I have scheduled two Do-It-Yourself Flagstone classes at the North Carolina Arboretum this spring.
Saturday April 21 from 9 to 4 at the NC Arboretum
Friday May 4 from 9 to 4 at the NC Arboretum
You can register via the Arboretum’s website.
I’ve started a new wall just outside of downtown Asheville, at a doctor’s office. A circular drystone wall will surround a maple tree and create a new planting bed. It’s a fun challenge building on this tight a radius. I made a tempalte of the curve out of roofing felt that I use to make sure the stones I am preparing to lay will fit into the circle.
The boys came to visit me the other day.
To get a perfect circle around the tree I rigged up this system of strings, spray paint and a level. The level is tied to the paint wand, ensuring that I keep it plumb as I go around the tree. The trunk isn’t a perfect circle, but it seems that the loop of line I used at that end smoothed out the tree’s contours. I stand back frequently to make sure the wall is staying true and so far it’s been fine.
In April 2010, I spent a day with photographer Steven Paul Whitsitt, touring projects I had done. Just last month the book he was working on was released by Schiffer Publishing. I am very excited by the book which is called Built with Stone: Eight Contemporary Artisans. It includes several projects, including the secretive Cabin on Mitchell’s Peak, a structural stone house I built with Fred Lashley and the Unturned Stone. The book is available from local booksellers and online merchants. There’s some amazing work in there by masons from all across the country.
In April 2012 I will again be offering do-it-yourself flagstone classes at the North Carolina Arboretum. Check back soon for dates and details.
Earlier this week, blacksmith Lynda Metcalfe and I drove to Chapel Hill to put the finishing touches on our collaboration, the Ironwoods neighborhood sign. It was satisfying to see this project through; discussions with the homeowner’s association had started a year ago November. The time invested was well spent. This sign is a work of art.
The sign sits on an island and is visible to traffic in both directions. Each side of the sign has its own flow of vines and is its own piece.
Lynda’s work has great depth. The letters are raised from the back panel and vines wind their way behind the letters, poking through here and there.
In this image from Lynda’s shop, you can see how she lined up the lettering on each side so that one set of fasteners reached through to catch the word Ironwoods running in both directions. Lynda’s primary focus in architectural metalwork; it was great to work with another artisan with such a strong construction ethos. We both aspired to create something strong and beautiful. Craftsmanship should be more than pretty.
(photo by Lynda Metcalfe)
All in all, the experience of working at Ironwoods was unlike any other I’ve ever had in my career. They know how to treat craftspeople. Concerned neighbors brought out orange cones to protect us from distracted drivers. Virginia made me soup. A kindly stranger delivered me hot chocolate (with whipped cream!) on a cold day. Ethan and Logan supplied me with marbles, since I forgot my own back home. I am sincerely grateful for the kindness and enthusiasm shown for the process and the finished product. It is a great joy to create work for people who appreciate it.
Special thanks are owed to Matthew Feldt who saw this project through from a seed of an idea to a fully grown vine. He navigated the design process with grace, championed the project from start to finish and lent his strong back, his photographic eye and even his garage to the effort. The sign doesn’t happen without Matthew. Thank you.
All of the photographs in this blog posting, unless otherwise noted, are by Matthew Feldt.
I have been playing with letter carving. This time I tried working on a naturally textured surface, a scrap of sandstone left over from a flagging project. I bought a pair of reading glasses today, to keep the dust out of my eyes and to help me really see, in riveting detail, the letters as I work them.
I got this image from Lynda earlier this week showing the metalwork underway. I especially like the grid drawn underneath in soapstone.
Back to Chapel Hill for a couple of days recently. The stone structure is finished. It waits patiently under wraps for the ironwork.
Here’s a close up of a wall section. There are two marbles hidden in the wall, gifts from Ethan and Logan. Sadly, the marbles aren’t visible in this view.
I posted a blog entry at Papershine about my visual planning strategies for this project. Click the image to be linked to my other blog.
My current project has me journeying to Chapel Hill to build a entry sign for the Ironwoods neighborhood. Two years ago I built a memorial bench in this same neighborhood for Grandpa Tony. I am delighted that they invited me back to complete this project, a collaboration between myself and blacksmith & artist Lynda Metcalfe. I met Lynda during the Handmade House in the Ramble project and have been hoping to find a way to work with her ever since. I am excited about the collaboration and how the final piece will mesh our two crafts and styles into a seamless design.
The boulders are anchored in concrete and the wall sits on a slab. The wall is structural stone, about fourteen inches thick. The big boulder (roughly 1500 pounds) has a perfect notch for my cell phone.
I used a sheet of foam core to create a template of the boulder’s shape to give Lynda a rough guide as to where her ironwork will tie into the stonework.
Thanks be to Matthew Feldt for the photographs and all his help with this project.
Finished this project today- four small drystone retaining walls. Click the image for a huge view of this section.
