"When I first looked at the blinding spark of the welding arc, I thought of St. Paul's revelation. It's an experience that I cannot forget. There's that moment of terror when that arc hits. It's like a miniature atomic explosion, and it's beautiful, absolutely extraordinary. It's a bit frightening even. You have darkness, and suddenly you touch a piece of steel and a blinding electric explosion occurs. When you leave the arc connected, the metal begins to boil. You get bubbles, the flux that surrounds the rod melts -- and when you look at it very closely it's like lava flowing, it's a volcanic experience. The material changes states. I can't help but think of Vulcan and the forge -- imagery of the gods involved with fire. Welding is a physical experience of fire."

Alexander Liberman

Here are some photos from the welding workshops I took through the Art Center in Mendocino, California in Fall. '98. Richard Yaski, a wonderful sculptor and teacher, was the instructor. The first workshop, in September, was for absolute beginners -- we learned to operate the torches safely, and were introduced to the basic techniques for cutting, brazing and welding.

In the second workshop, a month later, we brought old tools and other pieces of scrap steel, and made "junk sculpture" -- or "found object sculpture," if you want to be polite.

Anyway, here's Sara the Welder:

And here is Icarus, a dragon made of scrap steel, circular sawblades, a hinge, a sprinkler system cut-off valve handle, and brazing rod.

Here I am with two recent works, looking every bit the proud mama.

This piece consists of three huge wrenches, two wheel-things of some kind, a pair of shears, a machete (?) blade and some pieces of scrap steel. Some of the surfaces have been textured with brazing and welding rod. My son Mike hankered after it, so it now lives in Southern California with him and Liz.

Elsa's current favorite is the abstract piece on the left. The angled spokes at the top are movable. The "bunny" on the right is one of a pair. I think they're kind of cute and goofy, and they were fun to make.

This link leads to the "Anna Bell," made in memory of my friend Anna Holmes, who died of cancer in March '99.


I'm still a beginner at this, but I'm learning more and more, and the more I learn the better I like it and the more fascinating it becomes. You take a piece of steel and heat it, and you can watch thru your facemask & see the changes happen -- color and surface and consistency -- & you can do things with it. Flatten it, twist and bend it, cut it as if it were butter, stick one piece to another... it's magical in one way, earthy and elemental in another. I can spend hours with my face right down in my work, just inches from 6000 degree flame, so absorbed that in retrospect it's like being inside a nascent star. You can't see anything but the flame (or the arc) and the tiny area right around it when it lights up, and then the glow of the molten metal itself. And the sparks. It's wild, dramatic stuff. Maybe if I did it for my living it'd get old. But as a new trick to learn at age 58, it's ... hot stuff.