05.06.10 Playing with Fire -- photos from the Iron Pour

Here are more photos of Sunday's Iron Pour for you. The fiery furnace is top loaded with both fuel and the broken bits of scrap iron.  As the iron melts it filters down through the burning coke to the bottom of the cupola furnace, where it is released into a ladle.

The ladle, filled with molten iron, weighs more than 100 pounds. The lovely building in the background is the Arts West School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Eagle, Idaho.

Here Barry, far right, scrapes back floating slag, or molten glass enamel and other impurities.  The iron used in this pour was recycled from cast iron sinks and bathtubs.  Each student was responsible for breaking up 75 pounds of iron with a sledge hammer.  Who needs a gym when you can take a sculpture class!

Barry also took his turn lifting and pouring the ladle full of molten iron; this time into the multi-part molds for sculptures created by Boise State University students.

Mixing metals -- zinc pennies laid in an open face mold react spectacularly with the molten iron.

 De-molding with a sledge hammer while a rapt audience looks on.

Barry inspects his project, a teapot inspired by the cast iron Japanese tetsubin teapots, fresh from its sand mold.  The piece needs to go back to the BSU sculpture studio to be chased and finished, but Barry was pleased that his mold design for a vessel form worked so well.  Yet another adventure in art-making!

~ Lynn

05.05.10 Workshop is Full!

 You all have been fabulous, we've had a tremendous response to the Wire to Whinny workshop offering!

As of 1:30 PM, May 5th, the September workshop is full!

I will be contacting registrants this afternoon, and then look at the calendar to see if there might be a spot for another session later in the fall or winter.

I so appreciate your enthusiasm for the workshop and your patience as I answer emails!

All the best ~ Lynn

05.05.10 Workshop Dates Announced

 Wire to Whinny 2010

  Labor Day Weekend, Friday- Sunday 

September 3, 4, & 5

 at Laf'n Bear Sculpture Studio, Boise, Idaho

Students will learn the basics of equine anatomy, how to best utilize references, form an armature, and then apply clay to create a sculpture.

"Wire to Whinny" is open to all levels of experience. The workshop is as much about sharing ideas, learning to analyze various references and how to then translate that information into three dimensions as it is about creating an object. These techniques can be used to create a sculpture of *any* animal.

Workshop tuition includes armature supplies, clay, and an extensive workbook.  At $345.00 you have a tremendous value. 

Class size will be limited to six students

Reserve your spot today

More Information


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05.03.10 More Scratchin' -- for IRON!

Oh baby, did we have a hot time on Sunday or what?!

Meet "Floyd" the furnace, the star of the Boise Sculptors' Guild 2010 Iron Pour at Arts West School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Eagle, Idaho, on May 2.

 More than one hundred visitors gathered to carve scratch blocks on site, then watch as members of the sculpture guild poured molten iron into the molds.

A scratch block is made of a very fine casting sand solidified with a resin binder.  A sturdy metal tool can easily carve a pattern into it.

This same material can be packed around a three dimensional pattern to create a mold for more intricate sculptures.

Carving directly into a sand block was a new experience.  For the fun of it, I carved a version of the Laf'n Bear logo.

Barry coats the Laf'n Bear scratch block with core wash to seal the casting surface of the open face sand mold.

The alcohol based core wash is lit on fire to burn off the medium and set the wash.

Below is the final product, a cast iron version of our logo.

You'll see more photos of the iron pour later this week!