4th Annual Fold Form Conference with Charles Lewton-Brain at the Center for Metal Arts in downstate NY July 21-24, 2011--two memorable days of face-time with Charles Lewton-Brain at the work bench, demonstrating all eight families of fold forms plus many variations. T-folds, cross folds, pleated folds, woven folds, sheared and formed star folds, chased wedge t-folds, Plunkett folds, and more. Charles is generous with his knowledge, so bring your questions, a sketchpad—and a camera.

Fred Crist, sculptor and fine metals artist, will lead a 3-day workshop on Forging the Grotesque on April 1-3, 2011.

About Fred Crist: “Forging metal has always been my choice of material and process as a sculptor and craftsman. From the time I was first introduced to this direct manipulation of metal as a student at Philadelphia College of Art in 1974, (under the direction of Jack Andrews) I was captivated by its potential as a sculptural medium.

We started the school in the deep snowy winter of February 03, with Uri Hofi flying in from Israel to a mixed crowd of seasoned smiths and green beginners. The energy was high, notebooks were out, cameras took record numbers of photos, many blisters were taped, and Hofi was his inimitable self, on a veritable crusade to single-handedly transform the American blacksmith scene into a force for education.

When we suggest that artists, sculptors and jewelers bring their own portfolios to the workshop, or even pieces of their work, the studio becomes an instant art show—sculptures on the workshop tables, portfolio pages, and even digital phones passed around to share images from the artist’s studio. It’s not critique time as much as shared pleasure in the creative process. Seeing one another’s work is a wonderful way to get to know fellow students between sessions of working at the forge.

There are many reasons to take a metals class, and here at the Center for Metal Arts we find in fact that we have three or four different types of students.

The first is the professional smith, one who knows her or his skills, understands what can be done with the metals, has a technical experience base, and wants to learn better techniques and tooling. Here is where the masters classes are golden. We have hosted a cadre of professional metal artisans who build award-winning work, and there is always something new to learn from the innovative master educators, and from one another.