - building low cost sustainable equipment. Of course i have a link for Plymouth college of Art, where i have the opportunity to study in the evening. Lots of different courses on offer full time,part time,evening and Saturdays. Nice place to study, good vibe and a great choice of courses in the contemporary crafts.

Bex simon is a female Blacksmith from London, who recently came down to the first Forging Fawkes weekend to judge our entries, Lisa Harrison from smythickforge just outside Falmouth.  Joff Hopper from Metalpig forge and Jon Snow the eventual winner of the Forging Fawkes cup, all have links to there Websites and respective businesses.

There is also a link to The city Kitchen which is a Plymouth based Food blog, full of recipes and general foodie related posts.
Links will be updated as and when, and new links are always welcome.

SATURDAY WORKSHOPS - MARCH 12TH

Trying to recollect what happened last week poses enough problems let alone ten months ago.
With five budding Smiths fully paid up for the next five weeks an age range of 13-50, a boy girl ratio of 4-2, we were set to go. Building from our elementary knowledge of scrolls and tapers, the most basic of techniques, we were set to work with the emphasis on hammer action and controlling the heat.
A valuable lesson for myself on this session was although i never produced a finished item i did however have lots of fun, and in theory learnt to form a reasonable taper, the scrolls i still struggle with 10 months down the line.
Unfortunately a relative had chosen this day to tie the knot, so my first session was cut short by holy matrimony, however it is amazing what thought processes are to be had, when most revellers were trying bad renditions of what some would desribe as dance others an unknown Parksonian illness, yep i was probably on my 7-8th Doom bar, thinking of hot metal, what one day i might be able to make, and how the next day i would surf the net looking for any related Blacksmith information. Incidentlt none of this happened the next day as i continued my affair with the Doom bar barrel.

MY JOURNEY - SATURDAY WORKSHOP - MARCH 5TH 2011

How could one possibly start to describe a journey as incredible as Hammer,Fire and Anvil.
 Broken limbs, to much time and and some wild ideas, probably pushed me to enrol on a Blacksmith's taster day at Plymouth College of Art.
If memory serves i was without a doubt terrible! A first attempt at a hand forged keyring out of  mild steel round bar probably led to some amusement amongst my fellow tasters, not that i was worried, i was already hooked, even my attempt at a leaf was not enough to deter my inner Smith, even if the leaf resembled a way to thin and over sized beer can ring pull, i was suitably mesmerised.
At the end of the four hour session, i knew i would be back the following week for burns,elation and a hell of a lot of frustration.