Day 4 Fold Forming Conference with Charles Lewton-Brain

Four days have never flown so fast! Everything went seamlessly in no small part to our hosts, The Center for Metal Arts. Our conference was held in a converted barn which houses the workshop and studio space downstairs while upstairs is an absolutely stunning showroom with a small office. Our hosts Ed & Rhoda Mack are an amazingly talented couple, not to mention extremely kind and giving of their time and talent.  Ed is a blacksmith and head of production while Rhoda is the creative force behind the whole mission. They launched the Center for Metal Arts in 2003 with the intent of; 

• passing on the knowledge of blacksmithing and fine metal arts
• providing a forum for accomplished smiths to pass on their knowledge of technique and process
• providing a hands-on learning exchange for the wider lay audience
• gathering, documenting, and passing on the knowledge base of contemporary metal masters

Here are some pix of their place, their work and them.....

The Converted Barn

Detail of Commissioned Gate

Commissioned Gate

Workshop

Showroom

Ed & Rhoda Mack

Day 4 again began with reviews.....you've seen the pix in previous posts so I won't re-post them again. A quick break for lunch followed by a CLB guided shopping trip to Harbor Freight had me buying tools I didn't even know I needed....

Shopping at Harbor Freight

We arrived back at the studio just in time for the announcement of the winners of the first annual Lewton-Brain Fold Form Competition. I was fortunate to have seen the slideshow of all 160 entries, and there were some truly excellent submissions. See the award winners here.

We managed to squeeze in a few more paper model demo's before calling it a wrap....

Ward Fold

Flag Fold

Eckland Fold

All in all a truly wonderful experience and I can't wait to do this again next year! :-)

Ed, Rhoda & Charles

Me, Charles and Sue (my traveling companion and new BFF)