beth

charles  - Really??? i just thought it was helpful advice so i posted it on here :) and this, like the best value advice, applies to every aspect of life - not just blacksmithing...

bryan i will certainly pass that on to the P.Laureate :)

bryan no problem at all - he is finding somewhere safe to live away from this flooded area he found himself in, but i dont really know details of what he will do when he gets there - he has his tools, i know that :) he will work something good out im sure. he is a MOST resourceful individual :) ! i know you worked with jake before - its nice you were asking after him.

its ok - he is fine (amazingly) he is not near internet though bryan - so he wont be emailing for a bit i shouldnt think. he has been very lucky by the sounds of it.!

nice quote frank :) and yves comment - this is what i mean,  about the importance of directing consciousness at both hands. frank chi kung is something i have learned a lot from myself - it is such a far reaching and interesting set of techniques, (also kung fu for slightly different reasons) the chinese seem to understand this stuff instinctively.

today i did all my veining  - no dinky taps, all solid and definite, i was like a zen automaton!! put a vein in and gave more shape to 40 approx 3 inch wide leaves, in about 2 hours - which for me is hugely better than normal. just through being more aware of both hands not just the striking one :) very pleased.

thanks alan :)

i didnt really mean quite that guys :) i am not talking about getting the less dominant hand up to the speed of the other, but the point was being more CONSCIOUS of the hand that is seemingly less active, and paying more attention to each hand separately within the whole job your doing, regardless of wether its your dominant hand or not. it is too easy to overly focus on one hand in a task, to the point where the other hand, who has just as important a role, left hand or right, dominant or non dominant, is in the background and therefore needs to be brought to better conciousness. i may only be speaking for myself of course :)

:) have had a lovely revelation after a conversation i had with alan evans yesterday  - who is a fantastic wealth of experience, information, knowledge and ideas, and also a very thought provoking fellow, and he mentioned the idea of having a non passive left hand ( or right hand if you are left handed) It was in the context of punching letters with small punches and my frustrating inability to do it well..  he said how important it is to be mentally and physically engaged with both hands for this, so not just hold the punch passively and forget about that hand, but actively hold it and proactively hold the punch Down onto the work, thus making it very much harder for the punch to skid jump etc. this may well be obvious to most of you pros, but for the other novices out there like me, it might turn a light on -  acting on that advice has made SUCH a difference today, and i wasnt even punching letters - i was veining leaves, which is normally a bit of a mess and struggle for me, but i found it infinitely easier once i had conciously engaged my left hand. it was a revelation not just with that task in particular, but every last thing i have done in the workshop today :) i also think that above and beyond the physical help youre giving the work by employing both hands conciously and properly, having a strong Intention with anything your doing helps it in leaps and bounds. thanks mr evans :) a true gem you passed on there - for me anyway!

well remembered alan, have been up to pete oberons school myself and had entirely forgotten, it was so long ago! he was very good and i learned a lot - a very friendly man. i also have a young friend at hereford at the moment who is absolutely LOVING every minute of it... so much choice! :)

look at the blacksmiths guild section on here - really good value courses, its a long way for you to go from 'up north', but you could camp! thats what id suggest :) john b is your man on here.

yesteryear your so right... :)

i think the most fruitful situation of all is when crafts people and artists shows thoughtful respect to the other, and make an effort to understand the other working approach. it is too easy to be devisive but thats frustrating for everyone and not interesting :)  i have never seen why there has to be a hard and fast divide -  and i dont think we should not be obsessed with the "value" of each title, its impossible to measure..  we can be equally brilliant in either role (or both, if determined)

 timothy - your henry ford quote sums up the best and most profoundly powerful approach to art craft or any persuit !. one of my fave quotes, it is The Truth!! :)

mellow thread yves :) and beautiful concepts. bravo :)

really beautiful to watch - i wish the rest of the world was more like this situation! :) no more or less than what is needed. perfect :) 

 (woody are you a dear little twin ?? :) or do you have some.....)

thats such a cool gift! where does this lucky mummy live then? :)  which direction from me..?

love them dillon! were the babies the same weight as those things ? :) they look like really good things to hold - a boy and girl by the look of it? simple and beautiful, a perfect unique present you made there!

hi akitta - a fellow briton :)  i will now direct you to uk blacksmiths guild, you can find john b on here, their courses are good and good value, and all the stuff you'll find on here as well is quite amazing. all sorts.   :ph34r:

completely beautiful work ! fabulous photos too :)

eek really sorry -  i was so keen to look at the photos on your first post, i did not realise it was a PAIR - movement and stagnation, that you were making! apologies - i need to slow down when i read... i LOVE LOVE LOVE that blank! it looks amazing - i just really like that thing as an object, nice and ragged looking, it has a lot of good feeling in the way its cut . and i really like how youve shaped that one out - it looks primitive and appealing - the way its made is how it looks if you know what i mean. its food for thought for me how you made that, it seems very free and not overly laboured. i do like the other one too, the one you say was a bit fiddlework - i think it looks very lively, and non stagnating! lots of jagged lines, almost abstracts the horse a bit. nice project! i do lots of different things myself (not blades, but although im not interested in making them, i love to look at them) and so i understand what a long time it can all take.. glad your doing sculptures as well as blades :)

branch man - i understand totally about the 2d thing and its limitations - and i know also what your trying to get after with your second piece and the more 3d feel. i  have seen a couple of very successful ( i think :) ) sculptures made quite simply, like your top piece, but with some thick forged plate as well as more linear "drawn" elements - thats another way of simplifying whilst still getting life in more planes/directions - and adding some visual bulk/contrast. i dunno - just thinking out loud - i like this subject :) i like what your doing though and what your trying to do. and as i said before, i really like how his mane is made, and his head, for me, is pretty lovely. the thing with the top one is that you have given just enough information for the imagination to enjoy filling in the rest... are you mainly interested in sculptural work?

i dont know how its made, but its very groovy i love it!! very sweet ring. :)

yes - an amazing renewable product, and its potential future demise is YET another reason for people to wake up to the bee issues... im sure it is absolutely as good as any man made replica product at protecting the metal, i guess the thing also with the med churches etc is that the room temperature is/was naturally quite low, big stone rooms no heating draughty doors and windows etc - all the reasons we love those places, and it would not in the least have been a problem. it cannot be beaten for smell, ease of use and magical origin :) there is nothing whatsoever bad to say about bees, except the ginormously awful prospect of them disappearing........

skulleater that is really fascinating - i have only read about half the smithy stuff ( the rest very interesting too) and i have to go out now - lots of little oddnesses to the way the people are working - have seen similar things in india years ago, the simplification in regards to tools and workshop "furniture" is a real eye opener. strange how the writer is seeing lots of this s problematic, due to apparent time wasting he is witnessing, but maybe they just see it/live it all so differently, its not even comparable to our practises. i love this kind of thing Thankyou! :)

that is very useful alan -  i love beeswax as a general product, but not really when its sticky and dusty ...  :( yuk... i like your other domestic applications for your witch doctor brew - very inspirational! i have used shoe polish for lots of things myself, although not VERY often shoes, and not on metal either -  i am intrigued as to what a coloured one would look like as a finish... 

well done eric!!! and keep that fiddle in your minds eye - aim at it ! :)

josh is it mothers day in canada? i reckon just give her your company and its job done :) or do her a simple heart she can hang somewhere ..