I think @Frank Turley has a thread of photos of Spanish colonial ironwork. Let me see if I can find it. 

Update: here you go. 

 

LBS.

     I do mine a little different at demos.  I don’t sell them but if someone is interested I let them help and than I give it to them.

Forge on and make beautiful things 

Jim

For an art piece I would suggest a Celtic Cross, or knot. 

Viking era metal work has some possibilities for art too. 

Google searches for various country art metal works provided a few projects that would fit your criteria. 

11 hours ago, Dave51B said:

 Now you have me wondering if a boomerang would be considered a "weapon" in our school systems.......That may come back to bite you ....so to speak                             Dave

Ha ha. Dave, a boomerang is indeed a weapon, and a formidable one at that in the right hands. I think Mark would get away with it though.

There is an old brand of spanner (wrench) here that has Boomerang cast into the handle. We often say to people when they borrow our tools that it has a boomerang on it, ensuring its safe return.

For Middle East, a hand forged menorah (Seven branch candlestick) would be pretty cool.

First of all: How much "Art" is supposed to be in this project?  We blacksmiths tend to lean on the Craft side---especially to outsiders. (Which is why I suggested the ornate signs as a possibility as they have much more art built in...)  Of course some recent works from the former USSR have been impressive in their art!

I've seen some nice forged incense stick holders with an Asian motif (dragon head), should be easy to make.

Remember to keep a log on work on this project!  A teacher that looks down on your entry can be wowed to see how much time and effort it really took!

What's your own ancestral background LBS? Might pick something from that region/country just to have a personal connection with it.

Wonder too, if you wanted to do a knife or something banned at school , you could maybe document it with photos of the process and just bring the photo set to school. They don't ban photos of knives, do they?

In some cases YES they have banned photo's of weapons.  Case law is getting weirder and weirder!

Wow! The U.S. has gone 'round the bend. I suppose you can't even position your fingers in the shape of a gun in school.

Yes that was a case I read about!

4 minutes ago, John in Oly, WA said:

Wow! The U.S. has gone 'round the bend. I suppose you can't even position your fingers in the shape of a gun in school.

one kid got punished because he ate his pop tart into the shape that looked like a 1911 auto, sadly this is not a joke

On January 27, 2018 at 7:52 PM, C-1ToolSteel said:

For Middle East, a hand forged menorah (Seven branch candlestick) would be pretty cool.

I remember in HS art class we were not permitted to do anything that appeared religious.  At that time images of weapons were still ok. 

 

 

Sadly this realy limits the study of history and technology in a realistic way, a huge amount of material culture (that that didn’t rot away with time) and technological advancement involve tools that are either readily adapted to weapons or weapons that are readily adaptable as tools. 

The reason I shared the fire tree project was that it was art, not a weapon, and not likely to run one afoul of offending a religious or social group (unless you have aboriginal austrailian students in your school) wile providing a visual and physical medium to inlisit interest in your subject matter.  

Charles, why would aboriginal students object to the fire tree project? I remember the devastation and loss of life in those fires and the tree project really brought the affected communities together. I sent off some leaves too.

No doubt LB will keep us informed of what shape his project takes, and we look forward to seeing his results. There are a few teachers on this site who could give you a grading, Mark!

Only the reposted possibility from what I understand, in the US we have many folks looking for an excuse to be offended

LBS as Thomas Powers suggested, keep a log of your project. List everything that went into the project, including your research time. Many teachers just look at a project and have no idea of the amount of time and effort that was required to make it happen. Photo documentation of the project is always helpful.

If your project is blacksmithing related, you may want to include building a forge (JABOD), tongs, etc. That way you show anyone looking at your project that they can do it if they want. 

BIGGUNDOCTOR- I hadnt thought of a Celtic cross, I have only done necklace sized ones, that would maybe be kinda fun. and a knot, is like how it sounds, tieing two pieces of steel together in the middle to form the arms?

oh yeah, Im definantly documenting as I go, that is actually one of the requirements as "proof" that we actually did it.

I think I am going to go the cross rout, gonna keep it relatively simple. I have some Osage orange rounds, just the cut off with the end grain facing up with the live edge around the edge that I thought about using as a stand, and then having a flower go up from the wood and rap around the crosses arms or something like that.

                                                                                                                                                          Littleblacksmith 

How about forging a Cherry Blossom (or other flower from one of those regions) ?  If you can find an artificial one from a craft store, you can then take the artificial flower apart and use the parts as a pattern for making pieces of your forged Cherry Blossom. By Googling on "Cherry Blossom Artificial Flowers" I found that people are selling them. 

Make a couple of simple branding irons and brand  celtic knotwork around the face of the osage orange stand.  Remember nothing says celtic quite like using as many different forms of ornamentation as possible on the same piece!  (Really the metalwork should include enameling, granulation, casting, engraving, niello,....)

Turned it in Monday and got it back today, got a 95 (a much needed 95 might I add)! did a Celtic cross with a copper rivet, a two piece Calla Lilly, on a mesquite base. 

                                                                                                                                                   Littleblacksmith 

 

 

 

nice job bro.

Only a 95? Very nice work LBS!

You’ve got some serious talent young man.

Second on " only a 95?" Nice work. I give you 110. The Lilly looks awesome.