I've studied jewelry & life at these places: The Old School House, County Wicklow, Ireland; John C Campbell Folk School, Duke University, Penland School of Crafts, NCSU Craft Center, Meredith College, The ArtCenter, Arrowmont and Makers Workshop. I have observed many interesting metal techniques in Peru, China, Korea, England, Ireland, Wales, France, Italy and a few other places.
I recently studied with Harold O'Connor, at Wildacres. It was a wonderful workshop and has completely changed how I look at metal.
I just love working in metal.
Large welded outdoor sculptural pieces are made from found material and steel. I've made dragons, snails, praying mantises, tripods, huge sunflowers and tables with mosaic tops.
As Chatham Granny, I work primarily with scraps of wood, pieces of metal & found objects to make folk art. On the backs of many of these pieces, I place a story about how it was made, what materials were used, where they came from, their approximate ages and a list of some of the tools used.