Playing with Fire

When people think of welding, often they think of building strong steel structures like buildings or ships, not dragons or angels. I have taken the tools of my trade and found new ways to design, build, and create. Steel is my canvas, a plasma cutter is my pencil, and a torch is my paintbrush. Steel is only gray and rigid if you let it be; I’ve learned to bend the rules with what it can do.
I teach Metal Art classes at University of Alaska Southeast Ketchikan. My predecessor taught me that anything can be art if you want it to be and that metal art isn’t a medium reserved for welders and metalworkers alone. I have students from a variety of backgrounds in my class. Some students have been welding for years and some have never touched a propane torch in their lives. My course introduces the student to common shop tools like angle grinders, plasma cutters, propane torches, and Dremels and how to use them safely to create art.
When bare steel is heated with a torch, a chemical reaction is initiated between iron and oxygen which creates a thin oxide layer on the metal. As the temperature rises, this layer changes color through a spectrum of silver, straw, gold, copper, purple, dark blue, light blue, pearlescent green-blue, and pearlescent silver. Colors can be layered next to one another by using a grinding disc as a textured eraser, bringing the plate back to the base silver and allowing the artist to color once more. Grinding discs and engraving tools are used to provide texture and flow to an art piece.
I have found great joy in my medium and love having the opportunity to share it with others. I am excited to share art created by myself and some of my Spring 2023 Metal Art students!