The Beaver Was Out!

The other day, I had a free hour while the rest of the family took the puppy to dog training class, so I headed out to Huntley Meadows.  We always say that there is something different to see on a nature walk...even one as short as 20 minutes as it was in this case, and it's always true, but sometimes it's easier than others!  This was one of the easy times because a beaver was out and about in the day.

As far as I understand it, beavers are nocturnal, but this one was either confused, daring...or fed up with the whole system.  He wasn't alone -- there was also a turtle out that should have been dug into the mud.  The temperatures were in the bitter degrees -- it was so cold on the boardwalk that I would have rushed home if it weren't for the fact that it was "free time" and I needed to make the most of it!.
 

 

I can't pretend to know anything more, but I did take a few photos. While they are not my usual style and I didn't have the equipment to turn the moment into anything photographically great (and it was freezing, too!), it was a special few minutes just to spend time with an animal that I'd never gotten to see up close before.   I also took a few other photos, as well....

And, then, I took the kids and Jeff back the next day, just in case the beaver was still out..... and it was!

Mount Vernon in the Snow

The other day, Jeff had the privilege of blacksmithing at Mount Vernon after a light snow.  He took these photos.  It was a quiet morning and the view from the porch would have been one George Washington would have recognized since the view has been protected.  That's pretty amazing to think about....

The article linked to above mentions that General/President Washington would pull his furniture from his parlor to the piazza, so he would not have likely had the many chairs that currently line it but would have had other furniture.  Other than that, these photos could speak to another time.

Photography with Children

One of my favorite ways to get my kids out and about in nature is to hand them a camera.  It totally cuts down on the whining factor that occurs when I say that we are going on a hike.  Granted, that sometimes means that a camera gets dropped in a swamp and then ruined....but still, I'm sold on the idea. It's always a lot of fun to get home and compare photos -- we take such different things!  My eldest son is still  figuring out the basics of the camera, but he has definite ideas on what he likes and what he does NOT like.

This past fall, we went on a photo walk to the American Horticultural Society, one of the most beautiful places around.  I ended up taking the following photograph:

My son carefully took this one:

This is a beautiful photo, but I probably never would have taken it.  In fact, in all my photos from AHS, I never have.  I simply don't see the way my son sees.  That's what makes art so special.  And, because I went on a photo walk with my son, we have photos of both perspectives.

Tool-Making Class Starting January 27

This weekend (January 27) we are starting a 4-week tools class where we will be making different chisels, punches and drifts after we complete a detailed tapering exercise.  We hold these classes from 12-3 on Sunday afternoons, which is hopefully an easier time for people than evenings or during the week.

As the textbook for the class, we are using Mark Aspery's excellent book Skills of a Blacksmith, Vol 1, Mastering the Fundamentals of Blacksmithing which has been foundational in my own learning.  

In terms of class topics, we will start with with a deep dive into tapering, which is an essential skill for any blacksmith to master.  Following the well-known SOR (square octagon round) methodology, we will make square tapers, octagon tapers, round tapers and finally diamond tapers as well.  Making a 3" long symmetrical taper is a challenge for anyone, so it will be fun way to build these important skills.

In the second class, we will move on to the tools portion of the class, which will take the remaining 3 weeks.  We will be making a hot-cut chisel, both round and slot punches, as well as a drift and a small cold cut chisel (if we have time).  These tools will all be made with 4140 tool steel so they will form the basis for a nice tool set that will serve these students long into their blacksmithing careers.

I think this will be an excellent class for someone who wants to learn a lot of solid skills in a short time in a nice environment that focuses on retention of the information and having a good time doing it.

Please let us know if you are interested in attending!

A Mailing from the AHS -- That's MY Photo!

We lead very busy lives.  The other day, I came home from my job as an assistant teacher at my kids' school, raced into the house to let the dog out, went to a short refresher lesson on the drop spindle because I only had 1 hour before the kids were done with school, came back home and saw that I needed to work in my role as a lawyer because one of the primary laws involving my client had been amended, but I didn't have time to sit down and study the law because I needed to walk the dog and then pick the boys up from school..... It's not so easy to juggle all the various roles we play!  At least, we do enjoy all the things we do.

But, as I was involved in all the above, I also grabbed the mail and started to shuffle it into the Shred/Save piles.  As I came upon the piece of mail pictured above, I paused.  I know that child......I know that picture......I TOOK that picture!.....

The delay was hilarious.

And, yes, it was my photo.  I'd given the American Horticultural Society permission to use my photo in their mailing.  But, I'd forgotten and had never seen the final product.  It was only because I renewed my membership that I'd received their mailing....and seen my photo.

Stratford Hall in the News

Jeff might look like another dad on skis watching his young son ride up the carpet to take another run down the hill (I was at the bottom of the hill, helping our son back onto the carpet!)...but Jeff was also thinking about his upcoming blacksmithing demos. A more appropriate photo should have shown Jeff with his phone out! We have a lot of events and classes planned (Tool-making starts this Sunday afternoon, if you are interested), but the event on our mind today is a demo scheduled for May 24-25 at Stratford Hall, home of the Lees and birthplace of Robert E. Lee. 

We took the above photo in May, when we visited Stratford Hall to discuss the demo.  It takes time and energy to put together a great demo, especially one that will probably include colonial and farrier blacksmithing demonstrations as well as show how to transform iron ore into a bloom of iron that will then be worked into an ax   In the blacksmithing world, this is super cool stuff and not done by many people...it should be a very interesting event.  It is also very appropriate to do this demo at Stratford Hall since all components of the demo could have been done on the property -- as I recall, iron ore is prevalent on the beach there.  

Although Jeff already had phone calls lined up this week to discuss the demo at Stratford Hall, the New York Times just happened to run a feature article on Stratford Hall and the area.  It really is a fascinating place and the article is well-written.  We've eaten at Angelo's Pizza (it really is good!) and have hunted for shark's teeth (and not found any).....all things the article mentioned.   Too bad the article didn't know about our blacksmithing event!

A Bit of Beach Time

 
After a few days at the beach with our family, Jeff is back at the Mount Vernon forge to celebrate New Year's Eve and Day.   The break was welcome, but we found ourselves chatting on the long drive about upcoming demos for the next year and our various creative goals.   The upcoming year is looking full, indeed!

 

Look for a notice soon about a tool-making class that Jeff wants to start up in the next week or so (probably on Sunday afternoons)....and also a repeat of his beginning smithing class, too!  If you are interested, please let us know.



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Christmas Eve Forging with a Camel

Jeff was busy working in the blacksmith's shop at Mount Vernon on Christmas Eve.  The kids and I visited him for lunch and made him pose next to Aladdin the Camel before he returned to work.  George Washington actually had a camel brought in for the Christmas season in 1787.  Aladdin was much more interested in eating all the leaves off of the holly tree behind Jeff! 

If you are interested in chatting with Jeff at Mount Vernon, he'll be in the blacksmith's shop on 12/31 and 1/1. 

Happy Holidays From Blackforest ArtWorks

Happy Holidays from Black Forest ArtWorks!

We've had an incredible year filled with blacksmithing, photography, living history demonstrations and even a few creative ventures outside our "comfort zones" (i.e. icon-writing and basket-making, anyone?!).  It's been a lot of fun but the best part has been spending time with old friends and making new ones. Thank you so much for being part of our 2012. We are excited to see what next year brings! 

Jeff and Caitlin

                                                                                                                          

Jeff at Mount Vernon's Candlelight Nights

We've been more than a bit busy over here.  It's gotten to be....."If it's a weekend night, Jeff is working at Mount Vernon for Candlelight Nights until 11 p.m."  Luckily, he's having a great time.  On a recent evening, photographer Renee Ruggles for the Mount Vernon Gazette came and took a lovely photo.   Thank you!

Holiday Art Projects

 

Every year, we try to decorate a few ornaments for our tree.  This year, we worked from an idea I'd seen on a blog (I can't recall the source at the moment) where someone had melted bits of crayons inside glass ornaments using a hair dryer.  We tried it with oil pastels.  The effect is striking!

Demo at St. Albans

Last week, Jeff had the opportunity to demonstrate blacksmithing at St. Albans School in D.C.  We'd met one of their amazing teachers, John Campbell, at another one of our blacksmithing events earlier this past year and had continued chatting about various ways to incorporate blacksmithing into his history curriculum.  Other teachers became interested, and Jeff ended up demonstrating for the World History, English and Cities classes at St. Albans. 

All the classes had been studying material that was connected to blacksmithing in some fashion.  The Cities class was studying metallurgy; the English classes studied Great Expectations, and the World History students studied the Industrial Revolution and the events leading up to it.  All in all, it made sense for Jeff to show them how nails were made and fit into the economy of colonial America and beyond. 

 

Some estimates say that there were over 100 million nails made a day in Europe by 50,000 nailers, each making about 2,000 nails a day during the colonial period.  Nails were commonplace at that time and a typical four room house took roughly 30,000 nails.  Nails are an important stepping stone in the development of an industrial society, and Jeff discussed the Wealth of Nations and compared the colonial blacksmthing of nails to their mass production.

One of our goals was to engage the boys in a practical way to express what they'd been learning in the classroom, and blacksmithing seemed to be a great fit.  We decided to start with a demo and use it to gauge the boys' interest in possibly starting a guild at the school.  Over 70 students participated in the demo, getting a chance to help forge a colonial-style nail.   The boys seemed very interested and enjoyed the day a lot. We are excited to see what develops!

These photos are from St. Albans' Facebook page.

What a Surprise!

I recently received a letter announcing that two of my photographs will be in the 2014 Gardeners of America calendar.  What a nice surprise!

 

I took these photos of tulips from my home garden in April of 2011 with my Nikon D40 and standard Tamron 18-270mm lens. 

A Thanksgiving Trivet

 

Jeff finished this gorgeous trivet just in time for his client's Thanksgiving meal.  It is beautiful! 

I'd like him to make at least one more!

Autumn Reflections

November Wonders

 

I went for a walk today at Huntley Meadows, a local wetlands park.  I was feeling a bit under a deadline, since their local photography competition has already started and I didn't have much to contribute.  A long supporter of the park, I try to participate in the annual contest, so I wanted to get out to the boardwalk and take some photos.  But, it seemed that nothing was working....the kids were tired and cranky due to an early-morning swim meet and the light was all wrong since I'd hoped for a lovely autumnal warmth and ended up with a cloudy, Novemberish afternoon.

But, it is what it is....and much of art is all about faith, anyways....  so I headed out and prayed for the best. 

And, I discovered the lovely.......in reflections, cattails, and seed pods.....

 

 

 

Hurricane Sandy-Inspired Basket

In honor of the "free time" caused by Hurricane Sandy (i.e. most everything has been cancelled!), Jeff made a basket today.  Joe Bruneau, the artist who teaches us at Kanuga on our summer vacation, had challenged Jeff to make a flat basket.  And, so he did.

We hope you like it, Joe!

Demo at Claude Moore's October Market Fair

We had a great time this past weekend at Claude Moore Colonial Farm's Market Fair.  Held three times a year (October, May and July), it's always a lot of fun for everyone.  We've demo'd at this venue more than any other, so it's a bit of a homecoming for us.  It's a great opportunity to catch up with lots of friends....and make new ones.

 

 

 

 

Jeff did some fine forging.  As always, we produced a lot of colonial-style nails.  Nails remain the perfect piece to show both colonial history and a finished product within a few minutes.  Jeff also worked on some new candlesticks (photos coming soon once he makes some more; we sold all that he made). 

 

 

 

 

Jeff also made a massive bottle opener that became one of the funniest parts of our weekend. 

 

Just for fun, Jeff started with a big piece of steel, which set the tone for a bottle-opener that would not be easily lost!   As he worked on it, he developed quite a following as folks wanted to see just how it would end up.  Our friend and fellow smith, Curt, stopped by and was enlisted to work on it for a few minutes, too.

 

Finally, after finishing it off with a small leaf, Jeff rushed down to the tavern for a bottle so we could test it.  He soon returned with a bottle of Ginger Beer and the crowd helped us test it, as we were all rather eager to see if it would work.  It did!  Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the piece as it was sold and went home with its new owner a few minutes later.  It was good fun, though!

 

Over the course of the weekend, we chatted with around 3,500 people.  In one instance, as a group of teenage girls watched Jeff and started to understand the process of smithing, one girl announced to her friends...."Wow, that is epic!"  I'd never quite referred to blacksmithing in that way, but she's quite right!