Custom Project

Salem Art Works

Yesterday, Sam and I went to the Salem Art Works to see an event that Sams friend, Pat Quinn was involved in. It took place at The Salem Art Works, an up and coming local arts place. It was my first trip there and it seems like the place has a lot of energy with a focus on glass, metal, wood fired pottery, and general fun and funkiness. On the way to SAW, Sam and I stopped to see Sue and Bill Clarys shop, Maccartees Barn , a shop with a mix of fine antiques and really fine, fine art. Their roster includes local artists Penny Viscusi, Brian Sweetland, and many others ... Worth a stop if youre in the area. Click the photos to enlarge them ...
The event was billed as an iron pour with, I think, 3 or 4 four colleges represented by at least 30 art students who had prepared sand castings that would be poured. Here Sam checks in with Pat
In conjunction with the pour, for $15.00 SAW offered a blank for you to carve that they would then include in the pour ... Above, one of the directors carries one Sam and I whipped up out to the staging area. Interesting process. You have to visualize the reverse of what you are carving, a fact that stumped me for a minute. The tools available, a couple big nails and some mangled clay trimmers, showed that it could be as crude or as detailed as you wanted. The sand was surprisingly hard to carve and held fine details surprisingly well. They poured it, but it was still hot when we left.
While we were waiting for things to heat up, we toured around and checked it all out ...
There was a funky, summer only large and well lit gallery space ...
and a great glassblowing hot shop where Leif Johnson , a local blacksmith and glass artist was leading a workshop ...
Leif does incredible combination of forged steel and hot glass.
Back at the furnace, the pour was about to begin ...
fantastic to see the liquid metal rushing out of the spout.
pouring some of the student molds
Thats our sand, but we had to run ... Pat was going to pick it up for us at the end of the day ....