No New Bronze until December-

-or at least no new bronze with existing conditions at the college. There are infrastructure projects going on in the foundry area that involve replacing current air systems for the wood shop spray booth, replacing the defunct air compressor pump and dehumidifier, and getting a new foundry furnace to replace the dead one. 

I'm slightly pissed about the air compressor. That thing was a POS back when I was lab tech and told them for a decade it needed to be replaced. The dehumidifier was worthless, water in the lines even in winter, and it turned out that was supposed to be replaced every five years. 

So we had one last bronze pour and this time I made sure we had a cookout. Bought a charcoal grill and we had burgers. I also brought my cocktail mixer and made some hand-dipped shakes*. You cannot have community without food. 

Funny thing little light bulb moment for me was finally equating cooking and art, or rather my cooking and my art making. It is empirical exploration. I had always made a face when I hear artists talk about exploration but that's what I do with cooking. I may follow a recipe but taste is the final arbiter. And so with visual art. I spend way more time looking than I do making and I suppose it is like tasting. This may seem a trivial revelation but it seems to have removed biases and prejudices about art.

I still will often experience imposter syndrome, that I'm not a real artist. But I can cook, so I'm making art, and so I am indeed an artist.

At any rate, no molten bronze unless I break out my mini furnace or help a buddy set one up. I'm inclined to work in clay and grill. Here's some picks from the bronze  pour.

*I have determined from 30 years of foundry work that the best hydrator is milk. If you want to make it fun, chocolate milk. And if chcolate milk is good, chocolate shake is better. The best.