I just finished up an inspiring (and exhausting!) week-long workshop, "Welded Steel Assemblies," at The Carving Studio in West Rutland, VT.  Our fearless instructor was John Tidd whose previous work includes a giant steel, fire breathing dragon as well as a huge pair of steel hands, entitled "Cat's Cradle," that were installed at Burning Man.  At the beginning of the week, we took a field trip to the scrap yard and gathered lots of dirty steel which we then began cleaning and manipulating with welders, plasma cutters, and a variety of other loud, sparky power tools.  It was amazing to see what everyone created-- being Vermont, there were multiple fish, birds, and a bear, as well as some free-form geometric pieces (ok, those were mostly mine).  I almost always create in other mediums with an eye to add glass later and this week was no exception. In the photo above, I'm standing behind one of my pieces, "Without End" which is a small tower of steel circular shapes that are welded together and have lovely openings that are crying out for glass.  One special highlight for me was being able to select a marble base-- the Carving Studio is on the grounds of a former marble quarry-- which boosts it up and add a different textural dimension.  Stay tuned for more pictures as I get the glass elements created!