Here is Sardonicas!!

No, I didn't make him!! It's Hugh's piece. He keeps Sardonicas in a local tatoo parlor (of all places) and he brought him to the shop for me to see! Isn't he awesome??!!

This is my favorite piece so far. I can't explain why exactly... Probably because it is so unusual, so creative.

Sardonicas's neck is made of bent wrenches. Inside his skull is a hot water spicket, so you have to look down inside to see it.

On the back is an ignition switch and a key...it's as if you can turn him on...turn on the hot water in his brain to get him wagging that big textured tongue. Get it? Sardonicas?


















I find that I am metal obsessed. Last week I was walking around New York City, constantly studying the street grates, the railings, the fences...checking out the fabrication and the design.


After all...the city is made of steel. Its cluster of buildings are a monument to the generations of steelworkers who built the city!





Yesterday, on the way home from my apprenticeship, I found myself scanning the roadside for discarded metal.

I'm sure...it sounds a bit crazy!! And...I did see some hubcaps, then wondered how I would get back to the middle of that highway that snakes across the Potomac River to pick them up? It's an obsession!

But this metal work definitely is growing on me. Initially it was not exactly what I had wanted to learn...I would like to take a foundry class too where you first sculpt something in wax or clay and then pour hot melted bronze into it to displace the form and create a casting. But...now I'm hooked on blacksmithing!

There is just something magical and challenging about making a sculpture from a seemingly "unbendable" hunk of steel. There is just no way to explain how cool it is when you are able take a firey hot piece of metal and twist and bend it like putty. It's a combination of the power and a little about the fear of working with metal that is 1600 degrees. But, when you pull it off, when it's cooled and solid again...well it's immensely rewarding.

Yesterday I began working on my horse. It's going a bit slowly because it's an original design. I'm really not sure how it's going to work, but I'm taking my time and working it out. In fact, Hugh has suggested that I use a piece of cardboard to make into a horsehoe shape so I can bend it and put it together to see how the design works. Good idea. I may do that at home this week so I can try it out. Mistakes are timely and costly when it comes to steel!

While I was working on my horse yesterday, Hugh finally got to work on one of his projects. So we spent the hours just tooling around the shop together....occasionally doing a little dance to get out of each other's way. I am feeling like a pro now with the tools...it's nice to not feel quite so apprehensive of the machinery. Although, I will ALWAYS keep a good respect of the equipment because it is all potentially DANGEROUS!!

While we worked, we had our music going again and listened to a range of things from opera to church hymns. That's what I like about Hugh...he is interested in lots of different music and subjects...just like me. The only one I avoid with him is politics...his views are the opposite end of the spectrum from mine. So, I respect that his opinions are different, and I ignore his occasional sarcastic comment. I would rather not go there...and risk marring our time together with controversial discussions or disagreements. With exception of that, nearly everything else about him, reminds me a lot of myself. Except...that HE is BRILLIANT...absolutely brilliant...and I would never put myself into that category!!

I did manage to nick myself on the rotary wire brush yesterday. I held my piece too close to the end and it slipped off...allowing my pinky to hit the spinning brush. I have a nice brush burn..more like a small bloody gouge on my left pinky finger. I won't be doing that again. In fact, next time I will wear those big leather gloves. Even though I enjoy this work, I would still like to keep looking like a girl. I don't want my hands and arms to be gouged and knicked and scarred. Hugh said it was a good thing for me to learn...a small knick rather than a big one. Yep! That's for sure!!

Jazzy Boy was happy to see me yesterday. He had stayed at my mother in law Ferne's while I was in New York. I know he is happy there, he makes himself at home and she is fine with that! She doesn't even shoo him off her kitchen counter...instead she gives him full reign of the condo. But regardless, I think he really missed me. She said she would occasionally see him sitting by the front door while I was gone...just waiting for it to open.

Yesterday when I walked in, he came flying when he heard my voice. Jazz sprang off the counter and ran over to greet me...with his tail bushed out behind him. He even gave me a big meow!! I picked him up and cradled him in my arms...as I always do. He put his head on my shoulder and leaned into my hug. I stood there for quite a while rocking back and forth and talking to him. He made no attempt to jump down. He just snuggled in my arms and began to purr. What a cat! He's my Jazzy Boy!!