Making sparks fly in the deep freeze

Back to work, no excuses, even if it is 10 below outside. Had I been better prepared this would have been a great kiln firing day, to warm things up a bit but instead I had a metal cutting day planned.

Brrrrrrrr, I was thinking that this deep freeze we are currently in, serves me right for all those epic ski days when I didn’t set foot in the studio and did not get any work done! This may sound a little “Northern Exposure” like, but for the first time ever, I had to put long underwear on under my Carhartt’s to work in the heated shop! Even though it was freezing cold outside, the black iron cut like butter. My Plasma cutter loves the dry air, and I love using way fewer consumables while getting much cleaner cuts. The smooth, quick, cut-once approach suits my freehand style perfectly. I laid out a 4 x 8 sheet of steel and used a Sharpie (which was too cold to work fluidly) to draw out a very cool octopus, Gallery pieces that included several sea life elements, a sea otter, ravens and some other individual artsy works to compliment my new clay work. I only got one sheet cut though, my feet were getting too cold on the concrete slab (even in my favorite pair of SmartWool's).

Some hardy souls are choosing to salute the deep freeze with a celebration of Alaska and life in the North. FREEZE is a bold series of large-scale outdoor installations in downtown Anchorage organized by The Alaska Design Forum in association with the International Gallery of Contemporary Art and the Anchorage Museum. So far, Mother Nature has been the perfect hostess.

The sun doesn’t rise very high in the winter sky and by mid afternoon it was time to call it a day. Even my “Chicken-vane” on our shed roof was cold, must be time for a Hot Toddy…