Out of the Box and into the Fire

Class completed and wonders never cease.....

Joanne the welder

Yes, I have a new medium; steel.

This summer I took the Introduction to Welding and Creative Metalwork class at South Puget Sound Community College. It was a hot summer intensified by time behind the torch, but what fun! The ten week class just ended and I will definitely miss the time spent under fire. I was allowed to dumpster dive in the scrap metal pile at a local company. The pieces I found said, "wings and then, dragonfly." So with the help of the class instructors, Ken, Mary, and Dave, I created this sculpture which now lives in my garden.

I found the eyes at a antique store at the Oregon Coast; they are painted knobs for cabinets.

Mary demonstrated how to use the forge and made a calle lily. I decided to make a few for yard art. It was not as easy as Mary made it look. I really like the way the leaves turned out.

I like the look of the steel, but am toying with painting the lillies white to make them stand out more. What do you think?

More Garden Art

Last week I enjoyed the beautiful fall weather at Lake Chelan here in Washington.

Perfect days of sunshine relaxing, kayaking, hiking, wine tasting, farmers markets, and SHOPPING! Between the town of Chelan and Manson, there is this fun guy, Bill King, who sells whimsical metal sculptures at Red Duck Nursery.

I could NOT resist this little character!

Seagull or Penguin?

Before Thanksgiving my friend, Elaine, and I spent a few days at Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast. It was stormy at times, but we managed to get in a couple of beach walks despite the weather.

I enjoyed watching the huge waves and was delighted by our frequent visitor we named, Arthur. I think he wanted to come inside out of the storm.


For additional entertainment, we decided to visit some of the thrift shops in the small beach towns nearby. My unique purchase was this metal sculpture; at first sight I thought penguin. He became our table center piece. Arthur would join us at the table (we pushed it next to the window), and it became clear to me that the sculpture was a seagull.

What do you think? Seagull or Penguin?


Elaine asked me if I found this metal sculpture at a thrift store in Olympia, where we live, would I have bought it? Probably not!

Or.......maybe as a humorous gift for a friend or relative?